Storyboard Pitch – Violence Against Indonesian Female Migrant Workers (PSA/Short Film)

Title: “WE ARE WORTHY.”

By: Rula Savira
STORYBOARD

An Indonesian female migrant

worker has just landed in the airport Just a short scene of a train The woman is smiling and
and ready for her new experience. departing… imagining on what it’s like to
She has a huge grin in her face which work in a new home
shows her excitement and
hopefulness about her new job.

The woman seen in the previous scenes is

crying as she realized that being a migrant
worker is not a promising job.
*The screen fades to black The few next scenes will show close-up faces A woman shown with a bruise in
Narrator: “As the reality kicks on migrant workers who are victims of her left cheek which implies that
in…” violence, rape, exploitation. In the actual film, she has been abused.
there will be around 5-6 people shown in fast
motion. The scenes will include a narrator.

The scene will involve a collection of

news publication related to violence
against Indonesian female migrant
workers with a narrator
Notes: I created this storyboard with the help of https://www.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-creator

Storyboard Explanation
Violence against Indonesian female migrant workers has been an ongoing issue for a long time in the
country where many women fly to many Asian and Middle Eastern countries to work as domestic
workers. Based on the data of the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian
Workers, approximately 1,500,000 Indonesian migrant workers working abroad for the period 2011 to
2016 are women. (Nuraeny 2017). This shows a very high number of women who chose to work as
domestic workers abroad, as Indonesia is a highly populated country, which also offer limited jobs for
working class women. The issue remains controversial until today, since many of them get access
illegally to countries such as Malaysia and Saudi Arabia through unauthorized agents that promise them
with decent jobs in the countries. As a result, they become a soft target for violence and exploitation.
As stated by Solidaritas Perempuan (1994), women applicants faced gender-specific forms of
exploitation, including sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and rape. As added by Tirtosudarmo (2000),
there is no legislation intended to protect the rights of housemaids, either in Saudi Arabia or Indonesia,
leaving them particularly vulnerable to abuse and unfair treatment on the job. Many of the issues
happen because there is a lack of legal protection from the government, and the workers are
uninformed about their rights as they came from lower class and less educated background as
Nuraeny (2017) stated that most Indonesian workers are women with education between junior
high school (40.5%) and elementary school (30.17%).

Cornell (1987) & Schippers (2007) stated that the power relations between men and women that shape
norms for femininity and masculinity by defining what is gender-appropriate in arenas such as romantic
partner selection, occupational choice, and parental roles, where the gender order is hierarchical, shows
that there is a consistently a higher value on masculinity than on femininity. The statement reflects the
patriarchy culture in Indonesia, in terms of occupational choices, where women are more inclined to do
domestic work because of their feminine characteristics, which explains the high number of female
migrant workers from Indonesia compared to male. The higher value puts on masculinity also leads to
violence against women as they are being socialized for being powerful and dominant. Furthermore,
(…..) claimed that in Saudi Arabia, the state has a high involvement in terms of controlling women’s
mobility, defining women’s ideal roles within families and producing a demand for domestic service,
in which Doumanto (1999, p. 580) added that the state has created legal impediments to abortion and
birth control, encouraging a high fertility rate (i.e., 6.25 children per woman, among the highest in the
world) and large families with domestic needs that women are expected to fulfil. Thus, this shows that
men are socialized to believe that they have more control towards women, which makes Indonesian
female migrant workers are vulnerable to violence and exploitation, as it is difficult for them seek
support through laws and organizations.
The story is created in order to enhance the awareness of the public towards the harm of patriarchy
culture and gender inequality in order to prevent violence against Indonesian female migrant workers.
As an Indonesian myself, I think it is important to bring up this topic since violence against migrant
workers is rooted from culture and values believed in Indonesia as there is a heavy influence of
patriarchal culture where women are seen as the subordinated class, and they are seen to be better at
doing domestic work. These values have been socialized since the New Order Era (1965-1998), where
the state actively promoted particular roles for women in economic development and social change
through state institutions such as the women’s organizations for the wives of civil servants (Dharma
Wanita), through gendered health and education campaigns carried out throughout the country (Family
Welfare Guidance Program or PKK), and in the gendered principles detailed in the Broad Outlines of
State Policy (GBHN) (…). This way of thinking leads to gender inequality where normative
expectations for men and women as masculinity push men to "do dominance" and femininity push
women to "do submission" (West & Zimmerman, 1987). As a result, there are limited jobs for women
especially for those coming from lower class background, as they are highly associated with domestic
and household occupations such as domestic helper, caregiver etc. Thus, many of them chose to become
a domestic worker abroad. On the other hand, Anthias (2014) explained that as the patriarchal culture
expects men to be dominant and masculine, it leads to behaviors associated with toxic masculinity
such as domestic violence, as men might feel the need to prove to the society that they are strong
and powerful. Thus, this shows that violence against Indonesian female migrant workers are
rooted from the values and beliefs in the origin country (Indonesia) and the receiving countries
(Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, etc).

Through ‘WE ARE WORTHY’, I aim to inform the audience and government that all women are
equally worthy, and they deserve equal rights and legal support from the government. The short film
(PSA) itself tells a story about an Indonesian woman migrant worker who has just landed from an
airplane to pursue her job as a domestic worker abroad. The scene implicitly tells about her hopefulness
about her new job, towards her smiles, gestures, demeanors as she walks in arrival gate of the airport.
This shows that she puts a high expectation towards her job by working abroad, such as to achieve a
higher standard living or better salary. And then, after the reality kicks in, it turns out that her job is
not as dreamy as she thought, which can be seen in the the close-up videos about the victims of
violence towards migrant workers, where it is shown that there are signs of abuse, such as bruises
on their faces and necks, swollen eyes, injured lips, where they are seen as frowning and crying.
The scene proceeds to the number of news coverage about violence towards Indonesian women migrant
workers. And then, it shows numbers of women from varied backgrounds (mothers, singers, doctors,
actresses, students, domestic helpers etc.) saying ‘You are worthy,’ ‘She is worthy’ and ‘We are worthy’
in a fast motion. The intended message is to tell people that all women are equally worthy and deserve
the same rights and legal protection, no matter what their background is. The short film is also a letter
to the government to encourage them to strengthen the law enforcement towards Indonesian migrant
workers, as according to the news coverage scene, there are numerous issues about violence against
Indonesian female migrant workers.

It is necessary to deliver the message this way to portray the hopefulness of every migrant worker has
about working abroad to achieve a better life, but their hopes soon crushed by the reality that they
become a victim of violence, rape, human trafficking etc. As covered in Solidaritas Perempuan (1994,
p. 6), a woman named Mariya said “I don’t want to work overseas again, I’ve felt enough hellishness.
I worked to make money, but what I got was suffering.” So, the purpose of this PSA is to show empathy
towards women out there who have experienced such unfortunate things like Mariya, and it is hoped
that it will change the perspective of the society that produce sexism and toxic masculinity. Also, the
scene where women from varied backgrounds, ethnicity, professions say “We are worthy” is created to
reflect women empowerment, where women are allowed to have the freedom to be whatever they want.
This message is created to tackle the stereotype of women are better off doing domestic work according
to the socialized values, where it is also aimed that the Indonesian government will take a sensible
action to give protection towards migrant workers from any kind of violence as they are human beings
who deserve fair treatment and legal support like any of us.