North-South Initiative director Adrian Pereira said domestic workers were at risk of abuse as they were often confined to their homes and had little or no means of interacting with others.

He said there were simply not enough “boots on the ground” to check on the well-being of the workers and this was where NGOs, unions and embassy staff could help out.

Pereira was commenting on the alleged assault of a 24-year-old Indonesian maid in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, at the hands of two other women. She suffered injuries and bruises to her face, head, shoulders, neck and legs.

The victim is believed to have been beaten with tools made of rattan, wood and iron for making mistakes on the job. She also said she had not been paid for over a year.

In the longer term, Pereira said, a specific law to govern domestic work and protect the rights of workers was needed.

“We can blame the government for the situation today as it has been dragging its feet for years. It is a shame that we still can’t solve this in our journey to becoming a developed nation,” he said.

Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das said her organisation had received more than 30 complaints involving domestic workers in the last three months.

“These are mostly for unpaid wages, as well as mental and emotional abuse. There are also a number of physical abuse cases, including forced labour and being subject to slave-like conditions.”

She said it was vital for the authorities to carry out unannounced labour inspections, adding that although cases of abuse were reported, intervention efforts were often not carried out fast enough.