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Khotimah’s case is an extreme one, and her employers have been charged with domestic violence and deprivation of liberty. But household staff currently have little or no recourse if employers fail to pay the agreed salary or expect round-the-clock service.

For nearly two decades, a bill to protect them has languished in parliament. Local customs that blur the line between employment and honorable service have been a stumbling block. "Ngenger,” for instance, is a Javanese tradition in which wealthy families take care of poorer relatives’ children. In return, the children carry out household chores.

Many policymakers have expressed concern that the bill will criminalize employers who engage in such practices, which advocates say helps poorer children to climb the social ladder through association with their richer relatives.

"In no other country will you find this culture of employing nephews as domestic workers,” said Law and Human Rights Vice Minister Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej. "We have some local cultural practices that differ with other countries, and it’s important to accommodate those.”

Policymakers are usually members of the upper-middle class themselves, Anggraini says, and may have four or five household staff of their own.

"In reality, the majority of lawmakers are employers,” she said. "They see themselves more as employers, rather than representatives of the people. So there is a conflict of interest.”

After months of pressure from workers, activists and the president himself, the latest round of discussions about the bill began in late March. For Jokowi, as the president is known, passing a law before he steps down next year would fulfil a campaign promise he made back in 2014.

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The bill requires employers and agents to uphold promised wages and working hours, and punishes physical assault with up to eight years’ imprisonment or fines of as much as 125 million rupiah ($8,233), according to a draft reviewed by Bloomberg. It also recognizes domestic helpers’ right to training, health insurance and social security.

For the employees it applies to, the bill meets many of the terms of the International Labour Organization Convention on Domestic Workers. Regulators and workers expect other policies - such as Indonesia’s existing commitments to end child labor and eradicate domestic violence - to fill some of the gaps.

However, the bill falls short of setting a minimum wage and working age, or capping working hours. Issues such as unionization also remain uncovered.

And there’s another, bigger catch. Domestic workers who are hired directly by a household, rather than via an employment agency, are not covered by the bill at all. Direct employees account for roughly 40% of all domestic staff, according to Anggraini.

Lawmakers felt it would be very difficult to enforce stringent labor regulations on direct hires given the informal nature of their employment, said Willy Aditya, who is leading the parliamentary team drafting the bill.

Direct hires must be reported to the local neighborhood head, Aditya said, but their living conditions are dependant on "an approach of mutual help and humanity.”

Many lawmakers, including Indonesia’s first female parliamentary speaker, Puan Maharani, initially resisted the bill citing concerns about customs such as ngenger. Maharani said she wanted to avoid controversy.

Vice Minister Hiariej did not respond to requests for comment about the issue of direct hires.

Still, the bill is a first step to improving protections for domestic workers in Indonesia. And as the country’s middle class expands, the number of household staff is expected to grow too. Around half a million joined the sector between 2008 and 2015, according to the ILO.

New regulations may also become a useful governmental bargaining chip in negotiating better conditions for Indonesians overseas. The nation is one of the world’s biggest sources of domestic staff, with 3.6 million of its citizens employed in wealthier homes around the world, mainly in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and the Middle East.