The violent death of Indonesian maid Muawanatul Chasanah 14 months ago sent shockwaves through Singapore, but it is only now that action is being taken in her native country. Put that down to endemic corruption, a lack of resolve and a system mired in red tape.
Indonesian women are the most abused by their employers of all Asian migrant workers. Thousands of cases are reported each year, many in the Middle East, where sexual assault is the main crime. Complaints in Hong Kong more frequently revolve around underpayment.
Like their counterparts from the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal, Indonesia's 500,000 migrant workers have signed contracts to work overseas, where they can earn far more than they could at home. But they also suffer one difference which leaves them open to abuse - linguistics.
Most speak only Indonesian or regional dialects. In Hong Kong, Filipinos, Sri Lankans and Nepalis have the advantage of speaking English, while Thais use a language that is essentially a dialect of Cantonese.
The abuses 19-year-old Muawanatul suffered at the hands of her Singaporean employers have finally prompted Indonesia's government to act. They have frozen new contracts for at least a month pending a review of the system.
Photographs of the injuries inflicted on the maid by Ng Hua Chye and his wife, Tan Chai Hong, jolted Singapore. Muawanatul died from a ruptured stomach after being punched and kicked by Ng. Tan, dissatisfied with the way her daughter was being bathed, had earlier hurt the woman's breasts.