• Gender-based violence is not about an individual - it’s systemic.
• Victims can be targeted for many reasons – their gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, class or race.
In 2018, it was a yes for 79 governments out of 83 that replied to whether the International Labour Conference should adopt an instrument or instruments concerning violence and harassment in the world of work.
In March 2019, the ILO released the most recent draft of the proposed Convention, 'Ending Violence and Harassment in the World of Work'. This consists the observations made by governments, employers and workers’ organisations after the Convention's initial discussion during the 107th International Labour Conference in 2018.
They will serve the basis for the second discussion during the 108th International Labour Conference (June 10-21) in Geneva. Almost all governments and workers’ organisations and a simple majority of employers’ organisations were in favour of the conference adopting an instrument to address violence and harassment in the world of work.
A majority of governments and workers’ organisations were in favour of a Convention supplemented by a recommendation, whereas the employers’ organisations favoured a recommendation.
A Convention is legally binding and requires member states to ratify and domesticate it; and obligates them to regularly report on measures taken to implement it.
The targets of violence, mostly women, are afraid of losing the sole source of their family sustenance and likely retaliation from employers, which would bar them ever working again in the sector they are engaged in.
A recommendation contains non-binding guidelines. A Convention supplemented by a recommendation lays down the basic principles to be implemented by ratifying countries and is supplemented by a related recommendation to the Convention giving detailed guidelines on how it could be applied.
The proposed instrument on ending violence and harassment at the workplace will be the fifth item on the agenda during this year’s session. Basically, discussions will be towards adoption of proposed instrument that seeks to boldly identify the steps that governments, employers and workers’ organisations must take to prevent, address and redress violence and harassment in the world of work.
None of the existing international labour standards address violence and harassment in the world of work in a comprehensive way.
Gender-based violence is not about an individual - it’s systemic. GBV is an ever-present collaborator to subjugation and power imbalances. Victims can be targeted for many reasons – their gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, class or race. It undermines workers and makes the targets of violence fearful of speaking out as they find themselves in a dilemma– to keep their job or to speak out against violence.
The targets of violence, mostly women, are afraid of losing the sole source of their family sustenance and likely retaliation from employers, which would bar them ever working again in the sector they are engaged in. If workers feel powerless, the power imbalance enables employers to pay wages that do not support families, they get away with unsafe workspaces and/or ignore dangerous working conditions, and engage in violence on the job.
According to statistics, 35 per cent of women – 818 million women globally – over the age of 15 have experienced sexual or physical violence at home, in their communities or in the workplace.
Only few countries’ laws cover some form of gender-based violence at work. Even those that address it in some way often are not sufficient or are not enforced. In Kenya, for instance, the Employment Act adopted in 2006 obliges employers to formulate a statement on sexual harassment in any enterprise with 20 or more employees.
According to statistics, 35 per cent of women – 818 million women globally – over the age of 15 have experienced sexual or physical violence at home, in their communities or in the workplace.
The 2010 Constitution's Bill of Rights guarantees every individual freedom and security, including protection from any form of violence from either public or private sources. However, despite existence of these laws, how these things are handled usually makes it seem there are no protections or ways to be heard at the workplace and harassment persists.
The proposed global rule after years of campaigning by workers, trade unions and human rights organisations provides strong protections against GBV at work. A binding ILO Convention on gender-based violence would support and encourage workers to speak out, work with employers to craft policies to prevent and address GBV, and provide governments with critical guidance in creating national legal frameworks that prevent and redress GBV at work.
The proposed Convention promises workers everywhere access to a binding international standard covering GBV at work. The text of the proposed Convention is in line with other relevant international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers.
Progamme manager Women@Work, Hivos.