SOLIDAR at the 107th ILO Conference – Let’s end gender based violence at work
SOLIDAR at the 107th ILO Conference – Let’s end gender based violence at work
SOLIDAR will again take a delegation to the International Labour Organization’s International Labour Conference (ILO-ILC) that will open in Geneva on Monday 28 May and will end on 8 June.
Together with its members* and partners from Algeria (SNAPAP Women) and Bolivia (FENTRAHOB – Domestic Workers Union), SOLIDAR will follow the works of the standard setting committee on violence and harassment in the world of work and will focus on gender-based violence at work.
Back in 2009, the ILO Conference adopted a Resolution calling for the prohibition of gender-based violence* in the workplace and for policies, programmes, legislation and other measures to be implemented to prevent it. The 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015, also calls for the elimination of “all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres” (SDG 5.2).
Whilst violence and harassment at work concern both men and women, the existing unequal power relations in our societies make women more exposed to violence and harassment. According to statistics (see the ITUC’s Stop Gender-Based Violence Campaign materials),
- 35% 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.
- Between 40 and 50% of women experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at work.
Moreover, gender-based violence** at work is one of the biggest obstacles to women’s economic empowerment, and hence to their autonomy and independence.
Nevertheless, for the time being, international legislation lacks of a clear definition of violence at work as well as clear indications of how to address the problem. A binding international labour standard would fill this gap.
- For this reason, SOLIDAR will be in Geneva to support its partners’ call for the adoption of a binding instrument in the form of a Convention supplemented by a Recommendation that would
- send a strong message that violence is not part of the job;
- contribute to the realization of women’s rights;
contribute to the realization of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.
The SOLIDAR mission to the ILC is part of SOLIDAR’s wider campaign to #FightInequalities and promote women right #SDG5 #SheisWe to be launched during the European Development Days in Brussels #MakeEuropeSustainable for ALL
#SheisWe #FightInequalities #MakeTheWorldSustainable for ALL
* The following SOLIDAR members will be present at the 2018 ILC: FOS (Belgium), SOLIDAR Switzerland, CGIL (Italy), OGBL Solidarité syndicale (Luxembourg)
** Gender-based violence (GBV) is violence that is directed against an individual or group of individuals based on their gender identity. GBV encompasses violence against women and girls as well as against men and boys, people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI), and other individuals who do not conform to dominant perceptions of gender.
***Key resources:
ITUC Campaign Stop Gender-Based Violence at Work
ITUC Briefing Note on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work
