Article 11(a) of Convention No. 190 calls for “violence and harassment in the world of work [to be] addressed in relevant national policies, such as those concerning occupational safety and health, equality and non-discrimination, and migration”. In light of the complexities of this multifaceted issue and the wide range of individuals who need protection, violence and harassment should be mainstreamed into all relevant policies related to the world of work. By doing so, ratifying countries would be able to ensure a holistic approach, and benefit from specific entry points and measures brought about by different policy interventions.
Box 34. Violence and harassment in relevant policies: Selected examples
Belgium: The Third National Action Plan to combat all forms of gender-based violence (2015–2019) put forward measures to raise awareness about human trafficking and other forms of violence and harassment, including among refugees and migrants and in sectors where exploitation for economic purposes may be taking place. In particular, attention is paid to the hospitality, construction, agriculture, manufacturing and fisheries industries. Priority is given to projects developed jointly with trade unions in order to find more effective and robust ways to prevent trafficking. Some measures are intended to improve access of victims to certain rights, such as recovery of unpaid salaries. 44
Grenada: The National OSH Policy foresees the role of the Ministry of Health in supporting the Ministry of Labour in health promotion at the workplace, including in the area of “the cessation of smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, drug abuse, promiscuity, stress, anger, violence and avoidance of other behaviours which are detrimental to life” (Grenada 2019, 16).
Lesotho: The 2020 National Occupational Safety and Health Policy explicitly specifies “violence and harassment” as one OSH issue that every head of department or institution in the public service and every member of the public service shall be required to pay special attention to and monitor (Lesotho 2020).
Portugal: The National Strategy for Equality and Non-Discrimination for 2018–30 (“Portugal + Igual” – ENIND), approved by Resolution No. 61/2018 of the Council of Ministers, sets as a specific objective to prevent and address violence against women and domestic violence, including by promoting a culture of non- violence and tolerance.
South Africa: The South African Government explicitly acknowledged online gender-based violence in the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence andFemicide2020–2030. Online violence against women is defined as: “any act of gender-based violence against a woman that is committed, assisted or aggravated in part or fully by the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), such as mobile phones and smartphones, the internet, social media platforms or email, against a woman because she is a woman, or affects women disproportionately”. Within the next five years, the Government plans to conduct studies on the impact of online violence against women and roll out cyber violence awareness programmes and strategies to respond to online gender-based violence (South Africa 2020).
Zimbabwe: The 2020 National Labour Migration Policy takes into account violence and harassment, and in particular gender-based violence and harassment. The National Policy particularly aims to ensure that labour migrants’ rights during both inward and outward migration – and especially the rights of women labour migrants, who are more vulnerable to gender-based violence, sexual abuse and human trafficking – are upheld in line with the ILO Decent Work Agenda during all the three stages of the migration process (Zimbabwe 2020).
44 The National Action Plan also contains several other operational initiatives including optimizing and effectively applying legal instruments; training for relevant professionals; improving victim protection and specialized services; maintaining international attention on the issue and coordinating actions; and sensitizing frontline staff, civil society actors and the general public to trafficking (Belgium 2015).