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1.1. Filling a gap in international labour standards

Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 are anchored in the Declaration of Philadelphia(1944), which states that “all human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity”. The need to protect the dignity of all human beings has been intrinsic to the work of the ILO since its outset. Throughout its history, the ILO has adopted a number of standards that have the objective of protecting workers in general, or certain categories of workers, against situations in which violence and harassment is present (see table at page 3) (ILO 2017a; 2016a). For instance, some of the illegal forms of work addressed in the ILO fundamental Conventions inherently relate to violence (ILO 2017a). ¹ Other international labour standards either refer directly to various manifestations of violence and harassment in the world of work, or have been considered by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) to cover certain manifestations of violence and harassment. A number of ILO instruments relate to occupational safety and health (OSH) and set out to protect workers’ safety and health, including from the risk of violence and harassment. ² Even if violence and harassment may not be explicitly addressed in these instruments, such conduct does constitute a health risk. ILO social security instruments set out the right to medical and allied care and rehabilitation, including psychological care and treatment for victims of work-related injuries (work accident or occupational diseases), and in case of general sickness. They
also seek to ensure the provision of periodical payments in the event of temporary incapacity to work, permanent loss of earning capacity or death. ³

Selected provisions on violence and harassment included in other ILO Conventions, Protocols and Recommendations.

Conventions	Provisions on violence and harassment
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No.29), and its 2014 Protocol; Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)	Convention No. 29 defines forced or compulsory labour as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily” (Art. 2(1)). The “menace of a penalty” should be understood in a very broad sense, covering penal sanctions, as well as various forms of coercion, such as physical violence, psychological coercion, retention of identity documents, etc. The penalty here in question might also take the form of a loss of rights or privileges (ILO 2012).
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87); Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)	While the instruments do not include an explicit prohibition of violence against trade union activities, the ILO, the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards and the Committee on Freedom of Association have – in line with the 1970 Resolution concerning trade union rights and their relation to civil liberties – consistently stressed the interdependence between civil liberties and trade union rights, and in particular the importance for trade unions to operate in a climate free from violence, pressure and threats of any kind (ILO 1970; 2012).
Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138); Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)	The worst forms of child labour inherently include physical an psychological violence and harassment (Convention No. 182, Art.3(a)–(d)). In addition, possible exposure to violence and harassment is relevant for identifying hazardous work (Convention No. 138, Art.3(1); Convention No. 182, Art. 3(d)) (ILO 2012).
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)	Sexual harassment is considered a serious form of sex discrimination falling within the scope of the Convention (Art. 1) (ILO 2012). Definitions of discrimination should also include discrimination-based harassment as a serious form of discrimination, in particular racial harassment (ILO CEACR 2019).
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169)	Article 20(3) provides that workers belonging to indigenous peoples should enjoy protection from sexual harassment.
Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181)	Article 8(1) calls for the adoption of measures to provide adequate protection for, and prevent abuses of, migrant workers recruited or placed in a Member State’s territory by private employment agencies.
Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006)	Guideline B4.3.1 requires the competent authority to ensure that the implications of harassment and bullying for health and safety are taken into account. Guideline B4.3.6 provides that, with respect to investigations, consideration should be given to the inclusion of problems arising from harassment and bullying.
HIV and AIDS Recommendation, 2010 (No. 200)	Paragraph 14(c) requires measures to be taken in or through the workplace to reduce the transmission and alleviate the impact of HIV by, among other things, “ensuring actions to prevent and prohibit violence and harassment in the workplace”.
Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) and Recommendation (No. 201)	Article 5 requires Member States to take measures to ensure that domestic workers enjoy effective protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence. Paragraph 7 of Recommendation No. 201 refers to the establishment of mechanisms to protect domestic workers from abuse, harassment and violence, including creating accessible complaint mechanisms, ensuring that all complaints are appropriately investigated and prosecuted, and establishing programmes for the relocation and rehabilitation of domestic workers subjected to abuse, harassment and violence.
Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204)	Paragraph 11(f) calls for the adoption of a comprehensive policy framework, which should include “the promotion of equality and the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence, including gender-based violence, at the workplace”.
Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205)	Paragraph 15(e) states: “In responding to discrimination arising from or exacerbated by conflicts or disasters and when taking measures for promoting peace, preventing crises, enabling recovery and building resilience, Members should: … (e) prevent and punish all forms of gender-based violence, including rape, sexual exploitation and harassment, and protect and support victims.”

¹ The ILO Governing Body has identified eight “fundamental” Conventions covering subjects that are considered to be fundamental principles and rights at work: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour; the effective abolition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. These principles are covered by the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998) (ILO 2019a; 2018e). For more information see: ILO, “Conventions and Recommendations”.

² ILO occupational safety and health (OSH) standards include the: Occupational Safety and Health Convention (No. 155) and Recommendation (No. 164), 1981; Protocol of 2002 to the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981; Occupational Health Services Convention (No. 161) and Recommendation (No. 171), 1985; List of Occupational Diseases Recommendation, 2002 (No. 194); and Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention (No. 187) and Recommendation (No. 197), 2006.

³ The main ILO standards on employment injury benefits are: Part VI of the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102); Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121); Employment Injury Benefits Recommendation, 1964 (No. 121); and List of Occupational Diseases Recommendation, 2002 (No. 194).

1.2. Advancing international labour law

All these provisions show how the ILO has addressed issues related to violence and harassment at work throughout the past decades (Chappell and Di Martino 2006; ILO 2017a; Trebilcock 2019). However, it has done so in a fragmented manner, protecting only certain groups and only from certain manifestations of violent and harassing behaviours. There was a need for a comprehensive instrument that could cover all instances of violence and harassment for all workers and other persons in the world of work, and in 2015, the ILO Governing Body decided that this gap needed to be filled. After extensive dialogue at the national, regional and international levels (summarized in figure 1), Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 were finally adopted at the 108th Session of the International Labour Conference (2019) by an overwhelming majority of ILO tripartite constituents (ILO 2016a; 2016b; 2017a; 2018a; 2018b; 2019b; 2019d). ⁴ As a binding international treaty, Convention No. 190 lays down the basic principles to be implemented by ratifying countries. Recommendation No. 206 accompanies Convention No. 190 by providing more detailed – although non-binding – guidance on how Convention No. 190 could be applied (ILO 2019a).

⁴ For the final record vote on Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206, see ILO 2019c; 2019d.

2.1. What is violence and harassment?

Convention No. 190 refers to violence and harassment as a single composite concept covering “a range of unacceptable behaviours, practices or threats thereof”, rather than providing a closed or uniform definition of what constitutes violence and/or harassment in the world of work.

Definitions

Article 1

For the purpose of this Convention:
- the term “violence and harassment” in the world of work refers to a range of unacceptable behaviours and practices, or threats thereof, whether a single occurrence or repeated, that aim at, result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, and includes gender-based violence and harassment;
- the term “gender-based violence and harassment” means violence and harassment directed at persons because of their sex or gender, or affecting persons of a particular sex or gender disproportionately, and includes sexual harassment.
Without prejudice to subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article, definitions in national laws and regulations may provide for a single concept or separate concepts.

This approach allows for the flexibility needed to cover various manifestations of violence and harassment, including new ones that emerge over time (ILO 2018b). It also allows for “violence and harassment” to cover a wide range of terms found in different legislation to describe the same or similar phenomena (see figure 2). These laws often acknowledge that there is no clear line between violence and harassment (ILO 2018b; 2019b).

The definition in Article 1(a) is comprised of two elements. The first is the prohibited conduct, which encompasses “a range of unacceptable behaviours and practices, or threats thereof”. The use of the term “range” clarifies that violence and harassment can be understood to encompass conduct of different natures, which can be either independent behaviours or a combination of behaviours, including escalating ones (ILO 2018b). Whether a single occurrence may be sufficient to be considered violence and harassment, or whether it must be repeated conduct, in all cases such conduct must be “unacceptable”, based on subjective and objective considerations (ILO 2019b). To be unacceptable, this
conduct should “aim at, be likely to result or result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm”. The inclusion of “economic harm” along with physical, psychological and sexual harm ensures that all forms of violence and harassment are encompassed. Economic harm could consist of loss of income or property damages, but also restrictions in accessing financial resources, education or the labour market, including restricting a person’s ability to remain in or advance in the labour market.

Figure 2. Violence and harassment in the world of work: A broad range of terms

The definition does not include the intent as one of the constitutive elements.⁶ By not including intent, Convention No. 190 adopts a pragmatic and victim-centred approach, which focuses on the unacceptability of the conduct, practices or threats, and on their effect on victims. The absence of any reference to perpetrators in the actual text of Article 1 reinforces the purpose of the instruments, which is to prohibit all forms of violence and harassment in the world of work, regardless of their source, whether it be:

by or against individuals exercising the authorities, duties or responsibilities of an employer (vertical)
directed toward one’s peers (horizontal), or
involving third parties, such as clients, patients, passengers or customers.

While Convention No. 190 proposes a single concept covering violence and harassment, it takes into account the diversity of national legal systems and regulatory approaches, and allows States to opt for a single concept or separate concepts in their definitions in national laws and regulations (Art. 1(2)), while ensuring that all the elements of the definition provided by Convention No. 190 are respected (ILO 2019e; 2019b). This provision relates directly to the obligation stemming from the Convention to “define and prohibit violence and harassment in the world of work” (Art. 7). This is essential, as legislation lays the foundation for a culture of respect, including at work, and can trigger lasting change in society. By promoting a culture of dignity and respect for all, the law plays a crucial role in the prevention and eradication of violence and harassment. It can guide the development of prevention programmes, promote accurate identification of causes and consequences, ensure investigation, and provide protection and support for complainants, among other things.

Box 1. Examples of definitions of violence and harassment in recent legislative reforms

Canada defines “harassment and violence” as “any action, conduct or comment, including of a sexual nature that can reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or other physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee, including any prescribed action, conduct or comment” (Canada Labour Code (as amended in 2018), subsection 122(1)).

Côte d’Ivoire defines “psychological harassment” as “abusive behaviour, threats, attacks, words, intimidation, writing, attitudes, repeated actions against an employee, which have as their object or effect the deterioration of his working conditions and which as such are likely to affect his rights and dignity, to alter his physical or mental health or to compromise his professional future” (2015 Employment Code, art. 5(5)).

Ireland defines bullying at work as:

workplace bullying is repeated inappropriate behaviour, direct or indirect, whether verbal, physical or otherwise, conducted by one or more persons against another or others, at the place of work and/or in the course of employment, which could be reasonably regarded as undermining the individual’s right to dignity at work. An isolated incident of the behaviour described in this definition may be an affront to dignity at work, but, as a once off incident, is not considered to be bullying (Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work Order 2020).

Japan uses the terms “powerharassment”to define acts and speech: (a) taking advantage of the harasser’s position of authority; (b) harming the workplace environment; and (c) beyond what is necessary or appropriate for work operation (Labour Policy Comprehensive Promotion Act, art. 30-2, para. 1, as amended in 2019) (Library of Congress 2020).

Mexico: On 23 October 2019, the Mexican Official Standard NOM-035-STPS-2018 (NOM-035) on psychosocial risk factors in the workplace – identification, analysis and prevention – entered into force. For the purpose of this standard, “workplace violence” is defined as “acts of harassment, bullying or ill-treatment against workers, which may harm their integrity or health” (art. 4.12).

Puerto Rico (United States of America) defines “workplace bullying” as:

malicious, unwanted, repetitive and abusive conduct; arbitrary, unreasonable and/or capricious; verbal, written and/or physical; in a repeated manner by the employer, its agents, supervisors or employees, alien to the legitimate interests of the employer’s business, unwanted by the person, which infringes on his or her constitutionally protected rights, such as: the inviolability of the dignity of the person, the protection against abusive attacks on his or her honour, reputation and private or family life, and the protection of the worker against risks to his or her health or personal integrity in his or her work or employment. Such harassing conduct at work creates an intimidating, humiliating, hostile or offensive working environment, unsuitable for the reasonable person to perform his or her functions or tasks in a normal manner” (Law No. 90 of 2020, art. 4).

The Republic of Korea defines “workplace harassment” as “an act of an employer (or business owner) or employee (or worker) that causes physical or mental suffering or worsens the working environment of another employee/worker by taking advantage of his/her status or relationship within the workplace beyond the appropriate scope of work.” (Labour Standards Act (as amended in 2018), art. 76(2)).

Slovenia: Article 7 of the 2013 Employment Relationships Act distinguishes between harassment and bullying: “harassment” is defined as “any undesired behaviour associated with any personal circumstance” listed in the same article; while “bullying” at the workplace is defined as “any repetitive or systematic, reprehensible or clearly negative and insulting action or behaviour aimed at individual workers in the workplace or in connection with work”.

2.1.1. Gender-based violence and harassment

The notion of violence and harassment outlined in Article 1(a) of the Convention, explicitly includes “gender-based violence and harassment”. By embedding it in the overarching definition of violence and harassment, the elements of the offending conduct and the resulting or aimed impact are also applicable to the concept of gender-based violence and harassment (ILO 2018b, para. 273).⁷

For further clarity, the Convention defines gender-based violence and harassment as “violence and harassment directed at persons because of their sex or gender, or affecting persons of a particular sex or gender disproportionately, and includes sexual harassment” (Art. 1(b)):

The reference to “persons” is significant, as it broadens the definition of gender-based violence compared to other international and regional instruments. While gender-based violence and harassment disproportionately affects women and girls – as the Preamble of Convention No. 190 recognizes – Convention No. 190 seeks to protect everyone from such behaviours. ⁸
The reference to “sex or gender” makes both the biological functions and characteristics that differentiate men from women (that is, sex) and the sociological differences between men and women that are learned and changeable over time (that is, gender) relevant to Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 (ILO 2012).

The definition of gender-based violence and harassment explicitly includes “sexual harassment”. As a serious manifestation of sex discrimination and a violation of human rights, sexual harassment has been addressed prior to the adoption of Convention No. 190 within the context of the ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) (ILO 2012; 2020a; Cruz and Klinger 2011; ILO and UN Women 2019). Within that framework, and according to the 2002 General Observation of the ILO CEACR, definitions of sexual harassment contain the following two key elements:

Quid pro quo – Any physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature and other conduct based on sex affecting the dignity of women and men, which is unwelcome, unreasonable, and offensive to the recipient; and a person’s rejection of, or submission to, such conduct is used explicitly or implicitly as a basis for a decision which affects that person’s job; or
Hostile work environment – Conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment for the recipient.

Box 2. Advancing protection against gender-based violence and harassment in work-related legislation

In recent years, many countries have introduced specific provisions in work-related legislations aimed at defining gender-based violence and harassment and, in particular, sexual harassment.

Iraq: Section 10 of the Labour Law No.37/2015 prohibits sexual harassment by providing that:

This law prohibits sexual harassment in employment and occupation, whether at the level of job search, vocational training, recruitment or work conditions and terms.
This law prohibits any other behaviour that creates a hostile, intimidating or offending work environment for those against whom this behaviour is directed.
Sexual harassment in accordance with the provisions of this law is any physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature or other conduct based on sex, affecting the dignity of women and men, which is undesirable and unreasonable and insulting to those who are victim of this conduct, and the rejection by any person of this conduct, leading explicitly or implicitly, to a decision affecting his job.

Liberia defines “sexual harassment” as:

sexual conduct which is unwelcome, unreasonable, or offensive to the recipient, and which occurs in circumstances where a person’s rejection of, or submission to, such conduct is used explicitly or implicitly as a basis for a decision which affects that person’s job; or
sexual conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment for the person that is subject to th at conduct (Decent Work Act 2015, sect. 2.8(b)).

Niger defines “sexual harassment in the context of the performance of the employment contract” as “obtaining from others by order, intimidation, act, gesture, threat or coercion, favours of a sexual nature, as well as any other conduct of a sexual nature, with the effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment for a person” (Decree No. 2017-682/PRN/MET/PS in regulation of the Labour Code, art. 122).

Romania defines “gender-based violence” as:

The act of violence directed against a woman or, as the case may be, a man, motivated by sex. Gender-based violence against women is violence that disproportionately affects women. Gender-based violence includes, but is not limited to, domestic violence, sexual violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, forced abortion and forced sterilization, sexual harassment, trafficking in human beings, and forced prostitution (Law No. 202, 2002 on equal opportunities and equal treatment for women and men (as amended in 2015 and 2018), art. 4).

Uruguay: Article 2 of the 2009 Sexual Harassment Act (as amended in 2017) defines “sexual harassment” as “a behaviour of a sexual nature, performed by a person of equal or different sex, not desired by the person to whom it is addressed and whose rejection produces or threatens to cause damage to her situation at work or in the teaching relationship, or that creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating work environment for those to whom such conduct is directed”.

Convention No. 190 acknowledges that to be able to fully prevent and eradicate gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work, ratifying countries must address its root causes, such as multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination; unequal gender-based power relations; gender stereotypes; and gender, social and cultural norms that support violence and harassment. With a view to tackling the root causes of gender-based violence and harassment, as well as to reducing their harmful effects, Convention No. 190 calls for the adoption of a “gender-responsive approach”. Gender-responsiveness means intentionally employing gender considerations to affect the design, development, implementation and results of programmes and strategies, policies, laws and regulations, as well as collective agreements. This implies an approach that: reflects all girls’ and women’s realities; pays attention to their unique needs; ensures their participation in decision-making processes at all levels; values their perspectives; respects their experiences; and understands the developmental differences between girls and boys, women and men in all their diversity and throughout their life cycle. The ultimate aim is to empower girls and women, with a view to promoting gender equality in practice and achieving gender equity.

Domestic violence and the world of work

Historically, domestic violence has been relegated as a “private” issue, with no connection to the public sphere or to the world of work. Significantly, Convention No. 190 recognizes the negative spillover effects that domestic violence can have in general on the world of work, including in relation to employment, productivity, and safety and health. The Convention also recognizes the positive contribution that governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and labour market institutions can play in mitigating the impact of domestic violence on the world of work (Preamble and Art. 10(f)). Domestic violence can represent a particular risk that impairs the health and productivity of all workers and other persons concerned, including individuals exercising the authority, duties or responsibilities of an employer (ILO 2020b; 2020c). Some work-related places, situations or instances – particularly those which are easily accessible by the public, such as schools, hospitals, public services or street markets, among others – can be places where domestic violence is unleashed. Likewise, domestic violence represents an even more relevant risk for particular work arrangements, such as working from home, as well as for some categories of workers, such as domestic, home-based or contributing family workers, many of whom are women working informally (ILO 2021c).

Preamble

Noting that domestic violence can affect employment, productivity and health and safety, and that governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations and labour market institutions can help, as part of other measures, to recognize, respond to and address the impacts of domestic violence, and

Article 10

Each Member shall take appropriate measures to: …

(f) recognize the effects of domestic violence and, so far as is reasonably practicable, mitigate its impact in the world of work.

Following on from these provisions in the Convention, Paragraph 18 of Recommendation No. 206 sets out a number of measures that could be adopted to respond to and mitigate the impacts of domestic violence, such as:

leave for victims of domestic violence;
flexible work arrangements and protection for victims of domestic violence;
temporary protection against dismissal for victims of domestic violence, as appropriate, except on grounds unrelated to domestic violence and its consequences;
the inclusion of domestic violence in workplace risk assessments;
a referral system to public mitigation measures for domestic violence, where they exist; and
awareness raising about the effects of domestic violence.

Box 3. Examples of labour and employment provisions acknowledging the effects of domestic violence in the world of work and mitigating its impact

In recent years, countries have increasingly taken into account the effects of domestic violence on workers’ well-being and productivity in their labour and employment provisions. A growing number of countries have introduced leave, whether paid or unpaid, for workers who are victims of domestic violence. Others have included domestic violence as a ground of discrimination in employment and occupation, and require employers to provide reasonable accommodations. Some have envisaged employers’ duties to take preventive measures to protect the employee or other workers, or included domestic violence within the management of occupational safety and health (OSH). In addition, with a view to protecting specific categories of workers, such as domestic workers, against violence and harassment, some laws and regulations have extended the definition of “domestic violence” beyond traditionally understood family relationships to include those working in the domestic sphere.

Canada: Section 8 (Identification of risk factors) of the 2020 Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations states as follows: “An employer and the applicable partner must jointly identify the risk factors, internal and external to the work place, that contribute to harassment and violence in the work place, taking into account: … (b) circumstances external to the work place, such as family violence, that could give rise to harassment and violence in the work place”. ⁹

Ghana: The 2020 Domestic Violence Act prohibits all forms of violence and harassment occurring in the household environment. Domestic workers are included in the definition of the domestic relationship and are thus protected by the Act (Graphic Online 2020).

Kenya: The 2015 Protection Against Domestic Violence Act provides that, in case of domestic violence, the victim or a representative of the victim, including employers, may apply to the Court for a protection order (sects 2 and 8).

Peru in 2019 enacted the “Law to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women in public and private sphere, and violence against family members”. Article 11 foresees that, when the victim is an employee, the following rights should be guaranteed:

a. protection against dismissal for causes related to such acts of violence;
b. to change workplace without detriment to their conditions and terms of employment;
c. five days of justified absence;
d. suspension of the employment relationship; and
e. the right to return to the same or similar position afterwards.

United States (New York State) Maps Icon

United States (New York State): The New York State Labour Law includes domesticviolence as a ground of discrimination in employment and occupation (sect. 593), and requires employers to take reasonable accommodation, which may include obtaining services from a domestic violence shelter, obtaining psychological counselling, participating in safety planning and obtaining legal services, assisting in the prosecution of the offense or appearing in court (sect. 22(c)).

New Zealand: The 2018 Domestic Violence – Victims’ Protection Act grants employees affected by domestic violence the right to:

take at least ten days of paid domestic violence leave;
ask for short-term flexible working arrangements. This can be for up to two months; and
not be treated adversely in the workplace because they might have experienced domestic violence.

Box 4. Examples of collective agreements and other measures addressing domestic violence in the world of work

Social partners have also been very active. In several countries, collective agreements and other measures have been taken in relation to domestic violence, including training, provisions of flexible working arrangements, paid leave and support services.

Argentina: Farmacity developed a Protocol for action in situations of domestic and workplace violence. The Protocol provides internal communication campaigns and prevention training, including for personnel in decision-making positions, as well as guidance on how to detect such instances, and approach and support victims (Tercer Sector 2018).

Australia: Many enterprise agreements include provisions for paid family violence leave, allowing workers to ask to work part-time; to vary their working patterns; to temporarily change their work location; to change their work contact details, such as phone and email address; and to temporarily work from home or another location so as to address family violence. ¹⁰

Brazil: The collective agreement signed in 2020 for the banking sector establishes employers’ duty to: provide employees with an internal communiqué on prevention of domestic and family violence; establish support channels for victims of such violence and other support measures, such as the transfer of the victim of violence to another workplace; ensure confidentiality; and establish a line of credit or special financing for these victims (Sindicato dos Bancarios 2020).

Honduras: In 2020, the Asociacion de Maquiladoras de Honduras launched a campaign to help its members address domestic violence at work. The campaign included virtual seminars, the development and implementation of a training programme for members, and the creation of communication materials, including a web page providing general information and useful resources (Asociación Hondureña de Maquiladores 2020).

Spain: The collective agreement for the energy company Endesa provides for revised and flexible working hours, social care, legal assistance, protection orders and counselling for victims of domestic violence (Spain 2020; ETUC 2017).

⁶ In this regard, it is worth mentioning that within the framework of the ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) has already pointed out that the lack of intent or the existence of intent should not be relevant in harassment issues ; see ILO 2012.

⁷ During the standard setting process, it was clear that the term “gender-based violence” included both hostile working environment and quid pro quo sexual harassment. However, for consistency with the concept of violence and harassment as a range, and in light of the recent outcry and public debates related to the #MeToo campaign, which have highlighted the significance of sexual harassment, including in the workplace, it was agreed to add a clear reference to sexual harassment, while cognizant of the fact that gender-based violence does include sexual harassment.

⁸ See Carlson and Olney, forthcoming.

⁹ Many Canadian provinces/territories are also moving in this direction. See, for instance, Yukon Territory, where section 19.05 of the 2020 Occupational Safety and Health Regulations provides that “if an employer becomes aware, or ought reasonably to be aware, that a worker is or is likely to be exposed to domestic violence in the workplace, the employer must take reasonable precautions to protect the worker and any other persons in the workplace who are likely to be affected”.

¹⁰ As an example, see the Australian Jewish News Journalists Enterprise Agreement 2019 (Australia 2019). Since August 2018, family and domestic violence leave provisions have been inserted into all 122 of Australia’s modern awards, with a model clause developed for inclusion (Australia 2018).

3.1. The right to a world of work free from violence and harassment

Convention No. 190 is the first international instrument that specifically recognizes the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment (Art. 4). Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 critically complement other international instruments, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and international labour standards on equality and non-discrimination and on occupational safety and health, which also provide protection from violence and harassment, but do so implicitly. ¹⁵

Box 8. The right to a world of work free from violence and harassment in labour law and collective agreement provisions

In recent years, a growing number of countries have increasingly stressed in their work-related legislation and regulations the right to be free from violence and harassment.

Andorra: Article 44(2) (rights of the salaried person) of the 2018 Labour Code states as follows:

In implementing the employment contract, the salaried person has the right: …

e. Not to be discriminated against directly or indirectly when being hired, or once hired, on the basis of birth, race, sex, sexual orientation, origin, religion, disability, opinion or any other personal or social condition, or affiliation, or no, to a trade union or political organization; …

g. Respect for their privacy and consideration due to their dignity, including protection against harassment for the reasons of letter e) above.

Romania: The Labour Code, as amended in 2020, states the right of all employee to a job free from acts of moral harassment (Art. 5.3).

Iraq: According to article 42 of the 2015 Labour Law:

The worker has the following rights: …

To have equal opportunities and be recruited and work under equal conditions, without any discrimination.
To have a working environment, free from any harassment.

Italy: The new collective agreement for the shipping industry signed on 16 December 2020, recognizes the right of every seafarer “to work, train and live in an environment free from harassment and bullying on the grounds of sex, race and of any other nature” (Confitarma et al. 2020).

Senegal: The Senegalese Interprofessional Collective Agreement signed on 30 December 2019 does not explicitly mention Convention No. 190. However, its main contents, including the right to be free from violence and harassment and the need for an inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach, are included.

¹⁵ In connection with Article 7(b) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has consistently stressed factors such as freedom from violence and harassment – including sexual harassment – as being fundamental to guaranteeing the right to just and favourable conditions of work. See also Chappell and Di Martino 2006; Lippel 2016.

4.1.Defining and prohibiting violence and harassment

Convention No. 190 requires States to “adopt laws and regulations to define and prohibit violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment” (Art. 7). Defining and prohibiting violence and harassment in work-related legislation often fills a void in the law because such behaviours have often gone under the radar for so long. While a definition in law and regulations is key for interpretation purposes, only a prohibition can have a particular effect on conduct, and could lead to behaviours that produce change in practice, thereby protecting individuals and effectively preventing violence and harassment.

Box 12. Prohibiting violence and harassment in work-related legislation and regulations: Some recent examples

In recent years, a growing number of countries have introduced specific definitions and prohibitions of violence and harassment, or some of its forms, in work-related legislation, as explained in Chapter 2 (in particular section 2.1). While some of these prohibitions are still directed only at employers, others have a more general scope of protection and prohibit violence and harassment per se.

Albania: The new section 32(3) of the 2015 Labour Code prohibits employers from harassing workers with the purpose of, or resulting in, the degradation of working conditions to a degree that may result in a violation of the rights and dignity of the worker, damage the worker’s health, or inflict physical or mental damage to a worker’s future professional career.

Georgia: Article 6 of the 2014 Law on Gender Equality explicitly prohibits

harassment and/or coercion of a person with the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating, degrading, or offensive environment;
any unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical behaviour of sexual nature with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment.

Hong Kong, China: Section 22A(1) of the Disability Harassment Ordinance prohibitsdisability harassment in the workplace as follows: “It is unlawful for a person who is a workplace participant to harass a person with a disability who is also a workplace participant at a workplace of them both.”

Liberia: Section 2.8 (Prohibition of sexual harassment) of the 2015 Decent Work Act provides as follows:

a. A person shall not directly or indirectly sexually harass a worker:

in any employment practice; or
in the course of a person’s employment.

Niger: Article 122 of Decree No. 2017-682/PRN/MET/PS in regulation of the Labour Code provides as follows: “Sexual harassment, in the context of the performance of the employment contract, which consists of obtaining from others by order, intimidation, act, gesture, threat or coercion, favours of a sexual nature, as well as any other conduct of a sexual nature, with the effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment for a person, is prohibited.”

North Macedonia: Article 3(3) of the Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, states as follows: “Discrimination,harassmentand sexual harassment on the grounds of gender shall be prohibited in the public and private sector in the spheres of employment and labour”.

Romania: following the provisions of Government Ordinance No. 137/2020, a new paragraph has been added to article 6 of Law No 202/2002 on equal opportunities and treatment between women and men. The new paragraph 1.2 states as follows: “Moral harassment in the workplace on the basis of sex is prohibited.”

Canada (Yukon Territory): The Occupational Safety and Health Act, as amended in 2020, mandates workplace policy to include a statement that “violence and harassmentin the workplace is prohibited”.

5.1. Employers’ obligation to prevent violence and harassment in the world of work

Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 call on ratifying countries to adopt laws and regulations
requiring employers to “take appropriate steps commensurate with their degree of control to prevent
violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment” (Convention No. 190, Art. 9).

Article 9

Each Member shall adopt laws and regulations requiring employers to take appropriate steps commensurate with their degree of control to prevent violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment, and in particular, so far as is reasonably practicable, to:

adopt and implement, in consultation with workers and their representatives, a workplace policy on violence and harassment;
take into account violence and harassment and associated psychosocial risks in the management of occupational safety and health;
identify hazards and assess the risks of violence and harassment, with the participation of workers and their representatives, and take measures to prevent and control them; and
provide to workers and other persons concerned information and training, in accessible formats as appropriate, on the identified hazards and risks of violence and harassment and the associated prevention and protection measures, including on the rights and responsibilities of workers and other persons concerned in relation to the policy referred to in subparagraph (a) of this Article.

In the majority of countries, legislation requires employers to respect workers’ right to equality and non-discrimination, and to protect workers’ safety and health in the workplace. In addition, workers are typically compelled by law to comply with safety and health regulations. In some of these countries, occupational safety and health implicitly or explicitly includes risks and hazards that could lead to violence and harassment. In some countries, gender-based violence and harassment and/or other forms of discrimination-based harassment are themselves the object of specific preventive measures. Increasingly, the duty to prevent and protect against various forms of violence and harassment is recognized as a stand-alone obligation.

5.1.1. The extent of employers’ responsibility

The obligations under Article 9 should be read in light of the concept of violence and harassment as defined in Article 1, the scope of protection as per Article 2, and in relation to all instances provided for in Article 3. However, employers’ responsibility is qualified in two respects: first, the measures prescribed must be “appropriate” and correspond to the employers’ “degree of control”; and second, they should be taken “so far is reasonably practicable”. ²⁵

Even though these two qualifiers are not defined in Convention No. 190 or Recommendation No. 206, it is clear that employers cannot be responsible for situations, circumstances or persons beyond their degree of control. A degree of flexibility is foreseen. In other words, the measures taken should be commensurate with the means available and reasonable within a given context. It is thus a matter of each country ratifying Convention No. 190 to:

identify the criteria that will be used to specify the “degree of control” held by employers; and
evaluate the measures to be taken and the means through which these measures will be implemented to prevent violence and harassment.

Box 18. Violence and harassment and employers’ responsibilities

Albania: Section 32(1) of the Labour Code (Law No. 136/2015) provides that employers have an obligation to respect and protect the employment relationship by taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety, mental and physical health of employees; to prevent and stop moral and sexual harassment through relevant sanctions; and to prevent any behaviour that would undermine the dignity of the employee.

China: As of 2020, the amended Civil Code sets out new obligations, including for employers, in relation to sexual harassment. Article 1010 provides as follows:

A person who has been sexually harassed against his will by another person through oral words, written language, images, physical acts, or the like, has the right to request the actor to bear civil liability in accordance with law. The State organs, enterprises, schools, and other organizations shall take reasonable precautions, accept and hear complaints, investigate and handle cases, and take other like measures to prevent and stop sexual harassment conducted by a person through taking advantage of his position and power or a superior–subordinate relationship, and the like.

France: From 1 January 2019, companies employing at least 250 employees must designate a person to guide, inform and support employees in the fight against sexual harassment and sexist behaviour (a so called “harassment officer”). ²⁶

Niger: Article 122 of Decree No. 2017-682/PRN/MET/PS in regulation of the Labour Code provides: “The employer must take all the necessary measures to prevent acts of sexual harassment.”

Portugal: The Labour Code, as amended by Law No. 73/2017 of 16 August 2017, strengthens the legislative framework for the prevention of harassment by, inter alia, introducing an obligation on companies with more than seven employees to adopt a code of conduct on harassment in the workplace (art. 127(1)(k)), and to start disciplinary proceedings against an employee whenever an alleged harassment at work is revealed (art. 129(1)(l)). In 2018, a Guide for the Elaboration of the Code of Good Conduct for the Prevention of and Fight against Harassment at Work was published (Coelho et al. 2018).

Puerto Rico (United States): Article 5 of Law No. 90 of 2020 states the following:

An employer who engages in, encourages or permits workplace harassment shall be civilly liable to the persons affected. It shall be the responsibility of every employer to take the necessary measures to eliminate or minimize the occurrence of workplace harassment. Therefore, every employer shall adopt and implement the necessary internal policies to prevent, discourage and avoid workplace harassment in its workplaces, as well as investigate all allegations and impose the corresponding sanctions in those cases where appropriate.

Romania: Article 2 of Law No. 202, 2002 (as amended in 2015 and 2018) on equal opportunities and equal treatment for women and men provides that central and local public institutions and authorities, civil and military, with more than 50 employees, as well as private companies with more than 50 employees, should identify an employee to whom to assign tasks in the field of equal opportunities and treatment between women and men, including preventing and combating harassment at work.

Saudi Arabia: Article 5(1) of the 2018 Anti-Harassment Law states:

The competent authorities in the government sector and in the private sector shall put in place the necessary measures to prevent and combat harassment in their own working environments, provided they include the following:

An internal complaints mechanism in the sector;
The necessary procedures to ascertain the veracity and seriousness of complaints in such a manner as to maintain their confidentiality;
The dissemination and communication of such measures to those targeted by them.

The same article also provides: “The competent authorities in the government sector and in the private sector shall hold accountable – in disciplinary terms – any of those targeted by the measures in the event that they violate any of the provisions stipulated in this Act, in accordance with the established procedures.”

Social partner and business-led initiatives

Ecuador: The Chamber of Industries and Production (CIP) has been developing several actions against gender-based violence. In particular, in October 2020, it launched a comprehensive campaign on the prevention and elimination of violence against women at work, at home, at school and in society (“Más unidas, más protegidas”). Many CIP member companies have also adopted codes of conduct/ ethics that prohibit any kind of violence and harassment against women at work (Portal Diverso 2020).

India: The bus company Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation created a Women’s Safety Committee with members from the commuters’ association, civil society organizations and police. Following a survey among bus users, the company installed closed-circuit television cameras in buses and bus stations. It also organized gender sensitization training of male drivers and conductors, and targeted recruitment and training of women drivers and conductors with a view to addressing gender-based violence and harassment in particular (Social Development Direct 2020a).

Japan: Established in the early 1950s by trade unions and consumer cooperatives to enable their members to access finance at a time workers were excluded from the financial sector, Rokin (Labour) Banks is a network of 13 union-led cooperative financial institutions operating all across Japan. They count over 51,000 member organizations that represent 11 million individuals, mostly workers, including low-income workers (Kurimoto, Koseki, and Breda 2019). Rokin Banks recently developed and adopted the “Rokin Harassment Guidelines”. The Guidelines provide protection against all forms of harassment, including by third parties. The personal and material scope of the Guidelines reflect Articles 2 and 3 of Convention No. 190. They provide a broad protection by establishing internal reporting and complaint mechanisms, by providing effective remedies and protection against retaliation, by establishing a consultation service for victims, and by creating referral mechanisms to external specialized agencies and trade unions to ensure that all forms of harassment reports are received centrally and that it is easy for workers to access such services (Rokin Banks 2021).

RussianFederation: In January 2021 the Russian fooddeliveryplatformYandex included new terms and conditions on its policy. According to the new rules, the Yandex platform can block or restrict users’ access to the functions of the services for aggression or a rude attitude towards couriers. The company plans to offer legal advice to couriers who encounter such behaviours in the future (Khachatryan 2021).

South Africa: Agricultural company Country Bird has introduced a range of measures to improve physical safety and reduce gender-based violence and harassment risks during and after work. Following a series of incidents, Country Bird provided a minibusserviceforworkersafter their night shift and increased the number of closed-circuit television cameras around the processing plant (Social Development Direct 2020c).

²⁵ It should be noted that this is a common concept in OSH legislation, and indeed appears in Convention No. 155, whose Article 4(2) states as follows: “The aim of the policy [on occupational safety, occupational health and the working environment] shall be to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, linked with or occurring in the course of work, by minimising, so far as is reasonably practicable, the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment” (ILO 1979).

²⁶ In its practical guide, the French Government suggested the following role for the harassment officer: i) introducing awareness-raising measures and training measures for employees and managers; ii) directing employees towards competent authorities (labour inspector, labour doctor, official defender of the rights); iii) implementing internal procedures in order to encourage the reporting and processing of a situation of sexual harassment or sexist attitudes; iv) conducting internal investigations after the reporting of a situation of sexual harassment or sexist attitude (France 2019).

6.1. Enabling reporting and improving enforcement

Article 10 of Convention No. 190 includes a number of measures based on existing practice at the national level that each country could implement or strengthen based on national circumstances. To proactively enable and encourage reporting of violence and harassment, and to effectively respond to such complaints, Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 state principles that should be ensured irrespective of the concrete procedure enacted at the national or workplace level, as explained below.

6.1.1. Ensuring easy access, safety, fairness and effectiveness

Complaint mechanisms can be either internal (within an enterprise) or external (through the Ministry of Labour or other relevant ministries, court systems, sectoral or collective mechanisms, specialized tribunals or courts, labour inspectorates, dispute resolution agencies, human rights and equality bodies, or other quasi-judicial bodies).

Regardless of the specific mechanism, Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 state that all these channels should be easily accessible, safe, fair and effective. <sup>33</sup>

Internal complaint mechanisms are often foreseen by labour legislation, including OSH regulations, and by collective agreements, and may require the complaint to be taken by the supervisor, or where the supervisor is the alleged perpetrator, by another person.

Box 24. Ensuring access to justice at the workplace level

Recently, steps have been taken in several countries to include specific procedures in case of violence and harassment, including by setting up dedicated internal committees or by providing anonymous reporting.

Gabon: Article 6 of the Law on the Fight against Harassment in the Workplace, 2016, provides, “The employee, the civil servant or the trainee who considers to be a victim of moral or sexual harassment may inform, under confidential cover, staff representatives, the employer, the general inspection services or the labour inspection services.” Article 8 further specifies, “Staff representatives and union delegates in a company as well as the trade union organizations in the public sector have a right to be whistle-blowers.”

Mexico: In March 2020, the Secretariat of Labour and Social Welfare issued a model protocol to address and eradicate work violence (Mexico 2020). This model protocol defines the procedures or mechanisms to provide assistance to alleged victims of workplace violence, to identify the competent bodies that may provide support on these issues, and to promote an organizational culture of gender equality and a work environment that helps eliminate workplace violence. The model protocol includes protection and conduct modification measures to avoid re-victimization and to help reduce incidences of violence. It also foresees the creation of an “Attention and Follow-Up Committee”, which is an internal committee with company and employee representatives authorized to assist and monitor the application of the protocol.

Panama: According to the 2018 Anti-Discrimination Law, every employer, public and private institution and educational establishment, must implement internal procedures for individuals to bring harassment claims and for the resolution of such claims. Pursuant to the Law, these proceedings must be adequate and effective to allow for the swift resolution of claims, while also ensuring confidentiality and giving appropriate protection to the plaintiff and witnesses.

Peru: In July 2019, Peru introduced a legislation requiring employers to set up a Sexual Harassment Committee or Delegate, depending on the size of the employer. ³⁴ Workplaces with 20 or more employees must ensure they introduce an Intervention against Sexual Harassment Committee. In workplaces with fewer than 20 employees, an anti-sexual harassment delegate will assume the role of the Intervention Committee. If an incident of sexual harassment involves an outsourcing or intermediation company, the complaint should be filed with the main company or user, which must carry out the investigation procedure through its Intervention against Sexual Harassment Committee. The investigation procedure can be initiated by an involved party, at the request of the victim or a third party, or ex officio.

United Kingdom: According to technical guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2020, employers should consider setting up reporting systems that will allow for anonymous reports. By being anonymous, such systems could: capture complaints that would otherwise go unreported; encourage complainants to come forward; and allow some form of action even if a full investigation is not possible. In addition, the Guidelines also recommend employers to make sure there are trained workers who can support a complainant through the process of making a complaint. These could be members of the human resources team or may be nominated “guardians” (United Kingdom 2020).

Saudi Arabia: According to the 2018 Anti-Harassment Law, all organizations in the public and private sector are under an obligation to take steps to prevent harassment from occurring. Employers are required to put in place an internal complaints mechanism and procedure that deals with matters confidentially, take remedial action for any breaches of the law, and not prevent or replace a victim’s right to separately raise a complaint to the competent authorities.

Social partner and business-led initiatives

Argentina: The Asociación Bancaria adopted a protocol against Workplace Violence, Gender Violence and Gender-based Workplace Violence for the Banco de la Nación Argentina. The Protocol establishes an internal procedure to handle such cases, including instances of gender-based violence against LGBTIQ+ people. It includes specific reference to cyberbullying and also provides for ten days leave to victims of domestic violence (Banco Nación 2020).

Bangladesh: The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is a legally binding agreement between global brands, retailers and trade unions to improve safety in the garment and textile industry. The Accord provides workers with an independent grievance mechanism through which they can confidentially raise concerns about issues, including workplace violence, and be protected against retaliation.

Lesotho: An independent grievance mechanism has been created to tackle sexual harassment in Lesotho’s textile factories. The oversight body has the power to investigate claims and compel factories to discipline or dismiss offenders (Abimourched et al. 2019).

Singapore: Tripartite partners have come together to develop the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment, which serves as a practical guide for employers and employees to better prevent and manage harassment in the workplace. The Advisory emphasizes the importance of proactive management and focuses on preventive measures to ensure a safe and conducive workplace. It also suggests key steps and remedial actions that employers and affected persons can take in responding to harassment when it occurs (Singapore 2015).

Conciliation, mediation and arbitration may also be available or required when a complaint is lodged either internally (through dispute resolution or grievance procedures under collective agreements) or externally (through in-court conciliation, extrajudicial conciliation through autonomous procedures, or by public administration systems). Practice has shown that different approaches focusing more on generating an attentive and responsive dialogue by hearing both parties’ voices, seem to overcome the adversarial nature of legalistic models, increase complainant satisfaction, and reduce retaliation (Dobbin and Kalev 2020).

Box 25. Violence and harassment and non-disclosure agreements

In some jurisdictions, an increasing number of provisions aim at overcoming the practice to include disputes related to violence and harassment – and in particular gender-based violence and harassment and discrimination – within the scope of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). These NDAs typically include, among other things, confidentiality and mutual non-disparagement provisions, which prevent the parties from discussing the terms of the settlement as well as the circumstances surrounding the settlement. Following several high-profile scandals, some countries have taken measures to make sure that NDAs are not used to silence victims or whistle-blowers, irrespective of their contractual status, who allege any misconduct, particularly sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination-based harassment. In this regard, Article 10(c) of Convention No. 190 states that ratifying States should “ensure that requirements for privacy and confidentiality are not misused” (ILO 2019c, para. 828).

For instance, in 2020, the United Kingdom’s arbitration service Acas has advised firms and workers against using NDAs to prevent someone from reporting sexual harassment, discrimination or whistle blowing at work (Acas 2020). In the United States, provisions have been introduced in many states to prevent the misuse of NDAs. For instance, in New Jersey, employers can no longer enforce NDAs relating to discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims against current or former employees under a law that became effective in March 2019 (Avallone and Meade 2019).

In the same year, New York State adopted regulations stating that a worker cannot be bound by any agreement signed after 11 October 2019 that prohibits the worker from disclosing harassment facts or settlement of a claim of harassment on any protected category basis unless that is the worker’s preference. ³⁵

In recent years, many countries have embarked on legislative reforms to ensure that external complaint mechanisms for cases of violence and harassment in the world of work are safe, easy to access and provide timely processing, particularly in cases involving discrimination-based behaviours.

Box 26. Strengthening reporting and dispute resolution mechanisms external to the workplace

Brazil: In 2017 the Government enacted Ordinance No. 583, establishing the National Policy for Preventing and Confronting Moral and Sexual Harassment and Discrimination within the scope of the Labour Prosecution Office´s mandate.

Canada: Under the 2019 Accessible Canada Act, individuals can file an accessibility complaint if they have experienced physical or psychological harm, property damage or financial loss. The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board will deal with complaints related to accessibility for most federal public servants and parliamentary employees through the grievance process.

CostaRica: Legislative Decree No. 9343/2015 on reforming labour procedures and amending the Labour Code established a fast-track procedure for situations of labour discrimination suffered by vulnerable populations, including migrants and refugees.

Gabon: Article 9 of the Law on the Fight against Harassment in the Workplace, 2016, states, “Any representative trade union organization or any legally declared association may, with the written agreement of the employee, bring any action on his/her behalf before the competent authorities or courts.”

India: The Sexual Harassment Electronic Box (SHe-Box) is an effort of the Government of India to provide single window access to facilitate registration of complaints related to sexual harassment (in accordance with the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013). Once a complaint is submitted, it is directly sent to the concerned authority having jurisdiction to take action. Any woman can use the SHe-Box, irrespective of her work status, or whether she is working in an organized or unorganized business or in the private or public sector. The resources section of the SHe-Box contains detailed information on the issue of sexual harassment of women in the workplace. This includes a user-friendly Handbook on the Sexual Harassment Act and a training module to build the capacity of government officials (India, n.d.).

In relation to gender-based violence and harassment, Convention No. 190 provides that complaint and dispute resolution mechanisms should be “gender-responsive” (Art. 10(e)). This includes, for instance, designing and ensuring that judicial and non-judicial mechanisms are responsive to the barriers faced by victims of gender-based violence and harassment in seeking effective remedies and in reducing the harmful effects of such prohibited behaviours. Recommendation No. 206 offers further guidance, by recommending that courts be equipped with the necessary expertise and legal advice (Para. 16(a)-(c)); that assistance for complainants and victims, as well as guides and other information resources be provided (Para. 16(c)–(d)); and that the burden of proof be shifted, as appropriate, in proceedings other than criminal ones (Para. 16(e)).

Box 27. Gender-responsive reporting and dispute resolution mechanisms: Some examples

Djibouti: Following an amendment in 2018, article 4-quater of the Labour Code provides that, in case of any dispute related to harassment, including sexual harassment, the burden of proof is shifted. In particular, when the employee presents evidence suggesting the existence of harassment, “it is up to the defendant to prove that these acts do not constitute such harassment and that their decision is justified by objective elements unrelated to any harassment. The judge shall form his or her opinion after ordering, if necessary, all the investigative measures he or she deems useful.”

Gabon: Article 7 of the Law on the Fight against Harassment in the Workplace, 2016, provides, “The burden of proof of the facts constituting moral or sexual harassment lies with the victim. It is then up to the defendant to prove that these actions do not constitute harassment.”

North Macedonia: Article 33 of the 2006 Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, as amended in 2015, provides, “(1) The person who considers that the right to equal treatment has been violated on the grounds of gender may file a lawsuit with a competent court. … (3) The procedure shall be urgent.” Article 34 addresses which court will have competence in the matter, stating: “In the procedure for the protection of the right to equal treatment on the grounds of gender, the court where the permanent place of residence of the plaintiff is located shall be locally competent, besides the court of local competence.”

Philippines: The 2018 Safe Spaces Act requires employers to create an independent internal mechanism to investigate and address complaints of gender-based sexual harassment which shall adequately represent the management, the employees from the supervisory rank, the rank-and-file employees, and the union, if any; and have a woman as its head and not less than half of its members should be women (sect. 17).

UnitedStates(NewYorkState): As of 11 October 2019, the standard for proving a harassment claim has been significantly eased, and a worker no longer has to prove that the harassment was “severe or pervasive” or that a comparator was treated better or that they filed a complaint internally (Zweig and Davidoff 2019).

6.1.2. Protection before, during and after reporting or making a complaint

Convention No. 190 recognizes the right of workers to remove themselves from a work situation which they have reasonable justification to believe presents an imminent and serious danger to life, health or safety due to violence and harassment. Additionally, workers should be able to exercise this right without suffering retaliation or other undue consequences, while having a duty to inform their employers (Art. 10(g)). ³⁶ This protection is found in relevant OSH standards. In particular, Article 13 of the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), which states, “A worker who has removed himself from a work situation which he has reasonable justification to believe presents an imminent and serious danger to his life or health shall be protected from undue consequences in accordance with national conditions and practice.”

Throughout the reporting, investigation and dispute resolution process, Convention No. 190 calls for the protection of privacy and confidentiality, to the extent possible and as appropriate (Art. 10(c)). The confidentiality of complaints is essential to protecting the privacy of both the complainant and the alleged perpetrator. However, privacy and confidentiality should not impede an investigation. Related to this, ratifying States are also to “ensure that requirements for privacy and confidentiality are not misused” (Art. 10(c)).

Box 28. Ensuring privacy and confidentiality, and the right to remove oneself from a harmful situation

Luxembourg: Article L.245-6(2) of the Labour Code, as amended in 2016, states, “The staff delegation, and the equality representative, if there is one, are empowered to assist and advise the employee who is the subject of sexual harassment. They are required to respect the confidentiality of the facts of which they are aware in this respect, except to be exempted from it by the harassed person.”

Saudi Arabia: Article 4 of the 2018 Anti-Harassment Law provides, “Any person who has access – by virtue of their work – to information about any instance of harassment is required to maintain the confidentialityof such information. The identity of the victim may not be revealed except when required by evidentiary procedures, the investigation or trial.”

South Sudan: Article 7 of the 2017 Labour Act requires that the workplace policies include specific provisions on the fact that “the employer will not disclose the name of a complainant or the circumstances related to the complaint to any person except where disclosure is necessary for the purpose of investigating the complaint or taking disciplinary measures in relation thereto”.

United Kingdom: The Employment Rights Act 1996 (Protection from Detriment in Health and Safety Cases) (Amendment) Order 2021 confers on workers, and not only employees, the right not be subjected to a detriment for leaving, or refusing to return, to their workplace in circumstances where they reasonably believe it would put themselves or others in serious or imminent danger, or for taking steps to protect themselves.

Convention No. 190 also protects against any forms of victimization or retaliation against complainants, victims, witnesses and whistle-blowers (Art. 10(b)(iv)). Protecting complainants from retaliatory actions is a fundamental part of safe and effective reporting, complaint procedures and dispute resolution mechanisms.

Box 29. Protecting against victimization and retaliation

Côte d’Ivoire: Article 5 of the 2015 Employment Code provides that no employee, person in training or in internship may be punished, dismissed or bore undue consequences in relation to matters relating to employment, including recruitment and other terms and conditions, for refusing to undergo the acts of moral or sexual harassment as well as for having testified to or reported such acts.

Italy: According to paragraph 3-bis of the Code of Equal Opportunities, as amended in 2018, the employer may not victimize workers who lodge a claim to request ascertainment of discrimination or of sexual harassment because of this. Victimization refers to the adoption of disciplinary sanctions, changes in job descriptions, dismissals and transfers with direct or indirect negative occupational effects. Such protection shall not be awarded in case the claimant has been convicted.

Lebanon: In 2020, Lebanon passed the Law to Criminalize Sexual Harassment and [for] Rehabilitation of Its Victims. This law provides protection of victims from retaliation, including in pay, promotion, transfer, contract renewal or disciplinary measures. The law contains whistle-blower protections and prohibits discrimination, abuse or disciplinary measures against people who report harassment or testify about the abuse. Such retaliation can be punished by up to six months in prison and a fine of 20 times the minimum wage.

Luxembourg: Article L. 245-5 of the Labour Code, as amended in 2016, provides:

The employee may not be the subject of reprisals because of his protests or refusals against an act or behaviour of sexual harassment on the part of his employer or any other hierarchical superior, co workers or external persons in relationship with the employer.
Likewise, no employee may be the subject of reprisals for having testified to the acts defined in article L. 245-2 or for having reported them.
Any provision or act contrary to the two preceding paragraphs, and in particular any termination of the employment contract in violation of these provisions, is automatically void.

Gabon: Article 4 of the 2016 Law on the Fight against Harassment in the Workplace provides that:

No employee, civil servant, nor any person in training or in internship may be sanctioned, dismissed or subject to a discriminatory measure, either direct or indirect, in particular in relation to remuneration, training, performance review, assignment, qualification, classification, professional promotion, transfer or renewal of contract for having suffered or refused to undergo repeated acts constituting moral or sexual harassment or for having given testimony or statements against such acts.

Japan: The new Anti-Power Harassment law includes a provision that prohibits employers from dismissing employees who report cases of harassment, or treating such workers unfavourably in any other way for reporting such cases (Library of Congress 2020).

Niger: Article 122 of Decree No. 2017-682/PRN/MET/PS in regulation of the Labour Code (10 August 2017) states as follows: “No worker may be punished, or subjected to discrimination for having been a witness to acts of sexual harassment or for reporting them.”

Portugal: The Labour Code, as amended in 2017, strengthens protections against victimization and dismissal to victims and witnesses of harassment practices. In particular, article 29(6) prevents the application of disciplinary sanctions against complainants or victims and witnesses, unless they acted with wilful misconduct, taking into account the circumstances mentioned in the proceedings triggered by sexual harassment or mobbing, until its final judgement with res judicata, regardless of the right to adversarial proceedings.

Republic of Korea: The 2018 law on workplace bullying includes penalties for employers who retaliate against any workers for reporting workplace bullying and harassment.

South Sudan: Article 7 of the 2017 Labour Act provides that the workplace policy includes protection against retaliation and, in particular, “that an employee who brings a complaint of sexual harassment in good faith shall not be disciplined, demoted, dismissed or otherwise prejudiced in such employee’s employment with the employer as a consequence”.

6.1.3. Support services

Among the possible measures to enable effective reporting and dispute resolution mechanisms and procedures, Convention No. 190 mentions “legal, social, medical and administrative support measures to complainants and victims” (Art. 10(b)(v)). Support services should be gender-responsive, particularly in case of gender-based violence and harassment (Art. 10(e)). In this regard, Recommendation No. 206 recommends:

The support, services and remedies for victims of gender-based violence and harassment referred to in Article 10(e) of the Convention should include measures such as:

support to help victims re-enter the labour market;
counselling and information services, in an accessible manner as appropriate;
24-hour hotlines;
emergency services;
medical care and treatment and psychological support;
crisis centres, including shelters; and
specialized police units or specially trained officers to support victims (Para. 17).

Box 30. Examples of legislation and regulations providing protection and support to victims

Argentina: The programme “Acompañar” provides support to persons at risk of gender-based violence. It seeks to promote the economic autonomy of women and LGBTQI+ persons by providing economic support and contributing to strengthen the network of support services for these persons to cover basic expenses in organizing and developing an autonomous and free project of life (Argentina, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights 2020).

Burkina Faso: The 2015 Law on Preventing, Punishing and Repairing Violence against Women and Girls and Caring for Victims provides that “before the competent courts, the victim, if she does not have the means to procure a lawyer, istobeassistedbyacourt-appointedlawyer. They can also be represented by a person of their choice or by an approved human rights defence association, in case of emergency or in case of extreme vulnerability found medically” (art. 21).

Italy: In January 2021 the Constitutional Court ruled that all victims of gender- based violence and harassment are entitled to free legal aid and assistance (Giurisprudenza Penale 2021).

NorthMacedonia: The 2006 Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, as amended in 2015, provides that “the person filing the complaint shall be exempted from payment of administrative fee and another charge” (art. 22(6)).

Peru: The Ministry of Labour (via Supreme Decree N° 014-2019-TR) created the programme “Trabaja sin acoso” (“Work without Harassment”), whose objective is to intervene in a timely and adequate manner for the protection of victims of sexual harassment at work. The service includes orientation to victims, including legal assistance, as well as legal advice during the internal procedures of investigation and punishment of sexual harassment and in judicial processes that seek to protect and repair the affected labour rights. The programme also offers psychological assistance to victims.

6.1.4. Appropriate and effective remedies

Article 10 of Convention No. 190 requires ratifying States to ensure appropriate and effective remedies. In this regard, Recommendation No. 206 recommends that remedies could include:

the right to resign with compensation;
reinstatement;
appropriate compensation for damages;
orders requiring measures with immediate executory force to be taken to ensure that certain conduct is stopped or that policies or practices are changed; and
legal fees and costs according to national law and practice (Para. 14).

By requiring appropriate and effective remedies, Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 call for effective enforcement of legal rights and redress, which, when appropriate and possible, could provide restitution and relief to the person whose rights have been infringed, and could have a dissuasive effect on potential perpetrators. These effective remedies depend on a variety of factors, including the severity of the conduct and the legal pathways chosen by the plaintiff in each legal system. The explicit reference to “reinstatement” as well as to “orders requiring … that certain conduct is stopped or that policies or practices are changed” highlights that, in case of violence and harassment, monetary damages may be inadequate to fix the harm. ³⁷

Within the context of the effective remedies provided for by Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206, the importance of employment injury benefits for victims of violence and harassment at work is also recognized. In particular, Recommendation No. 206 recommends that “victims of violence and harassment in the world of work should have access to compensation in cases of psychosocial, physical or any other injury or illness which results in incapacity to work” (Para. 15). Physical injury and some mental disorders are compensable injuries under employment injury insurance and workers’ compensation schemes if the event triggering the injury or illness arises out of and/or in the course of employment. Such schemes ensure access to necessary medical care as well as counselling, rehabilitation and reintegration for affected workers. These schemes also provide cash benefits to victims and their families (in case of death), which prevent them from falling into poverty and social exclusion due to loss of income, loss of earning capacity and income support, as the case may be (Chappell and Di Martino 2006; Lippel 2016; ILO 2018g).

Box 31. Remedies in case of violence and harassment at work: Recent exeples

Denmark: Sexual harassment and violence at work are included in and compensated under employment injury insurance and are overseen by the Labour Inspectorate, part of the Danish Working Environment Authority (Eurofound 2015).

Canada: Violence and harassment at work are fully integrated in the workers’ compensation schemes of a number of provinces and territories (such as, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Ontario) and give rise to a range of benefits provided in case of employment injury. ³⁸

Germany, in 2017, adopted the Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG), which imposes a duty on host providers to delete harassing messages published by third parties on their platforms upon notification. Providers must comply within 24 hours after receiving a user complaint if the content is “clearly illegal”, otherwise, they have seven days to comply. Noncompliance results in fines. The requirement applies only to networks that have 2 million or more registered users in Germany.

Peru, in 2019, enacted the Law to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women in private and public spaces. Article 11 foresees that:

When the victim is an employee, the following rights should be guaranteed:

protection against dismissal for causes related to such acts of violence;
to change workplace without detriment to their conditions and terms of employment;
five days of justified absence;
suspension of the employment relationship, and the right to return to the same or similar position afterwards.

Portugal: The Labour Code, as amended in 2017, provides that the employer is responsible for the compensation for damages arising from occupational diseases resulting from the practice of sexual harassment or mobbing (art. 283(8)). Article 283(9) states, “The responsibility for the payment of compensation for damages arising from occupational disease provided for in the previous number is social security, under the terms legally established, which is subrogated to the rights of the worker, in proportion to the payments made, plus interest for late maturity.”

PuertoRico(UnitedStates): Act No. 83-2019 provides for 15 days leaveincaseofsexual harassment at work.

United States (New York State): As of 11 October 2019, a worker prevailing on a harassment claim shall, by law, recover reasonable attorney fees from an employer and may recover punitive damages as well as economic and compensatory (emotional injury) damages (Zweig 2020).

Republic of Korea: The Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, as amended in 2018, includes the following definition of “occupational illness”: “illness caused by work-relatedmentaldistress due to harassment in the workplace, such as verbal abuse by customers/clients, etc.” (Collins, Ornstein, and Tucker 2019).

Romania: Article 26 of Law No. 202 of 2002 on equal opportunities and equal treatment for women and men, as amended in 2015 and 2018, states:

Whenever it finds that there has been an act of moral harassment in the workplace, the court may, under the law:

order the employer to take all necessary measures to stop any acts or acts of moral harassment in the workplace in respect of the employee concerned;
order the reintegration into the workplace of the employee concerned;
order the employer to pay compensation to the employee in the amount equal to the equivalent of the wage entitlements which he has been deprived of;
order the employer to pay the employee compensatory and moral damages;
order the employer to pay the employee the amount necessary for the psychological counselling that the employee needs, for a reasonable period determined by the occupational health practitioner;
order the employer to change the employee’s disciplinary records.

Slovenia: Article 8 of the 2013 Employment Relationships Act provides:

[I]n the event of a breach of the prohibition of discrimination or harassment in the workplace, the employer is liable to the candidate or employee for damages under the general rules of civil law. Non-pecuniary damage caused to a candidate or employee also considers mental pain. … When assessing the amount of monetary compensation for non-pecuniary damage, it must be taken into account that it is effective and proportionate to the damage suffered by the candidate or employee and that it discourages the employer from repeated violations.

6.1.5. Sanctions

Article 10(d) of Convention No. 190 states that ratifying countries should “provide for sanctions, where appropriate, in cases of violence and harassment in the world of work”. Sanctions refer to consequences for ill-behaviour, and their nature depend on the circumstances, on the behaviour being punished, and on the specific jurisdiction in which the complaint or claim is lodged or the legal pathway chosen. Sanctions may therefore refer to both disciplinary measures, and other civil, administrative or criminal sanctions, where appropriate. Recommendation No. 206 further specifies, “Perpetrators of violence and harassment in the world of work should be held accountable and provided counselling or other measures, where appropriate, with a view to preventing the reoccurrence of violence and harassment, and facilitating their reintegration into work, where appropriate” (Para. 19).

Box 32. Sanctions in case of violence and harassment at work: Recent examples

Bahrain: Article 192 of the Labour Law, as amended in 2018, states:

Any worker who commits sexual harassment against another worker, during work or because of it, by reference, speech, act or by any other means, shall be liable for a prison sentence for a period not exceeding one year or a fine of no more than one hundred Bahrain dinars. If the perpetrator is a supervisor or a representative of a supervisor, he or she shall be liable for a prison sentence for at least six months period or a fine of no less than five hundred Bahrain dinars and not exceeding one thousand Bahrain dinars or by either penalty, and not exceeding one thousand Bahrain dinars or by either penalty.

Philippines: Section 19 of the 2018 Safe Spaces Act foresees fines in case of non- compliance with provisions related to employers’ preventive duties or in case of not taking action on reported acts of gender-based sexual harassment committed in the workplace.

Gabon: The 2016 Law on the Fight against Harassment in the Workplace states that “without prejudice to the criminal sanctions provided for by the applicable legislation, any perpetrator of moral or sexual harassment in the location of work or during work, incurs major disciplinary sanctions pursuant to applicable laws” (art. 10).

Iraq: The 2015 Labour Law states, “Shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months and a fine not exceeding one million dinars or by any of the two sanctions, whoever violates the provisions of the articles contained in this chapter relating to child labour, discrimination, forced labour and sexual harassment, as the case may be” (art. 11-2).

Romania: Article 26 of Law No. 202 of 2002 on equal opportunities and equal treatment for women and men, as amended in 2015 and 2018, provides for a fine in case an employer does not comply with the measures ordered by the court in a judgment related to violence and harassment.

³³ As a group of experts who contributed to the development of the ILO Examination of Grievances Recommendation, 1967 (No. 130) argued, “Fair and effective procedures … which provide for an orderly outlet for grievances constitute a safety-valve which helps to prevent the outburst of serious disputes. Moreover, such procedures can contribute to a climate of mutual confidence between management and workers which is so necessary in labour-management relations” (ILO 1964, para. 39). Although, to date no single ILO instrument provides broad and comprehensive guiding principles for effective labour dispute resolution systems, some guidance and principles concerning individual labour disputes are spread throughout various instruments, including the ILO Voluntary Conciliation and Arbitration Recommendation, 1951 (No. 92), and the ILO Examination of Grievances Recommendation, 1967 (No. 130). More recently, the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), provides that the peoples concerned “shall be safeguarded against the abuse of their rights and shall be able to take legal proceedings, either individually or through their representative bodies, for the effective protection of these rights” (Art. 12). The Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), mandates to “take measures to ensure … that all domestic workers, either by themselves or through a representative, have effective access to courts, tribunals or other dispute resolution mechanisms under conditions that are not less favourable than those available to workers generally” (Art. 16). Ensuring “effective access to justice” is also one of the policies recommended by the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204). In general, and for a comparative analysis on this topic, see Ebisui, Cooney, and Fenwick 2016; ILO 2018f, ILO 2013.

³⁴ Supreme Decree N° 014-2019-MIMP

³⁵ If it is the worker’s preference, then a three-step process must be followed: 1. the nondisclosure term must be written in an agreement in plain English and, if applicable, the worker’s primary language as well; 2. the worker must be given at least 21 days to consider the non-disclosure term and seven days after signing to revoke consent; and 3. after the expiration of the revocation period, the worker and the employer must enter into a second agreement that includes the nondisclosure term and any other terms resolving the harassment claim (Zweig 2020).

³⁶ It is worth mentioning the particular case of those workers, particularly migrant workers, who might have greater difficulty leaving a harmful situation, either because their visas are tied to their employers, who could cancel it at any time, or because they would lose their shelter as well as their job (see ILO 2021c). Naturally, migrant domestic workers who live with their employers are the most vulnerable in that respect. In this regard, Paragraph 7 of the Domestic Workers Recommendation, 2011 (No. 201), suggests: “Members should consider establishing mechanisms to protect domestic workers from abuse, harassment and violence, such as: (a) establishing accessible complaint mechanisms for domestic workers to report cases of abuse, harassment and violence; (b) ensuring that all complaints of abuse, harassment and violence are investigated, and prosecuted, as appropriate; and (c) establishing programmes for the relocation from the household and rehabilitation of domestic workers subjected to abuse, harassment and violence, including the provision of temporary accommodation and health care”.

³⁷ The importance of adequate remedies has been stressed regularly by the CEACR, including the need to grant reinstatement where appropriate; see ILO 2012; 1996. For instance, the CEACR considers that in the “context of protection against victimization, where someone has been dismissed due to raising a complaint, reinstatement is normally the most appropriate remedy” (ILO 2017a, para. 328).

³⁸ For more information, see: Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, “Boards/Commissions”.

7.1. Taking violence and harassment into account in relevant policies

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).

8.1. Why ratification is important?

Ratification is a formal procedure whereby a State accepts the Convention as a legally binding instrument. Ratifying an international convention like Convention No. 190 sends an important signal to individuals and to the international community about the State’s commitment to take all measures necessary to prevent and address violence and harassment in the world of work. Moreover, Convention No. 190, as with all international labour standards, can play an important role in the design of laws and regulations, as these instruments provide authoritative guidance on law and policy. Where Conventions have been ratified, they entail international law obligations for the countries concerned (ILO 2019a).

8.2. How to proceed towards ratification of Convention No. 190?

Each country has its own internal process for ratifying international Conventions, which often involves a decision or approval by the national legislature. Countries that have ratified the ILO Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144), have an obligation “to operate procedures which ensure effective consultations, with respect to the matters concerning the activities of the International Labour Organisation … between representatives of the government, of employers and of workers” (Art. 2) (ILO 2019a, 50). Once the internal ratification process is completed, the Government submits an instrument of ratification to the Director-General of the ILO for registration. The Convention enters into force – that is, becomes legally binding – for the country 12 months following registration of its instrument of ratification by the Director-General. ⁴⁶

The procedures of submission to the competent national authorities and of ratification are a unique opportunity to spark social dialogue on the content of the Convention and the measures needed to implement it. Ensuring social dialogue is of paramount importance. All actors of the world of work need to be involved, and listened to. Social dialogue leads to better outcomes since it provides more practical information, and offers a range of approaches and solutions by those directly concerned. Engaging in tripartite consultation also helps bring the Convention to the knowledge of a broader public and build a sense of ownership, which is likely to result in ensuring effective implementation. Participation of representative workers’ and employers’ organizations in social dialogue should be on an “equal footing”, according to ILO Convention No. 144, and representation should be gender-responsive and inclusive.

In moving forward towards ratification, a country may opt for an assessment of their current legislative framework with a view to taking stock of existing laws, regulations and practices dealing with violence and harassment and to identifying relevant gaps. Taking into account the actual provisions in laws and regulations, and the areas identified where better protection is needed, one or more regulatory initiatives based on defined policy objectives can be prepared.

⁴⁶ An adopted Convention normally comes into force 12 months after being ratified by two Member States. Following ratification by Uruguay and Fiji, Convention No. 190 came into force on 25 June 2021.

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