FEMNET | The world is watching! TIME to End Violence & Harassment in the Workplace!

The world is watching! TIME to End Violence & Harassment in the Workplace!

By FEMNET
10 Jun 2019

African governments as the primary duty bearers have a responsibility to:-

Respect, protect and fulfill their obligations and commitments to foster safe and decent workplaces by adopting, ratifying, implementing (and providing adequate budgetary allocations) and reporting on related conventions, policies and laws.
Accelerate national legislation and mobilize all law enforcement authorities to take practical actions to eliminate all forms of gender-based violence (GBV) in public and private settings and ensure services preventing and addressing gender-based violence are affordable, accessible, appropriate and user-friendly for GBV survivors.
Facilitate inclusive and gender-responsive workplace environments that are safe and conducive to work free of any and all forms of violence and harassment, particularly for those working in precarious jobs and marginalized populations of the world’s labour force, including global supply chain workers, informal workers, migrant workers, domestic workers and others.
Improve capacity and technical competence of law enforcers on (i) substantive investigation, (ii) collection of gender dis-aggregated data, (iii) publishing and presentation of statistics and evidence and (iv) prosecution of perpetrators of violence and harassment.
Monitor and enforce compliance by public and private entities in providing comprehensive pathways for addressing violence against women and girls at the workplace including providing standard operating procedures, referral pathways, psychosocial support, comprehensive care and treatment and adequate facilities that are gender and disability sensitive.
Put in place adequate safeguarding mechanisms to end violence against women particularly violation and abuses that go unreported due to lack of information or cases where survivors are forced to go back to the perpetrators who are not brought to book or protected by the family or traditional leaders.
Invest and leverage the use of ICTs as an alternative means for the delivery of education and training particularly to women and girls by creating policies and enabling environment that prevent the use of social media and other forms of ICTs and media as instruments of violence against women and girls (cyber violence).