TUC urges deeper collaborative efforts in addressing Gender-Based Violence
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), has called for deeper collaboration and coordination to address Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH), in work places.
Mrs Hafsat Shuaibu, National Chairperson, TUC Women Commission (TUCWC) made the call the at the end of a two-day virtual stakeholders meeting on GBVH on Monday, in Abuja.
The stakeholders meeting was organised by TUC, in collaboration with the Solidarity Centre AFL-CIO.
According Shuaibu, there is an urgent need to deal with the clear lack of coordination among key stakeholders on GBVH.
She noted that Nigeria’s workplace was characterised by pervasive GBVH, which workers, affiliates and sister center of the TUC, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), continued to grapple with.
“The TUC women Commission see GBVH as a major human rights and workplace health and safety issue because all workers, largely women, are at risk of experiencing abuse, harassment and violence based on their gender.
“I strongly believe that strong coordination from us all will go a long way in pushing for the review of inadequate legal frameworks, poor implementation and enforcement of laws and workplace policies.
“It would also entrench gender discriminatory norms that continue to hamper union and civil society efforts to prevent and address the problem.
“It is with this in mind that we as TUCWC, approached Solidarity Center AFL-CIO for collaboration to build a strong network of stakeholders that can take on this task and specifically work to ensure that ILO C190 is ratified in Nigeria,’’ Shuaibu said.
She commended the Solidarity Centre AFL-CIO, and the NLC for the research work on GBVH, saying it would be used as a tool to enhance the call for action from government and employers.
The TUCWC leader explained that stakeholders at the meeting had expressed commitment to partner with other local NGOs and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) groups to form a national coalition to fight GBVH.
She noted that the meeting also observed that PWDs had not been adequately captured in the campaign against GBVH.
“Stakeholders therefore, agreed that the national coalition will work to ensure that governments, employers, workers, organisations and labour market institutions recognise, respond to and address impacts of gender-based violence.
“Stakeholders also agreed to implement and sustain a process of advocacy for increased accountability and transparency over workplace gender-based violations,’’ Shuaibu said.
Also, Senior Programme Officer, Solidarity Centre AFL-CIO, Mrs Nkechi Odinukwe, called for public enlightenment of the ILO Convention 190, which recognised the right of workers to be free from violence and harassment in workplaces.
Odinukwe, while presenting a research report on GBVH, said the research noted that GBVH in Nigeria’s workplace was at a high rate and that no age group or sector was free from the menace.
“An alarming 57.5 per cent of women workers interviewed across all sectors stated that they experienced GBVH in the world of work.
“Respondents below 30 years old and between the ages of 30 and 39 experienced the highest rates of GBVH,‘’ she said.
She said that key findings were that “the nature and form of GBVH experienced by women workers across all sectors and various ages included; physical violence, sexual violence and sexual harassment, among others.
She said the research also noted that; about 44.4 per cent of respondents said they suffered sex discrimination that had affected their career advancement.
“Nearly one-third (28.8 per cent) of respondents said they had been pressured for sexual favours at work and touched in a way that made them feel uncomfortable.”
Odinukwe therefore said the research recommend that “government should ratify and implement ILO Convention 190.
“Adopt national legislation that covers formal and informal workers, and embraces the definition of GBVH from ILO C190, which prohibits sexual harassment and many of the additional abuses.
“That employers should adopt policies that would prevent and address all forms of GBVH and other abuses in the world of work,” Shuaibu noted.
