The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has renewed calls for countries that have not ratified the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), to do so urgently.<\/p>\n
\nILO warns that global uptake remains low, with just 54 out of a possible 187 member states on board, representing a compliance rate of only 29 per cent.<\/p>\n
\nIn a recent policy statement, the UN labour agency said faster ratification is critical to tackling persistent abuse and insecurity in workplaces worldwide.<\/p>\n
\nNotably, Kenya is among the countries yet to adopt the landmark treaty, which sets legally binding standards to prevent and address violence and harassment in the world of work.<\/p>\n
\nAccording to the ILO, the slow pace of ratification risks leaving millions of workers without adequate protection, particularly women and other vulnerable groups who are disproportionately affected.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNo one should live in fear of violence and harassment when at the office,\u201d ILO noted.<\/p>\n
\nThe convention establishes, for the first time, a clear international right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment.<\/p>\n
\nAdopted in June 2019 and entering into force in June 2021, the treaty applies to all sectors, public and private, formal and informal, and covers a wide range of unacceptable behaviours.<\/p>\n
\nThese include physical, verbal, sexual, psychological and economic harm occurring at the workplace, during work-related travel, through digital communications, or even while commuting.<\/p>\n
\nThe convention also has a broad scope of protection, extending beyond employees to include interns, apprentices, job seekers, volunteers and workers whose employment has been terminated.<\/p>\n
\nIt recognises that violence and harassment can occur anytime and anywhere in connection with work, regardless of enterprise size or location.<\/p>\n
\nUnder the treaty, governments that ratify are required to enact laws and policies prohibiting violence and harassment, establish enforcement and monitoring mechanisms, and ensure victims have access to remedies, support services and safe reporting channels.<\/p>\n
\nEmployers, meanwhile, are obligated to adopt workplace policies, assess risks, provide training and take preventive measures proportionate to their level of control.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cILO Convention 190 calls on governments, together with employers, workers and their organisations to make your workplace a safe place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nNevertheless, the convention emphasises shared responsibility, requiring cooperation between the state, employers and workers\u2019 organisations to eliminate abuse and promote dignity at work.<\/p>\n
\nThe framework further mandates gender-responsive approaches, stronger labour inspections and sanctions for violations.<\/p>\n
\nThis while recognising the impact of domestic violence on work and allowing employees to remove themselves from dangerous situations without fear of retaliation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has renewed calls for countries that have not ratified the Violence and Harassment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[83,9631,7370,84,9630,9633,9632,80,9629,9634,749,9635],"class_list":{"0":"post-14450","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-expatriate-labour","10":"tag-forced-labour","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-ilo","13":"tag-ilo-convention-190","14":"tag-international-labour-organization","15":"tag-kenya","16":"tag-kenya-yet-to-ratify-ilo-convention-on-workplace-violence-as-global-compliance-stalls-at-29-per-cent","17":"tag-labour-abuse","18":"tag-un","19":"tag-workplace-violence"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}