In 2022, nearly 89,000 women and girls were intentionally killed worldwide - the highest yearly number recorded in the past two decades. Most killings of women and girls are gender-motivated, and the number of feminicides is not decreasing. In 2023, a woman was killed every 10 minutes worldwide.

"The violence women face doesn't stop at their doorstep - it follows them into the workplace. With a woman being killed every 10 minutes worldwide, we must recognise that gender-based violence is a systemic issue that requires collective action," says PSI General Secretary Daniel Bertossa on the occasion of this year's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

"Unions play a crucial role in ending feminicides, working to strengthen public services and empower women workers while pushing for the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 190. Only through united action can we create workplaces and communities free from violence and harassment. On this 25 November, let's raise our voices to reaffirm our fight to end feminicides and gender-based violence and harassment as a cross-cutting manifestation of violence in the world of work," adds Bertossa.

Updated numbers on feminicides worldwide will be revealed on November 25 by UN Women and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which will launch the "Femicides in 2023: Global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides."

Violence against women in the world of work

In 2024, the number of C190 ratifications increased to 45, as Austria, Denmark, Finland, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Portugal, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Samoa joined the convention. However, challenges with its implementation have also grown.

To ensure C190's effective implementation and address current challenges without setbacks, we need the power of women workers and unions.

The ILO shares this sense of urgency, having published a study this year on trade union initiatives, strategies and negotiations since the adoption of the Violence and Harassment Convention (No. 190) and its Recommendation (No. 206), 2019. The study emphasises that "ending gender-based violence remains a key trade union priority. It is an issue that mobilised trade unions around the world before the pandemic, particularly as a result of the increased visibility given to the problem from the #MeToo and other movements around the world".

We have six challenges in front of us:

CHALLENGE 1 - A tripartite mechanism 

Governments should:

• Ensure union involvement in every aspect of C190 implementation.

• Establish permanent and binding social dialogue mechanisms at both national and workplace levels to ensure effective implementation, consultation, follow-up, and accountability.

CHALLENGE 2 - Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining

•  Workers’ protection against violence and harassment is not solely the responsibility of public authorities, private employers, or individual workers.

• It is achievable only through the genuine exercise of collective rights, freedom of association, and collective bargaining.

CHALLENGE 3 - Decent Work 

• Strengthening decent work to prevent and eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work means placing full employment, social protection, individual and collective rights at work, and social dialogue at the core of the C190 implementation process

CHALLENGE 4 - Violence and Harassment: A Unified Concept

• The distinction between violence and harassment is minimal. PSI advocates for the establishment of a national legal framework that consolidates them into a single concept: "violence and harassment." Failing to do so would represent a significant setback.

• Unions must secure a unified national concept of "violence and harassment" that aligns C190 with domestic legislation. This concept should encompass the full range of conducts, temporality, intentionality, and harms, including those based on gender.

CHALLENGE 5 - Envisioning the World of Work Without Distortions or Reductions

•  PSI and its affiliated unions are advocating for a comprehensive approach to the world of work in the C190 implementation process.

• Any distortion or reduction to terms like "at work," "workplace," or "working environment" dilutes, evades, and diminishes the scope and intent of the convention.

CHALLENGE 6 - Developing an Integrated and Inclusive Approach 

PSI is committed to fostering an integrated and inclusive approach to C190 implementation by focusing on:

• Full and binding participation of workers and unions at all levels, from local to national.

• Prevention measures that address work organisation and psychosocial factors, rather than focusing solely on individual cases.

• Integration of "violence and harassment" with occupational health and safety mechanisms.

• Clear protections against harms and risks for groups of workers in vulnerable situations, sectors, occupations, and work modalities, groups in which women are almost always included.

16 Days of Activism

As we do every year, PSI will take part in the 16 Days of Activism for the Elimination of Violence Against Women - a coordinated action organised by the Global Unions - starting on November 25. Follow our content on social media channels and help spread the word.