The manual will provide thousands of unions around the world with critical tools for the fight to eradicate violence and harassment in the world of work.

Affecting millions of workers globally, physical assault, bullying, sexual harassment, online abuse, economic violence and abusive work practices are the most widespread forms of violence in the world of work.

PSI celebrates the explicit inclusion of the public sector in the protection provided by this Convention and Recommendation

COVID-19 outbreak reports show that all types of violence against women and girls have intensified in the past year, making women workers especially vulnerable. A lack of policies and employers' support to respond to and prevent this violence have led many women to develop anxiety, mental illness or resulted in decreased job performance and impacted women's revenue.

The toolkit aims to provide unions with tools to develop workplace solutions that tackle violence and harassment, with a special focus on gender-based violence and harassment and ensure that violence is no longer considered as “part of the job”.

Domestic violence, while taking place outside the workplace, can also have significant physiological and physical implications on abused workers. Moreover, intersecting discrimination creates another layer of inequalities that increases the risk of violence and harassment.

The toolkit supports workers’ educators and facilitators, as well as trade union staff and representatives to develop training programmes and is a useful tool for trade unions mounting national campaigns for the ratification of C190 in their countries.

Thanks to intensive lobbying by trade unions and women groups across the world, Convention 190 and Recommendation 206, provide a foundation for trade unions and other stakeholders to address violence and harassment in the world of work.

The Convention and the Recommendation extend to all sectors – public and private – as well as the informal economy and are the first international instrument of this kind. With the adoption of these standards, everyone now has the right to live in a world free from violence and harassment.

Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary, says:

Although there is universal recognition that international labour standards apply to all workers, PSI celebrates the explicit inclusion of the public sector in the protection provided by this Convention and Recommendation and the inclusion of public sector workers and employers in the implementation mechanisms.

We have recently seen, throughout the pandemic, the impact of violence on women and women health workers making C190 more relevant than ever as we continue to face the challenges of working from home, the digitalization of work and the indivisibility of domestic space from the workplace.

The new Global Unions toolkit will be a valuable tool for trade unions and activists to lobby for the ratification of ILO Convention 190 in their countries. So far, only 6 countries have fully ratified the Convention – much work remains to be done.

Download

• The Activity Workbook in English (also available in French – Spanish

• The Facilitator guide in English (also available in French and Spanish)