ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work adopted in Argentina

With 241 votes in favour, one against and two abstentions, the Argentine Chamber of Deputies approved this Wednesday, November 11, International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work.

Convention 190 and its respective Recommendation 206 were adopted as part of the celebration of the ILO centenary in June 2019, during the 108th International Labour Conference. A bill on Convention 190 had been sent to the Argentine Congress by President Alberto Fernández on 28 May 2020. In June, the matter was approved by the Senate.

This is a great triumph for the Argentine and the global trade union movement, in particular for Public Services International (PSI), which has been working on this issue for eight years. PSI’s national Women's Committee in Argentina, as well as the affiliated organizations in that country, are among those responsible for this approval.

When the Argentine government presents this law at ILO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, it will be formally recognized as the third country to ratify Convention 190, after Uruguay on 12 June 2019 and Fiji on 25 June 2020. Fiji’s ratification confirms the entry into force of C190 as of June 25, 2021.

"It is symbolic that Convention 190 was approved on the day we Argentinian women first voted [in national elections], on 11 November 1951," said Isabel Berón, coordinator of PSI’s national Women's Committee in Argentina.

PSI’s Global Gender Officer, Verónica Montúfar congratulated Argentina on this important step. "With the ratification of ILO Convention 190, the Argentinian Chamber of Deputies has confirmed to the world that it is a relevant State power and will be remembered in history for committing to make effective the right to work free of violence and harassment. Convention 190 is once again being confirmed as an extremely important and relevant instrument of international labour law as it applies to recent changes including telework, working from home, the digitalization of work and the indivisibility of domestic space with the workplace; issues that were impossible to foresee at the time of its adoption at the ILO's 2019 Centennial Conference. All of these recent changes in working conditions increase levels of violence and harassment, particularly gender-based violence. We celebrate this victory of the Argentinean trade union movement and especially of the unified, strategic, and intelligent struggle of feminist women trade unionists. We commemorate their incredible effort and their victory. On to implementation!"

Ratify C190

Trade unions around the world are demanding the ratification of binding international standards to stop violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment.

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