*As gender-based violence, harassment, others raise concerns at work places

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

Nigeria was the fourth  country in Africa and the eighth globally to ratify Convention 190, Gender-Based Violence and Harassment, GBVH, and other forms of harassment at work adopted on June 21, 2019, but yet to domesticate and implement sameIn  fact, research conducted by the female unionists under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and American Solidarity Centre, ASC, lamented that 56 per cent of women workers claimed they experienced GBVH at work places; 52 per cent alleged to have been threatened on their way to and from work; while 42 per cent said their supervisors said or did something that made them uneasy due to their gender or sex.

As part of efforts towards domestication and implementation of the convention, Solidarity Center organised  a two-day workshop on ‘Implementing ILO Convention 190: Strategising to Address the Root Causes of Violence and Harassment at Work’, organsied by Solidarity Centre.

The workshop which took place in Lagos was attended by no fewer than 30 union leaders and members, Civil Society Organisation, CSO, allies and International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network, ILAW members. Speaking,   Country Programme Director for West Africa, Solidarity Centre, Sonny Ogbuehi, said the workshop was to strengthen the capacity of the participants to prevent and respond to GBVH in the world of work; as well as what  implications ratification of C190 has for the rights of workers.

He said the research conducted about two years ago had a lot of women complaining about GBVH, with very alarming cases. Ogbuehi emphasised how GBVH could be ended in the world of work through commitments via a tripartite level, which comprises the trade unions, employers and the government. 

For trade unions, he identified increased education and awareness of GBVH in the workplace and the development of policies that guide negotiations with employers around GBVH and workplace policies to prevent and address the issue.

He said employers could adopt policies that address and prevent GBVH, while also providing safe, transparent and confidential processes for reporting.

For the government, the need to ratify and implement ILO C190, as well as adopt legislation that protects all workers, he said, was paramount.