ILO Standard on GBV

The ILO Governing Body has been discussing proposals to develop an international standard to tackle gender based violence in the workplace for the last four years. It is hoped that the adoption and implementation of a new standard on workplace GBV would provide governments, unions and employers with the tools to help tackle it.

Agenda of the International Labour Conference
ILO Governing Body Agenda decision to place a standard-setting item on “Violence against women and men in the world of work” on the agenda of the 107th Session (June 2018) of the Conference

International Trade Union Confederation backgrounder on an ILO convention on Violence against Women and Men in the World of Work
Stop Gender Based Violence at work! Support an ILO Convention! Trade unions are calling for a new international Convention on genderbased violence at the workplace and have called on the International Labour Organization’s Governing Body (ILO GB) to put the topic on the ILC agenda as soon as possible.

ILO Final Report for the Meeting of Experts on Violence against Women and Men in the World of Work, October 3, 4 & 5, 2016
At its 325th Session (November 2015), the Governing Body of the ILO decided “to place a standard-setting item on ‘Violence against women and men in the world of work’ on the agenda of the 107th Session (June 2018) of the Conference” and “to convene a tripartite meeting of experts to provide guidance on which basis the Governing Body [would] consider, at its 328th Session (November 2016), the preparations for the first discussion of possible instruments by the Conference”. 

ILO Background Paper for the Meeting of Experts on Violence against Women and Men in the World of Work, October 3, 4 & 5, 2016
Violence in the world of work is a threat to the dignity, security, health and well-being of everyone. It has an impact not only on workers and employers, but also on their families, communities, economies and society as a whole. Indeed, violence in the world of work strikes at the heart of the efforts of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to promote the right of all human beings “to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity”. The issue has recently been brought into sharp focus at the global level, with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which calls for the achievement of full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, the reduction of inequalities and the elimination of “all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres”. 

DV@WorkNet Issue Brief on the Impact of Domestic Violence on Workers and the Workplace for the ILO Experts Group Meeting on a Convention on Violence against Women and Men at Work, October 3, 4 & 5, 2016
Although discrimination restricts women’s participation in the workplace and labour force participation rates vary significantly, in many countries the majority of women who experience domestic violence are employed. And although both sexes can suffer DV, in most countries it is women and girls who are the primary victims. The impacts of this violence are felt acutely at work, as the findings from a series of national surveys outline in the brief. It also makes the workplace an important site to provide information and resources about domestic violence.

9 Things Unions Can Do 
International Transport Workers Federation list of 9 actions you and your union can take to fight for the proposed ILO convention on violence against women and men in the world of work

Dignity, Integrity & an end to Gender-based Violence in the world of work (based on ILO Working Paper No. 3/2011)  (Presentation)
By Jane Hodges, Director, Bureau for Gender Equality, ILO

Gender-based violence in the world of work: Overview and selected annotated bibliography (Working Paper 3/2011)
By Adrienne Cruz and Sabine Klinger