Summary of the online seminar "Ending Violence and Harassment in the Garment Sector - What will it take?"

The issue of sexual harassment and workplace violence are a risk to all sectors, including the garment sector. Approximately 80 per cent of workers in the garment sector are female. Most are young and some are migrants, attributes that put them at higher risk to sexual harassment due to unequal power relations. This risk is even higher due to the COVID-19 context. Evidence of sexual harassment has been widely documented in this sector. For instance, Better Work (ILO-IFC) surveys at the factory level find a strong prevalence of sexual harassment across several countries. Violence and harassment can negatively impact workers’ well-being, workplace relations, enterprise reputation and productivity. Therefore, many stakeholders have taken concrete actions to protect garment workers from harassment through policies, codes of conduct and other measures. Still, there is generally a lack of adequate mechanisms to prevent and address violence and harassment and ensure access to safe, fair and effective reporting and dispute mechanisms and ensure women workers’ access to justice. The new ILO Violence and Harassment Convention No. 190 and the accompanying Recommendation No. 206, recognise the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment including gender-based violence and harassment. These landmark instruments set out a common framework to prevent and address violence and harassment, based on an inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach. This webinar will provide attendees with the opportunity to become familiar with the key concepts as well as policy and workplace responses related to tackling violence and harassment in the garment sector.