Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1971)

The Committee notes the observations made by the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (CTV), the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations of Venezuela (FAPUV), and the Independent Trade Union Alliance Confederation of Workers (CTASI), received on 30 August 2021. The Committee also notes the observations of the Bolivarian Socialist Confederation of Men and Women Workers in Urban and Rural Areas and Fishing of Venezuela (CBST-CCP), received on 8 September 2021. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Discrimination on the basis of gender. Sexual harassment. The Committee notes the Government’s brief reference in its report to the implementation of strategies, actions and activities to ensure compliance with the Basic Act on labour and men and women workers (LOTTT) and the Basic Act on prevention, working conditions and the working environment (LOPCYMAT), including training programmes for workers and for employers’ representatives, and also personal care for victims and warning measures for employers to stop harassment and provide training and information in this regard. As regards the number of cases of sexual harassment, the Government indicates that between 2017 and 2020 a total of 322 complaints of workplace harassment (97 of them from women) and 29 cases of sexual harassment were filed. However, the Committee also notes that the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, in her 2020 report, emphasized that women face gender stereotyping within the legal system, and gender-based violence, including threats, mistreatment and verbal abuse by public officials and that women petitioners usually bear the brunt of the search for truth, justice and reparations (A/HRC/44/54, 15 June 2020, paragraph 30). The Committee also notes that the Government, in its periodic report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), referred to the publication in 2021 of the “Standards for action by police and criminal investigation officials in relation to early and timely care for victims of gender violence, receipt of the corresponding complaints and police action in investigation processes”, and also refers to various training measures for judges, judicial officials, police, lawyers, prosecutors and other legal professionals on the subject of gender equality and violence against women. In the same report, the Government indicated that 21 studies and 22 awareness-raising campaigns were carried out on violence against women and girls (CEDAW/C/VEN/9, 1 November 2018, paragraphs 22, 63, 65 and 112). The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the training undertaken with entities responsible for the receipt of complaints of sexual harassment, and particularly on whether these deal with issues related to sexual harassment and its underlying causes such as gender stereotypes. The Committee also asks the Government to provide detailed information on particular cases in which non-compliance with the LOPCYMAT has been established, and the specific assistance and warning measures taken. The Committee further requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of cases of sexual harassment, and also on actions taken, sanctions imposed and remedies granted.

Article 1(1)(b). Discrimination on the basis of HIV status. The Committee notes that the Government, in reply to its request to provide information on any complaint of discrimination on the basis of HIV status, indicates in its report that no complaints have been received, and that between 2017 and 2019 a total of 5,364 inspections were conducted, in which no violation was found regarding the prohibition on mandatory HIV testing. The Committee recalls that where no cases or complaints, or very few, are being lodged, this is likely to indicate a lack of an appropriate legal framework, lack of awareness of rights, lack of confidence in or absence of practical access to procedures, or fear of reprisals, or that the system of recording violations is insufficiently developed (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 870). The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on any complaints of discrimination on the basis of HIV status, real or perceived, and also on the measures taken to identify cases of discrimination on the basis of HIV status, whether in terms of mandatory HIV testing or discriminatory behaviour of any other kind.

Articles 2 and 3(f). National equality policies. The Committee notes that, with regard to the continuation of the Mamá Rosa Plan, the Government refers to the adoption of the Third Socialist National Economic and Social Development Plan 2019–25 (Plan de la Patria) and the corresponding “Programme agenda for women and gender equality”, which provide for the empowerment of gender equality with a view to full equality in working conditions and the enjoyment of economic rights, the development of productive inputs and new forms of management driven by women, and the recognition, protection and de-feminization of domestic and care work. The Government also indicates that the Ministry of People’s Power for Women and Gender Equality has adopted policies to boost the participation of women in economic life, such as the Mujeres Conuqueras (women smallholders) 2020 programme to include women in the agri-food sector, and the empowerment of women in rural areas. In addition, with regard to the results achieved from previous policies and initiatives, the Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report to CEDAW, in 2020 a total of 20 regional institutes and 170 municipal institutes devoted to the advancement of women and gender equality were registered, and there is a major benefit for women in terms of credits for small and medium-sized enterprises from public banks, including on the basis of the Soy Mujer (I am a woman) programme (CEDAW/C/VEN/9, paragraphs 44, 170 and 171). The Committee also notes that the judiciary’s National Gender Justice Commission and the National School of the Judiciary have conducted further training on the subject of gender for judges and judicial officials, and the Ombudsman’s Office, the National Institute for Women (INAMUJER) and the National Training Programme for Prevention Delegates have implemented similar measures (CEDAW/C/VEN/9, paragraphs 22, 36, 37 and 103). With regard to plans and policies relating to other grounds of discrimination, the Committee notes that the Plan de la Patria 2025 refers to the full inclusion at work of persons with disabilities, non-discrimination towards them, and their integration into productive activities, and that various programme agendas have been adopted for Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples and young persons. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the results achieved by the implementation of the Plan de la Patria 2025 and its respective programme agendas in terms of the beneficiaries, and also on any other measures taken in relation to the application of the principle of equality and non-discrimination in employment and occupation recognized by the Convention.