The Women's Leadership Platform, in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO), held a roundtable on “Zero Tolerance for Violence in the World of Work” held in Istanbul on 22 November 2022.

Violence and harassment is one of the major reasons that prevents women from participating in the labour force or pursuing careers at equal rates with men.

“Violence and harassment against women occurs more frequently”

Attended by the representatives from the ILO Office for Türkiye, Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey (KAGIDER), Turkish Women’s International Network (TurkishWIN), UPS and EBRD, the roundtable on “Zero Tolerance for Violence in the World of Work” focused the efforts to eradicate violence at work, proposals for solutions, and good practices.

Ms. Ebru Özberk Anlı, Senior Programme Officer of ILO Office for Türkiye, underlined the importance of C190 and of its implementation in the world of work, and made an interactive presentation on C190.

“We call actors in the world of work to develop policies aligned with C190”

Delivering the opening remarks for the event, Ms. Özberk Anlı noted that it was critically important both for women’s empowerment and productivity of enterprises and overall economy that women participate in the world of work and take place in decision-making positions at equal footing with men.

“To achieve this goal, we must take bold, tangible steps in cooperation with the leading business organizations to fully achieve equality at work, and eliminate discrimination, violence and harassment.”

She said: “Therefore, we call actors in the world of work to develop and implement policies procedures of zero tolerance for violence aligned with C190.”

Dr. Mr. Ceyhun Güler, a faculty member at 9 Eylül University of Izmir, made a presentation on the preparation and content of Workplace Policy Paper in line with C190 and accompanying R206.

Dr. Güler said: “We are now going through an exciting process where ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) has not yet been ratified [by Türkiye], but the articles of this Convention are already placed in policy papers of enterprises and trade unions.”

“While C190 has not yet been ratified, we have already operationalized many instruments.”

“C190 provides mechanisms and instruments to prevent violence and harassment at work. Thus, we have already operationalized many instruments while C190 has not yet been ratified [by Türkiye].”

“By this Convention, we claim that ‘a world of work free of violence and harassment is possible’. Accordingly, continued cooperation and contributions by the actors in the world of work, workers’ and employers’ organizations and women’s leaders are critical in achieving a cultural transformation.”

The representatives of institutions participating in this hybrid-format event expressed views that the culture of zero tolerance for violence must take root; violence and harassment adversely impacted women’s employment; incidents of violence and harassment undermined the relations of trust at work; women leaders led the way at work to address this challenging issue; and the discussions proceeded accordingly.