Indonesian men and women seafarers, students of marine polytechnics and vocational schools, seafarers’ unions and members of trade unions in five coastal cities of Indonesia have gained new insights about harassment, violence and HIV/AIDS vulnerability in the maritime sector from a series of awareness raising training programmes. Held from September to November, the training was conducted in Jakarta, Semarang, Medan, Bali and Manado reaching out to more than 255 participants.

The training was jointly conducted by the ILO, the Confederation of All Indonesia Workers’ Union (KSPSI) and its Indonesia's Seafarers Union (KPI) as well as the Indonesian Positive Women’s Network (IPPI), aimed to raise the awareness on harassment, violence and HIV vulnerability at work and to build the capacity of the participants in addressing these issues using employment and social dialogue approaches.

The training also included a session on the application of the ILO’s Training Guideline on Harassment, Violence and HIV/AIDS Vulnerability among Women Seafarers, Women Seafarer’s Groups and Women Working in Maritime Environment. During this session, case studies based on actual incidents were discussed, encouraging participants to identify ways to overcome possible violence and harassment encountered in the maritime industry. On board a ship, women frequently face sexual violence and harassment, while safe and friendly working conditions for people with disabilities or HIV/AIDS remain elusive.

The Guideline introduces the ILO Convention No. 190 (C190) on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work as the first international treaty recognizing the right of everyone to work of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment. The Guideline also highlights relevant regulations related to non-discriminatory policies for workers with HIV/AIDS by referring to the ILO Recommendation No. 200 on HIV/AIDS in the World of Work.

These series of training programmes enabled the wide dissemination of awareness to local seafarers and their organizations. Miftah Nadya, a former woman seafarer and the facilitator from KPI who previously joined the training of trainer on the application of the ILO’s Guideline, shared her experiences dealing with violence and harassment while working at sea and encouraged the participants, particularly women seafarers, to speak up and to be unionized.

The training programmes were also allowed knowledge and experience sharing from the participants about real conditions faced by the seafarers, particularly women seafarers, working at sea and at the maritime industry. The participants were encouraged to share their own experiences and how the new insights and knowledge gained during the training programmes helped them to be more aware about the issues and ways to overcome them.

In addition, the programmes encouraged the establishing of cooperation among relevant stakeholders such as seafarer union, trade unions and the HIV community network. Secretary General of KSPSI, Hermanto Ahmad, encouraged trade unions to voice non-discriminatory practices and prevention of harassment at work through collective bargaining agreements.

Meanwhile, the facilitator from IPPI highlighted the rights of workers with HIV and that they can still be fit to work with ARV treatment. Yudith Sahureka, Head of IPPI in Manado, for example, showcased her life journey as a worker and a mother of two negative children with HIV for 12 years. “With the right treatment, HIV/AIDS is just like any other diseases that can be treated and would have no impact to working productivity,” she said.

As a result, these information sharing sessions have increased participants’ understanding and knowledge about these issues. The pre- and post-assessment before and after the training programme revealed an increase of 20 to 30 percent of mindset changing and awareness.

“We are pleased with the results of these training programmes. We hope with better understanding and knowledge about the HIV vulnerability and non-discriminatory against workers with HIV, particularly in the maritime industry, we can reduce the vulnerability of seafarers at sea and strengthen the implementation of existing HIV regulations and non-discriminatory policies,” said Early Dewi Nuriana, ILO’s programme officer for HIV prevention programme.

Dyah R. Sudarto, ILO’s programme coordinator for C190 on work violence and harassment issues, appreciated the active participation of the participants in acknowledging the importance of addressing incidents of violence and harassment in the maritime industry. “The ILO appreciates the courage shown by the participants to share their experiences in dealing with violence and harassment as a victim or as a witness. By having a better understanding that it is the basic right of every person, both women and men, to have a workplace free from violence and harassment, we hope to see more actions taken against these issues.”

To continue the promotion of these issues beyond the training programmes, the programme activities concluded with the session on social media campaign and the development of a campaign workplan. The session provided a practical skill for all the participants in five cities to create their own message and campaign using their own social media accounts. They had been campaigning on HIV prevention, anti-stigma and discrimination and the prevention of  harassment and violence in the world of work, generating 2,798 responses through Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Tiktok. It is expected that the participants will continue raising the awareness to their own organizations and networks.