Geneva

More than one in five people employed – almost 23 per cent – have experienced violence and harassment in the workplace, whether physical, psychological or sexual, according to the first ever joint analysis of data worldwide carried out by the UN International Labor Organization (ILO), the independent global charity Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) and analytics and polling company, Gallup.

This first global survey on experiences of violence and harassment at work, aims to provide a better understanding and awareness of an issue rooted in complex economic, social and cultural factors, said ILO in a press release published on Monday.

Almost 23 per cent – have experienced violence and harassment in the workplace, whether physical, psychological or sexual

Experiences of Violence and Harassment at Work: A global first survey  assesses the extent of the problem and looks at the factors that may prevent people from talking about what they’ve gone through, including shame, guilt or a lack of trust in institutions, or because such unacceptable behaviors are seen as “normal”.

Lack of disclosure

Violence and harassment at work is difficult to measure. The report found that only half of victims worldwide had disclosed their experiences to another person, and often only after they had suffered repeated incidents.

The most common reasons given for non-disclosure were that it was seen as a “waste of time”, leaving people who have been abused, fearing for their reputation. Women were more likely to share their experiences than men (60.7 per cent compared to 50.1 per cent).

Globally, 17.9 per cent of employed men and women said they had experienced psychological violence and harassment at some point in their working life, and 8.5 per cent had faced physical violence and harassment. More men than women report having experienced this.

Of those responding, 6.3 per cent reported facing sexual violence and harassment, “with women being particularly exposed”, said the UN labor agency.

Most at risk

Young people, migrant workers, and salaried women and men have been the most exposed to violence, according to the data.

Young women were twice as likely as young men to have faced sexual violence and harassment, while migrant women were almost twice as likely as non-migrants to report sexual violence and harassment.

More than three out of five victims said they had experienced violence and harassment multiple times, and for the majority, the most recent incident took place within the past five years.

“It’s painful to learn that people face violence and harassment not just once but multiple times in their working lives,” said Manuela Tomei, ILO Assistant Director-General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue.

Tough task ahead

“Psychological violence and harassment is the most prevalent across countries, and women are particularly exposed to sexual violence and harassment. The report tells us about the enormity of task ahead to end violence and harassment in the world of work. I hope it will expedite action on the ground and towards the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 190.”

ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (or 190) and Recommendation (No. 206) are the first international labor standards to provide a common framework to prevent, remedy and eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment.

The Convention includes the specific recognition, for the first time in international law, of the right of everyone to a world of work, free from violence and harassment, and outlines obligations of signatories towards this end.

Lifting the veil

“Gathering robust data on this highly sensitive issue is challenging but essential. For the first time, this report lifts the veil on this pervasive problem which plagues more than one in five workers globally,” said Andrew Rzepa, a Partner at Gallup. “For too long, companies and organizations have been unaware or unwilling to tackle violence and harassment in the workplace”, he added. “This dataset provides a baseline that we can all use to track much-needed progress on this vital safety issue.”

Sarah Cumbers, Director of Evidence and Insight at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, said that to tackle “global safety challenges as difficult and deep-rooted as violence and harassment at work, it is critical to have good data to understand the extent of the problem and to identify those most at risk, especially in places where little reliable data may have existed previously.

“We are very glad to have been able to work with Gallup and the ILO to make this landmark contribution to filling these data gaps as part of our World Risk Poll, and to provide a benchmark for countries to make improvements, driven by the vitally important ratification of Convention 190.”

Report recommendations

Some of the recommendations offered by the report include:

The regular collection of robust data on violence and harassment at work, at national, regional and global levels, to inform prevention and remediation laws and mechanisms, policies and programs.

Extending and updating mechanisms to effectively prevent and manage violence and harassment, including through labor inspection systems and occupational safety and health policies and programs.

Increasing awareness of violence and harassment at work, including its different manifestations, with a view to changing perceptions, stigmas, attitudes and behaviors that can perpetuate violence and harassment, particularly those based on discrimination.

Enhance the capacity of institutions at all levels to deliver effective prevention, remediation and support, to build people’s trust in justice and ensure victims are supported.

The ILO-LRF-Gallup study was based on interviews conducted in 2021 with nearly 75,000 employed individuals aged 15 or older, in 121 countries and territories, as part of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll.

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Courtesy: UN News (Published on Dec 5, 2022)  

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Geneva: Despite the unprecedented worldwide expansion of social protection during the COVID-19 crisis, more than 4 billion people around the world remain entirely unprotected, a new International Labor Organization (ILO) report says.

It finds that the pandemic response was uneven and insufficient, deepening the gap between countries with high and low income levels and failing to afford the much-needed social protection that all human beings deserve.

Social protection includes access to health care and income security, particularly in relation to old age, unemployment, sickness, disability, work injury, maternity or loss of a main income earner, as well as for families with children.

“Countries are at a crossroads,” said ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder. “This is a pivotal moment to harness the pandemic response to build a new generation of rights-based social protection systems. These can cushion people from future crises and give workers and businesses the security to tackle the multiple transitions ahead with confidence and with hope. We must recognize that effective and comprehensive social protection is not just essential for social justice and decent work but for creating a sustainable and resilient future too.”

The World Social Protection Report 2020-22: Social protection at the crossroads – in pursuit of a better future gives a global overview of recent developments in social protection systems, including social protection floors, and covers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report identifies protection gaps and sets out key policy recommendations, including in relation to the targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Currently, only 47 per cent of the global populations are effectively covered by at least one social protection benefit, while 4.1 billion people (53 per cent) obtain no income security at all from their national social protection system.

There are significant regional inequalities in social protection. Europe and Central Asia have the highest rates of coverage, with 84 per cent of people being covered by at least one benefit. The Americas are also above the global average, with 64.3 per cent. Asia and the Pacific (44 per cent), the Arab States (40 per cent) and Africa (17.4 per cent) have marked coverage gaps.

Worldwide, the vast majority of children still have no effective social protection coverage – only one in four children (26.4 per cent) receive a social protection benefit. Only 45 per cent of women with newborns worldwide receive a cash maternity benefit. Only one in three persons with severe disabilities (33.5 per cent) worldwide received a disability benefit. Coverage of unemployment benefits is even lower; only 18.6 per cent of unemployed workers worldwide are effectively covered. And while 77.5 per cent of people above retirement age receive some form of old-age pension, major disparities remain across regions, between rural and urban areas, and between women and men.

Government spending on social protection also varies significantly. On average, countries spend 12.8 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on social protection (excluding health), however high-income countries spend 16.4 per cent and low-income countries only 1.1 per cent of their GDP on social protection.

The report says that the financing gap (the additional spending required to ensure at least minimum social protection for all) has increased by approximately 30 per cent since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.

To guarantee at least basic social protection coverage, low-income countries would need to invest an additional US$77.9 billion per year, lower-middle-income countries an additional US$362.9 billion per year and upper-middle-income countries a further US$750.8 billion per year. That’s equivalent to 15.9, 5.1 and 3.1 per cent of their GDP, respectively.

“There is an enormous push for countries to move to fiscal consolidation, after the massive public expenditure of their crisis response measures, but it would be seriously damaging to cut back on social protection; investment is required here and now,” said Shahra Razavi, Director, ILO Social Protection Department.

“Social protection is an important tool that can create wide-ranging social and economic benefits for countries at all levels of development. It can underpin better health and education, greater equality, more sustainable economic systems, better managed migration and the observance of core rights. Building the systems that can deliver these positive outcomes will require a mix of financing sources and greater international solidarity, particularly with support for poorer countries. But the benefits of success will reach beyond national borders to benefit us all,” she said.

Specific measures to promote universal social protection were highlighted in the Global Call to Action for a human-centered recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Call to Action, which outlines a comprehensive agenda for recovery, was endorsed unanimously in June 2021 by the ILO’s Member States, representing governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations.

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The post Over 4 billion people still lack any social protection – ILO report first appeared on Sindh Courier.