Gender Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH) especially at place of work, has continued to deepen; causing increased poor mental health and traumatic experiences. In this piece, REGINA OTOKPA looks at the recommendations put forward by Solidarity Centre AFL-CIO and female unionists in the NLC to curb the trend.
Sharon Awuna (not real name), is a survivor of Gender Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH) at work place for over five years. Narrating her ordeal amidst tears to INSIDE ABUJA, it was evident she was suffering from both emotional and psychological trauma as a result of the series of verbal abuse, threats of losing her job, “unmerited” queries, sexual harassment, bullying and physical abuse.
“I wake up each work day with deep heaviness. Most mornings I lazy around the house asking a million and one questions and sometimes find myself in uncontrollable tears. Could this be a curse? I ask over and over again.
“Since I got a job over five years ago, it has been one drama or the other either with a certain male boss who lacks self discipline, a female boss who has heard ongoing rumours of alleged sex romp between me and one boss or the other which of course is a lie, or colleagues for different reasons not disassociated from the rumours.
“You will think my transfers from one ministry to the other will save me from the constant abuse and harassment but it seems to get tougher and as my family and trusted friends will say, they want to have a taste of a beautiful tall and intelligent lady, go and get married.”
Also narrating her ordeal, Geraldine Okah (Not real name), is a survivor of rape and sexual assault at her previous place of work.
“He kept complementing my looks and describing how he will fulfill me sexually. That fateful day he asked me to stay back after official work hours which I did. He started touching me and threatening to ensure I was sacked if I refused his advances. Despite my pleas and tears, he took advantage of me sexually.
“He began to blackmail me and I found myself giving in because I was afraid to speak out or seek help. When he was eventually transfered out, I couldn’t continue working in that environment, I was ashamed of my self.”
An ongoing field work involving workers in the public, private and media sectors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) organised by a United States based International workers rights organisation, Solidarity Centre AFL-CIO and the women wing of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), has so far shown that although majority of the perpetrators of GBVH were men, a few of them equally suffer abuse and harassment as their female counterparts.
According to Mr. Josiah Maiyaki (Not real name), he suffered verbal abuse, bullying and sexual advances from a female boss for almost three years.
“She would hold my hands, touch me in some sensitive places and ask me to make her happy. When i wasnt playing along, she said I wasn’t man enough. Everything I did from that time onward was either wrong or below standard and what followed was a rain of insults at every given opportunity.”
Over the years, the cases of GBVH in Nigeria has continued to increase either at work places, at home, in school environments, communities and in religious settings.
At the place of work, perpetrators of these heinous offences could be supervisors who abuse their power over subordinates, co-workers who abuse other co-workers, or people with whom workers come into contact such as customers, clients, public officials and community members.
Sadly, majority of GBVH cases are never reported due to fear of stigmatisation, threats, poor job security, lack of GBVH policies, discrimination, attitude of security agencies, poor justice system to mention but a few.
INSIDE ABUJA checks further revealed that majority of reported cases have continued to be swept under the carpet for various reasons which includes; lack of evidence, influence of society bigwigs, monetary influence and threats to life. As a result, survivors are mostly faced with issues of poor mental and psychological health, trauma, poor motivation and lack of interest towards their duties.
For example, in the last one year, there have been several reported cases of both women and men who have suffered different forms of abuse and harassment by members of the National Assembly at their work stations. Unfortunately, none of the perpetrators were brought to book.
Directly and indirectly, the manner GBVH cases are treated in the country are largely responsible for the culture of silence which is gradually drowning survivors into an abyss. This is because most survivors who report GBVH cases are either sacked, scorned, mocked or suffer stigmatisation from friends, colleagues and the society.
Sharon had said: “who will i report to, another boss who is also a man? Or to a female boss who does not understand what it means to protect fellow females in the work force? It will always be their word against mine and I would have lost my job because they consistently make that clear.”
Taking same position, Geraldine noted that due to the corrupt system, reporting cases of GBVH especially against an employer or a senior colleague or boss was tendering your resignation letter and taking a decision to be jobless in a country already grappling with high rate of unemployment.
“I kept my mouth shut suffering in silence for as long as he was there. I was lucky to have gotten another job when I could no longer remain at that environment even after he was transfered out but how many women are that lucky?
“If I had known I will get another job and a better one at that, I would have left or probably taken a bold step to expose him but fear of the unknown especially of losing my job, kept me glued forcing me to open my legs and allow him have his way with me any how he wanted.”
Reports of a study, ‘MADE FOR THIS MOMENT – How ILO Convention 190 Addresses Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in the World of Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond,’ conducted by the Solidarity Centre AFL-CIO, and released in November 2020, states that GBVH in the world of work includes rape, sexual assault, unwanted sexual advances and other forms of sexual harassment or discrimination such as bullying, mobbing, offensive gender stereotyping and degrading comments.
The report which captured true life experiences of women workers in Nigeria and other parts of the world, revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the cases of GBVH increased in work places.
A case specific to Nigeria was Amoke Musa, she works as an ala Baru (market porter) in Lagos State, transporting goods to and
from vehicles and for customers after her husband got laid off. She experiences sexual harassment from male shop owners with some promising her a better job.
“I could not watch my children starve. In the market, I experience sexual harassment from male shop owners. Some approach me and encourage me to meet them in a hotel, saying they will help me find a better job. There are days I just do not want to go to work but I must feed my family. I do not report these men because I do not want to lose their patronage. I negotiate my daily wage with them, which is often meager.
“I have experienced a lot of sexual harassment while trying to get home on the public bus. Strange men touch my breast or buttocks. I feel dirty by the time I get off. I wish I did not have to take the bus home, but I cannot walk as the distance is too far.
“During the peak of COVID-19 in Lagos all perishable foods markets were allowed to remain open and we were allowed to work, but I was afraid to ride the bus at night due to the high incidents of rape and sexual violence on the streets. I felt it was safer to start a small vegetable business within my neighborhood rather than risk being raped or abused on the road. My family suffered a lot. With the lifting of lockdown restrictions now I am back to my work, but I still have to think about how to remain safe. These incidents are almost a normal part of my daily commute.”
Another sad tale was the case of a cleaner an office cleaner who was raped by her supervisor during COVID 19 lockdown under the pretext of having her clean his office at an irregular time when other workers were absent.
A portion of the report states that: “the COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread social and economic instability, increasing the risk of GBVH against women and other marginalized workers in the world of work.
“It has exacerbated preexisting and ongoing oppression, including the growth of precarious work, gender-based discrimination, and the use of violence and harassment to prevent marginalized workers from organizing to address poverty and exclusion from laws and social protections
Disturbed by this ugly trend, Solidarity Centre AFL-CIO and the NLC women wing, have called on Governments, employers and unions to without delay, work together to ratify and implement critical protections in the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Convention 190 and Recommendation 206, a binding treaty on eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work globally, in order to ensure safe, respectful workplaces for all cadre of workers.
According to the report, “ILO Convention 190 recognizes the societal and structural nature of GBVH in the world of work and emphasizes the need for governments and employers to address its root causes, including discrimination, power relationships, and social and cultural norms that normalize and legitimate GBVH in the world of work. These essential protections have renewed urgency during the pandemic.”
Beyond the call for ratification of the ILO Convention 190, the report made specific recommendations to government, employers and unions on how to address and contain the rising cases of GBVH in the world of work.
Governments have been advised to mandate collection of data on the scope and incidence of GBVH in the world of work to inform appropriate legislative and policy responses, to develop and implement comprehensive amendments to national legislation including laws on labour and employment, occupational safety and health, non-discrimination, criminal law and other areas as relevant, to: prohibit all forms of GBVH as defined by ILO Convention 190, Protect all workers as defined by ILO Convention 190, cover the entire world of work as defined by ILO Convention 190 as well as require employer accountability for failure to prevent GBVH in the world of work.
On the part of employers, the report recommended public support and advocacy for ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206 by national governments, conducting trainings for staff including managers on GBVH in the world of work and to ensure the right policies are put in place to prevent GBVH from happening.
Also, employers are advised to consult with workers and unions to implement employer obligations under ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206, including: engaging in a comprehensive risk assessment that examines working conditions, exposure to third parties, power relationships, discrimination and underlying social and cultural norms that support violence and harassment, adopting a workplace policy that defines and prohibits all forms of GBVH as defined in ILO Convention.
In addition, engagement in collective bargaining with workers on policies and procedures to address GBVH including voluntarily recognition of unions and associations formed by workers who do not currently enjoy the right to collective bargaining under national law was recommended.
The Unions on their part have been advised not to desist from building diverse national and international coalitions to advocate for the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206, to negotiate collective bargaining agreements with employers implementing employer obligations under the ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206, incorporate the ILO Convention 190 framework into internal union policies.
“ILO Convention 190, supplemented by Recommendation 206, provides an effective, comprehensive framework to design policies and laws that prevent and address GBVH in the world of work. It does so by clearly defining GBVH, mandating a comprehensive scope of protection that applies to all forms of abuse and to the most vulnerable workers, outlining the responsibilities that governments, employers and workers share, and emphasizing the need for workers to have more power and agency over their working conditions. Governments, employers and unions can work together to ratify and implement the critical protections in ILO Convention 190, to address the increase in GBVH due to the pandemic, and ensure safe, respectful workplaces for all,” the report stated.
