1. Violence and harassment against women and men in the world of work: ILO process towards standard setting
ITUC/PERC – FES Regional Conference on “Violence against
women and men at the workplace”
Budapest, 23 – 24 May 2017
Vera Guseva, Technical Specialist, ILO ACTRAV

2. Contents ILS and standard-setting Violence on the ILO agenda
Standard-setting (timeline)
Tripartite meeting of Experts (preparation)
Tripartite meeting of Experts conclusions and follow-up
Law and Practice report
Further steps

3. Conventions & Recommendations
ILS - legal instruments drawn up by the ILO's constituents (governments, employers and workers) and setting out basic principles and rights at work
Conventions - legally binding international treaties that may be ratified by member states, lay down the basic principles to be implemented by ratifying countries
Recommendations - non-binding guidelines. Supplements the convention by providing more detailed guidelines on how it could be applied or can also be autonomous, i.e. not linked to any convention

4. How an ILS is adopted

5. International Labour Conference, 98th Session, 2009
Sixth item on the agenda: Gender equality at the heart of decent work - Conference committee discussion (general discussion) - Committee report: “combating violence against women”, “preventing violence against women”, “eliminate violence against women, including sexual harassment”, “assist victims of gender-based violence”, “eliminate violence”, etc. Resolution concerning gender equality at the heart of decent work & Conclusions

6. 2009 ILC Conclusions
“[S]exual harassment and other forms of harassment are serious forms of discrimination across the world that undermine the dignity of women and men, negate gender equality and can have significant implications”
A call for the prohibition of gender-based violence in the workplace and for policies, programmes, legislation and other measures to be implemented to prevent it.
Workplace as a privileged entry point for prevention.
Addressing such violence “through social dialogue, including collective bargaining where applicable at the enterprise, sectoral or national level”.

7. ILO Governing Body discussions and decisions (1)
October 2009 – 306th session of the GB: Matters arising out of the work of the 98th Session (2009) of the International Labour Conference: Follow-up to the adoption of the resolution concerning gender equality at the heart of decent work The Governing Body requested the Director-General to: (a) communicate the Conference resolution concerning gender equality at the heart of decent work to the governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations of member States; (b) take steps to give effect to the Conference conclusions concerning gender equality at the heart of decent work in a coordinated and efficient manner at headquarters and in the field, and report regularly to the Governing Body on progress and results achieved; and (c) continue the follow-up actions outlined in this paper and develop new initiatives, in particular in the context of the current crisis.

8. ILO Governing Body discussions and decisions (2)
November 2012 – first discussion of the proposal by the WG entitled «Gender- based violence in the world of work» March 2013 – a revised proposal «Violence against women and men in the world of work» Further discussions till October 2015 when the GB decided to place a standard- setting item on «Violence against women and men in the world of work» on the agenda of the 107th session (June 2018) of the Conference (double discussion) and to convene a tripartite meeting of experts to provide guidance on which basis the GB will consider in November 2016 the preparations for the first discussion of possible instruments by the Conference

9. Tripartite meeting of experts on Violence against women & men in the world of work October 3-6, 2016 (1)
Office: Background paper for discussion at the Meeting of Experts on Violence against Women and Men in the World of Work
ACTRAV & GUFs & ITUC: Violence and Harassment against Women and Men in the World of Work-Trade Union Perspective and Action (35 case studies, 24 countries)
Preparatory TU meeting
Recommendations and priorities (The need for a robust ILO standard on violence in the world of work, with a particular focus on GBV)

10. Tripartite meeting of experts on Violence against women & men in the world of work October 3-6, 2016 (2)
Main points discussed, Conclusions and following GB decision:
Nature of violence and harassment, its causes, effects and actions needed
Recognition of need for more data
Existing ILS – protection against some forms of V&H or for specific groups
No definition
V&H in the world of work should be addressed as part of a continuum of unacceptable behaviours and practices including physical, psychological and sexual aspects
Replacing «violence» with «violence and harassment» to ensure the range of unacceptable behaviour is adequately understood and addressed

11. Standard-setting (double-discussions procedure)
By now – to facilitate standard-setting so called «law and practice report» – Ending violence and harassment against women and men in the world of work (aka white report)
(legal analysis of 80 countries’ regulatory frameworks addressing V&H in the world of work)
QUESTIONNAIRE (appended to the law and practice report)
Standing orders of the ILC Article 39(1) –
Governments are requested to consult the most representative organisations of employers and workers before finalising their replies. Results of such consultations should be reflected in the governments’ reply and they should indicate which organisations they consulted .
BUT: TUs can also send their comments directly to the ILO (whether or not they received copies of government reports)
DEADLINE: 22 SEPTEMBER 2017
C 144

12. C 144 - Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention
Article 5(1)(a) of the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) and Paragraph 5(a) of the Tripartite Consultation (Activities of the International Labour Organisation) Recommendation, 1976 (No. 152), provide that consultations of employers’ and workers’ representatives should be held on government replies to questionnaires concerning items on the agenda of the Conference and government comments on proposed texts to be discussed. Check if your country ratified at: UMENT_ID: (139 ratifications)

13. QUESTIONNAIRE
PURPOSE – request views on the scope and content of the proposed instrument(s) thus enabling the office to prepare a report for the Conference
CONTENTS of the Questionnaire:
Form of the instrument(s): C/R/C+R or a single instrument comprising binding and non-binding provisions
Preamble
Definitions & scope
Content of a Convention (prevention, monitoring, enforcement, victim support, means of implementation)
Content of a Recommendation (same)
Special problems
ITUC guidelines

14. What’s next? (1) September 22 2017 – deadline to receive replies
September 2017 – January Office prepares a further report (the second report or yellow report) on the basis of the replies received, indicating the principal questions which require consideration by the Conference
February (4 months before the C) - The Office sends out the second report, indicating the principal questions (proposed conclusions) which require consideration by the Conference
June 2018 First Discussion at the ILC
2020 (2019 – ILO centenary)

15. What’s next? (2)
The Office prepares a report and draft text of a Convention/Recommendation (Brown Report ) on the basis of the first discussion at the ILC
The Office sends out the draft text of the Recommendation to the Governments, asking them to state within three months whether they have any amendments to suggest of comments to make
The Governments should consult the most representative workers and employers’ organizations before finalizing their replies to the Office
Amendments to the draft text of the Convention/Recommendation should have reached the Office
Office draws up a final report (Blue Report) containing the text of the Convention/Recommendation with any necessary amendments
Office sends the final report with the text of the draft Convention/Recommendation to the Governments
June 2020 Second discussion of the draft Convention/Recommendation
Adoption of the Convention/recommendation by the Conference requires a two-thirds majority of the votes cast.

16. Useful links (1)
Law and practice report and questionnaire conference/WCMS_553577/lang--en/index.htm
На русском: conference/WCMS_554099/lang--en/index.htm
Handbook of procedures relating to international labour Conventions and Recommendations normes/documents/publication/wcms_ pdf
NORMLEX Information System on International Labour Standards
International Journal of Labour Research: Psychosocial risks, stress and violence in the world of work journal-labour-research/WCMS_551796/lang--en/index.htm
Violence and Harassment against Women and Men in the World of Work-Trade Union Perspective and Action:

17. Useful links (2)
Tripartite Meeting of Experts on Violence against Women and Men in the World of Work:
Background paper en/index.htm
Outcome report and conclusions en/index.htm
International Women's Day Towards a better future for women and work: Voices of women and men
The women at work initiative ilo/history/centenary/WCMS_480301/lang--en/index.htm
ILO Conditions of Work and Equality Department (WORKQUALITY) offices/workquality/lang--en/index.htm
ILO ACTRAV