ILO called on corporates to eliminate GBV and sexual harrasment at workplaces.
By Letwin Mubonesi
THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) has called on corporates to be on the forefront in eliminating gender-based violence and sexual harassment in workplaces.
Recently, ILO in partnership with United Nations held an event in Harare on sexual harassment in the workplaces.
Gender based violence in the work environment includes bullying, physical and verbal abuse from colleagues, supervisors or managers.
It also includes psychological abuse, intimidation, threats and acts of physical and sexual violence.
However, ILO director for Zimbabwe and Namibia, Holopane Phororo said these forms of GBV and sexual harassment at workplaces should come to an end.
She added that most workers male or female were afraid to report the cases due to fear of victimization though women are disproportionately impacted by GBV in their workplaces .
Women tend to be on the receiving end of requests for sexual favors, they are exposed to inappropriate jokes and other forms of sexual commentary.
Phororo said despite its massive scale, sexual harassment in the workplace remains under reported because of fear of disbelief, blame or social stigmatization or retaliation by superiors or perpetrators, hence corporates should work towards eliminating such.
“When we talk about harassment, people tend to think that only women are the victims, but men are also victims of sexual harassment and gender-based violence at work.
There are many forms of harassment at work, ranging from sexual, verbal, physical, financial and emotional and some people fail to report these cases because of fear of losing their jobs,” she said.
Furthermore, in most cases GBV at workplaces often affects young employees who think it is culturally acceptable to be harassed at workplace and they sometimes do not report because of lack of witness.
She said workers should have enough information concerning GBV.
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