On 7 March 2022, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland deposited the instrument of ratification of the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) with the Director-General of the ILO.
By submitting the instrument of ratification, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland becomes the 11th country in the world, and the 3rd country in Europe, to ratify Convention No. 190.
Convention No. 190 is a landmark instrument. It is the first international labour standard to address violence and harassment in the world of work. Together with Recommendation No. 206, it provides a common framework for action and a unique opportunity to shape a future of work based on dignity and respect. These instruments will be key to achieve the objectives set by the ILO Centenary Declaration on the Future of Work, adopted in 2019, that clearly commits to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and more recently, and by the ILO’s Global call to action for a human-centred recovery from the COVID-19 crisis that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient.
The Convention affirms that everyone has the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment. It also provides for the first internationally agreed definition of violence and harassment in the world of work, including of gender-based violence, understood as “a range of unacceptable behaviours and practices” that “aim at, result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm”. This definition protects everyone in the world of work, including interns or apprentices, and persons who exercise the duties or authority of an employer, and covers the public and private sectors, the formal and informal economies, as well as urban and rural areas.
The Convention also requires ratifying Member States to adopt, in consultation with representative employers’ and workers’ organizations, an inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach to preventing and eliminating violence and harassment, through prevention, protection and enforcement measures and remedies, as well as guidance, training and awareness-raising. It also recognizes the different and complementary roles and functions of governments, employers and workers and their respective organizations, taking into account the varying nature and extent of their responsibilities. The Convention and its accompanying Recommendation are tangible evidence of the enduring value and strength of social dialogue and tripartism, which have shaped them and will be essential in implementing them at national level.
In depositing the official instrument of ratification at the ceremony held at the ILO in Geneva, the Rt Hon Dr Thérèse Coffey MP, Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, stated: “No-one should be the target of violence and harassment, especially for simply doing their job. I am pleased to be here to mark the UK’s ratification of the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention; the first international treaty to recognise the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment.”
Receiving the instrument of ratification of Convention No. 190, the Director-General, Mr Guy Ryder, stated: “In times of crisis and economic insecurity, the risk of violence and harassment escalates, as it has been evidenced recently all over the world in the context of the devastating and unprecedented pandemic of COVID-19. Everyone agrees that violence and harassment in the world of work is unacceptable at any time, and I strongly believe that Convention No. 190 has a crucial role to play in this regard, whether in times of crisis or prosperity. I am confident that the ratification by the United Kingdom of this landmark ILO instrument will contribute to the achievement of decent work for all and to the effort towards a human-centred response and recovery from this pandemic that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient, and tackles inequalities and discrimination all over the world.”