Opinion: A new approach to ending gender-based violence, harassment at work

provided by U.S. Department of Labor

Charmaine Davis

The U.S. has often been a leader in gender-based discrimination laws, such as Title VII and Title IX. In fact, many countries have modeled their legislation on how the U.S. legal system addresses sexual harassment. To prevent and address gender-based violence in the workplace, the International Labor Organization presented a new international model in 2019 in its Convention on Violence and Harassment, also known as Convention 190.

Shaped by the voices of working women around the world – in concert with unions, employer representatives and governments – Convention 190 offers a groundbreaking approach. The convention is broader than sexual harassment and, instead, addresses gender-based violence and harassment. It goes beyond the workplace and covers anywhere workers are paid: in break rooms, restrooms, parking garages, trainings and through work-related communications. The convention envisions a world free of violence and harassment for all workers and recognizes gender-based violence and harassment as an occupational health and safety issue and as a manifestation of gender discrimination, which can be compounded by other forms of discrimination.

To truly prevent gender-based violence and harassment, we must do more than just prohibit unlawful conduct; we must attack its root causes. Organizations need to think beyond the anti-discrimination requirements of Title VII, which sets the minimum legal requirements for employers but may not necessarily represent what is actually equitable in the workplace. Convention 190 can inspire us to better prevent gender-based violence and harassment from occurring, and to make sure responses are meaningful when it happens. The good news is we’re seeing progress all over the region, especially in the five years after so many brave survivors came forward and sparked the #MeToo movement.

With the release of the first U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence in spring of 2023, the federal government has already committed to think beyond Title VII. For example, the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau and the ILO Office for the United States and Canada are hosting a series of national and regional meetings at which stakeholders will collaborate on strategies to help eliminate gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work. Their first regional convenings were held in Seattle and Denver, giving employers, unions, workers and government leaders opportunities to discuss the devastation caused by gender-based violence and harassment, its root causes and how to develop models to help bring it to an end.

As our workplaces have evolved and continue to change, so too must our policies and programs. We need to grow above and beyond the foundations of Title VII. We have the updated tools to build a world of work that is free of violence and harassment for all workers – the time to use them is now.

Charmaine Davis is the acting regional director for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau in Chicago.