OVER 743 million workers or about a fifth of the global labor force have suffered one form of harassment or violence at work, according to a new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Citing the results of its “Experiences of Violence and Harassment at Work: A global first survey” with Lloyd’s Register Foundation-Gallup Survey, which was released on Tuesday, ILO noted that only half disclosed their ordeal to other people since they considered it as a “waste of time” or out of “fear for their reputation.”
This, even if more than three out of five experienced such workplace harassment and violence multiple times. Those more vulnerable to such activities are youth, migrant workers, and wage and salaried women and men.
Of those who suffered harassment and violence at work, around 18 percent said their ordeal was psychological, and 8.5 percent said they experienced it physically.
Another 6.3 percent also said they suffered sexual violence and harassment.
The survey was conducted last year and covered 121 countries, including the Philippines.
Ratify Convention 190
Amid these results, ILO called for more countries to ratify the Convention 190 or the Convention against Violence and Harassment, which it noted will help “codify violence and harassment as both an issue of equality, and of occupational safety and health.”
The convention “provides a common framework to prevent, remedy and eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment.”
“The report tells us about the enormity of the task ahead to end violence and harassment in the world of work. I hope it will expedite action on the ground and towards the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 190,” Manuela Tomei, ILO Assistant Director-General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue said in a statement.
Currently, only 23 countries have ratified the convention.
In the Philippines, despite pronouncements by the government last year that it supports the new convention, it has yet to ratify it.
Labor groups have called on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. and Congress to ratify Convention 190.
“We must ratify it to protect the rights of women and all workers—those from formal or informal sector, public or private sector—to be protected against all forms of harassment in the world of work,” Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) Chief of Staff Jillian Roque said in a press conference last week.