Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations and Acronyms
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Campaign for a Binding Global Labour Standard, 2009–19
- 3 Gender Equality at the Heart of Decent Work
- 4 The Campaign Leading to the Meeting of Experts in 2016 and a Framework for a Convention and Recommendation
- 5 The Build-Up to and Negotiations in the First ILO Standard-Setting Committee, 2018
- 6 The Campaign Between 2018 and 2019, and the Negotiations in the Second ILO Standard-Setting Committee, 2019
- 7 The Campaign for the Ratification and Implementation of C190
- 8 The Collective Voices of Women Workers and What C190 and R206 Represent
- 9 Conclusions
- A Responses to the Questionnaire in the ILO's “Yellow Report”
- B List of People Interviewed for the Book
- Notes
- References
- Index
3 - Gender Equality at the Heart of Decent Work
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2024
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations and Acronyms
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Campaign for a Binding Global Labour Standard, 2009–19
- 3 Gender Equality at the Heart of Decent Work
- 4 The Campaign Leading to the Meeting of Experts in 2016 and a Framework for a Convention and Recommendation
- 5 The Build-Up to and Negotiations in the First ILO Standard-Setting Committee, 2018
- 6 The Campaign Between 2018 and 2019, and the Negotiations in the Second ILO Standard-Setting Committee, 2019
- 7 The Campaign for the Ratification and Implementation of C190
- 8 The Collective Voices of Women Workers and What C190 and R206 Represent
- 9 Conclusions
- A Responses to the Questionnaire in the ILO's “Yellow Report”
- B List of People Interviewed for the Book
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter charts developments in the global campaign “Stop Gender-Based Violence at Work! Support an ILO Convention!” between 2009 and 2015. We look at how momentum for standard setting was built, starting with the adoption of the 2009 ILC Resolution on gender equality at the heart of decent work, leading to the decision of the ILO Governing Body in 2015 for a standard-setting item on violence and harassment in the world of work.
The ITUC global campaign “Stop Gender-Based Violence at Work! Support an ILO Convention!”
The ITUC global campaign “Stop Gender-Based Violence at Work! Support an ILO Convention!” (referred to as “the global campaign”) formally began in 2009, when a space opened up for a global binding standard on violence and harassment as a result of the ILC Resolution on gender equality at the heart of decent work (ILO 2009c). Building on many years of trade union campaigning, this period was marked by a greater convergence of and momentum among women workers’ campaigns across the world to make GBV at work more visible. Women in trade unions were stepping up their organizing around key gender equality issues at the global, regional and national levels, and asserting a much greater role in lobbying at the global level around GBV. Trade union mobilization around GBV was building into a global movement, helped in no small way by a shift taking place in the trade union movement itself, driven by the increasing feminization of unions and union agendas. A shift in focus from violence against women to gender-based violence was also an important milestone for trade unions, particularly because it made it possible to bring gender power relations to the centre of the campaign, Cathy Feingold of the AFL-CIO said in her interview:
When the labour movement started putting the issue into the gender power analysis frame, that clicked. The continuum of violence, the imbalance of power – that makes sense for the labour movement, particularly in the workplace. Finally, we had a frame that reflects the global economy.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Stopping Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at WorkThe Campaign for an ILO Convention, pp. 73 - 84Publisher: Agenda PublishingPrint publication year: 2022