By Kaveesha Coswatte

Explaining C190

Convention 190 is the end result of years of efforts by labor rights and women’s rights movements, which has given credibility, increased visibility, and immediacy to Gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) on a global level. Its aim is to bring focus upon different areas and relevant dynamics of GBVH and lay out a roadmap to enable governments, public, private, informal sector employers, and all related workers on how such issues should be handled.

The Convention recognizes that everyone has the right to a world of work that is free from all forms of violence and harassment through its articles. It also sets down the definitions for violence and harassment as “a range of unacceptable behaviors and practices” that “aim at, result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm”. This definition covers physical abuse, verbal abuse, bullying and targeted mobbing, sexual harassment, threats and stalking, humiliation, among other things. When read with the supplementing Recommendation No. 206, C190 establishes a common framework with action points in order to stop and address GBVH in the workplace.

It is also based on a broad concept of the “world of work” or what “workplace” means, and takes into account that in the present day, work does not always take place at a physical workplace, which is especially relevant in today’s COVID19 context where most work has transitioned online. However, this makes sure that unique situations, such as harassment during work-related travel, when traveling to and from work, in employer-provided accommodation, or through official o unofficial work-related communications are included in the definition put forward by Article 3.

Problems in the Garment Sector

The garment sector is the largest exporter in our country’s economy, employing a majority of female workers. Currently, COVID-19 has slowed any growth, but the industry started to recover in 2021 and hopes for further expansion.

This industry employs a majority of women, many of whom are very young and often come from rural or poor-economic groups. Hence, the Female garment worker is very often living away from their families and support networks, very often becoming significantly susceptible to harassment and violence in a variety of situations, from while living in boarding houses or remaining silent about abuse as they do not wish to lose their jobs.

Estimates reveal that almost 85% of garment industry employees in Sri Lanka are women, however, the unmistakable reality for female garment workers is that they continue to be subjected to extensive violations by their employers and other coworkers, and further, they remain a key vulnerable group facing GBVH by their employers, supervisors, other male staff, boarding house owners and men inhabiting or working in the area around the garment factories.

In light of this, it is important to understand that C190 was built with the very aim of providing relief for such situations. It acknowledges that gender-based violence and harassment excessively affects the female worker: women and girls. With this, it understands that a gender-responsive or specific approach, that is able to tackle and explore the underlying causes and risk factors, such as gender stereotypes, multiple intersecting forms of discrimination, and the balance of or power relations at work of the unequal gender-based power relations therein remains necessary to end violence and harassment in the workplace, which is stressed at multiple instances within the Convention from its Preamble to Articles 1,4,5, and 10.

More often than not, when asked about the prevalence of GBVH or sexual harassment in their workplace, most workers would refuse to comment or state that they are not experiencing such violence. However, this is mainly due to the fact that as young poor women, who do not have professional qualifications in most cases, they cannot afford to complain about the harassment they face as the repercussions will be more violence and the subsequent loss of their job. However, those who are willing to speak share similar accounts of harassment over different factories in different areas of the country. One worker pointed out that when a machine breaks down and a technician is requested to come in for the repairs, especially in cases of a serious malfunction, sometimes the workers have to give a sexual bribe to them, and if not, the technicians do not fix the machine. Many also mentioned that sometimes the factory deducts money from their salary to repair the machine that is broken.

Some spoke about the fact that when living in boarding rooms, they fail to receive any relief packages when issued in said areas provided for cases of floods and mudslides and other similar disaster situations. In this context, by looking at the definition of the world of work in comparison with the situation faced by the workers, the C190 Convention would be beneficial to these workers as it will be a situation that can be covered by the Convention.

Another worker emphasized that on one side most women garment workers face domestic violence but also struggle with caring for their children because many factories do not have such care facilities or have closed down the daycare centers that were operating. This experience, combined with the pressure and added harassment in the factory, creates a risk of mental fatigue in addition to physical exhaustion within these workers.

Many workers state that the absence of mental health counseling at the factories, at least at the institutional level, is a serious problem that they would like addressed. They all also had faced very similar experiences of habitual sexual harassment, inappropriate remarks, sexual suggestions, and invitations.

However, the GBVH they face is also supported by the negative stigma regarding garment workers as “simple-minded, easy” girls who also engage in sex work. These assumptions create an atmosphere of disregard towards harassment faced by them, and their complaints are not being taken seriously as well. All of these factors work against the female garment workers and push them towards accepting GBVH as a normalized part of their employment, which should never be the case.

For most of these problems outlined, the C190 can provide working solutions or at least a starting point of protection. No individual should feel as though standing up for their rights, wherever they may be employed or around their employment, will result in them losing their livelihood. Similarly, no individual should succumb to accepting violence in their workplace due to the very same fear, and continue to work under such dehumanizing conditions. Ratifying this Convention becomes a top priority in this context so that those supporting one of the main backbones of our economy do not work in an environment where violence is normalized, forfeiting their basic rights and dignity.