The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has advocated naming and shaming of perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence(GBV), banning them from leadership positions.
NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba, said this during the official launch of a public presentation of Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH) Participatory Research Report and commomeration of the 16 days of Activism on Friday in Abuja.
The theme of the 16 days of Activism is: “Breaking the Silence:Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria World of Work”.
According to Wabba, it is sad that gender based violence is not only restricted at home but also manifests in the workplace where it actually assumes a hydra headed face comprising physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and psychological torture.
”Generally, violence and harassment in the world w affect a person’s psychological, physical and sexual health, dignity, family and social environment, among others.
“The perversity of gender-based violence is that it is mostly an attack against one of the vulnerable segments of our population – women. Gender-based violence and harassment thus disproportionately affect women and girls,” he said.
Wabba said that the ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Convention 190 by the Nigerian government, was the only solution to eradicating such inhumane treatment.
The labour leader said that for a country that already suffered from a huge gap between opportunities for male and female, it would be developmentally suicidal to allow gender-based violence steal the few available opportunities for women to thrive and contribute to the development of society.
Wabba noted that the organised labour understood the challenges of institutionalising gender rights in the country including the right to freedom from gender-based violence given a domineering culture of patriarchy in Nigerian society.
He urged Nigerians to continue to promote the importance of a work culture based on mutual respect and the dignity of the human being as a first line defence and precaution against violence and harassment.
”It’s also very important to emphasis economic violence which makes women and girls to remain economically dependent on men by preventing them from employment.
‘If they are working, forcing them to hand over their earnings to the men and most times the men dictate the type of work to be done by women, and also controling the income as well as resources owned by women.
”This is the reason we must all join hands to eliminate poverty in our country including working poverty.
”This is the reason we must promote social and industrial instruments such as the national minimum wage which seeks to emplace a minimal buffer against poverty,”he said.
On her part, the Chairperson of NLC National Women Commission, Hajiya Salamatu Aliyu, described as worrisome, Nigeria’s refusal to ratify ILO’s Convention 190, saying GBVH was adequately covered in international labour standards and treaties.
She noted that only seven countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, Fiji, Namibia, Somalia, Uruguay and Mauritius had ratified ILO’s Convention 190.
”The report being launched today is a milestone achievement in our struggle towards promoting the right of every person to work based on dignity and respect free from any form of violence and harassment.
”The research findings have revealed the prevalence of GBH thereby breaking the culture and conspiracy of silence as well as denial of gender based violence in the world of work in Nigeria,” she said.
Also, thevMinister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, called on trade unions to collaborate with the ministry to formulate a national policy against gender-based violence in the world of work.
Ngige noted that Nigeria Government was working to ratifying the ILO’s Convention 190 as it would eliminate violence and harrassmment in the world of work.
The minister said the research report would ensure increase awareness among workers and the genera public.
Senior Programme Officer, Solidarity Center AFL-CIO, Nkechi Odinukwe called on labour to open space for gender-based violence reference centres where survival of gender-based violence and harassment would report to.
She said that there was need for public enlightenment of ILO’s Convention 190 that recognised the right of everyone in workplace free form violence and harassment.(NAN)