The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC-Africa, has called on Nigeria and other African countries to urgently strengthen measures against workplace violence and harassment, warning that millions of workers across the continent remain exposed to abuse despite the adoption of international labour standards aimed at protecting them.
In a statement marking the sixth anniversary of the adoption of the International Labour Organization, ILO, Convention No. 190 (C190) and Recommendation No. 206 (R206), ITUC-Africa’s General Secretary, Akhator Joel Odigie, described workplace violence and harassment as one of the most persistent violations of workers’ rights in Africa.
The organisation lamented that six years after the historic adoption of the convention on June 21, 2019, progress in ratification and implementation across Africa remains slow.
“Violence and harassment at work, including gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH), remain among the most pervasive yet least prosecuted violations of workers’ rights across the African continent.
“From domestic workers in private households, to nurses in understaffed clinics, from garment workers on factory floors to women agricultural labourers in export crop supply chains, the evidence is clear and compelling: far too many workers-overwhelmingly women-continue to endure abuse, intimidation, and violence as a condition of their employment.
