Bukola Afeni
Editor
A Social justice Non-governmental organization, Action aid Nigeria on Wednesday tasked the federal government on the urgent need to take action towards eliminating all forms of Gender Based Violence (GBV) across the country.
The Country Director ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi made this call in Abuja, in commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 2020.
According to Ms. Obi, the Federal Government of Nigeria should enact and enforce laws and regulations aimed at eliminating and preventing all forms of gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work, including informal work.
”As we mark the 2020 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, there is a need to recognize that Nigerian women are still over-represented in low paid, insecure jobs with little or no access to social protection and rights at work.
This leaves them vulnerable to multiple forms of violence; a manifestation of patriarchal norms, the undervaluing of womens work, and the attacks on labour standards,” she said.
Meanwhile, she added that in addition to several occupational health and safety risks, female workers are more targeted for violence and harassment at work because of a combination of different factors such as conditions of work, type of work, employment in the informal sector, precarious, short-term work, and low bargaining power.
The Country Director however reiterated that the federal government should strengthen legal protections against Gender-Based Violence at work by adopting, enacting, and enforcing national laws and regulations that will ensure universal access to gender-responsive, appropriate, and effective complaint systems, safe and confidential reporting, transparent justice mechanisms for victims of gender-based violence and harassment at work, including informal work.
She also implore all formal and informal employers of labor to prioritize the protection and promotion of the rights of their workers, especially female workers.”
Similarly, she recommended that federal government prioritize; government funds public services that meet the needs of women and girls (gender-responsive public services) such as in shelter, education, health, sanitation, and agriculture sector.
Also the government should ratify the ILO C190 to ensure women and girls are protected from harassment and sexual exploitation in the world of work.
”CSO actors continue to hold the government accountable and bring attention to gender-based violence especially in the world of work, womens unpaid care and domestic work, and the impacts on the realization of women’s rights to decent work, social protection, and public services”, she added.
