IFJ hails ILO adoption of a Convention on violence and harassment at workplace

Today, the final day of the Centenary International Labour Conference in Geneva, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has adopted a Convention on violence and harassment in the world of work. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomes a major step forward in terms of labour rights.

ILO headquarters in Geneva. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

The Convention recognizes that violence and harassment in the world of work “can constitute a human rights violation or abuse” and are “a threat to equal opportunities, unacceptable and incompatible with decent work.” It provides with broad definitions of what violence and harassment in the world of work mean, where they can take place and who can be concerned.

The Convention will enter into force twelve months after two Member States have ratified it. The delegates also adopted a Recommendation, which provides guidelines on how the Convention should be applied.

The IFJ has made harassment in the newsrooms, including gender-based violence, a campaigning priority. Urgent action is needed: our statistics demonstrate that at least one in every two journalists has suffered sexual harassment, psychological abuse, online trolling and other forms of human rights abuses.

The IFJ welcomes the adoption of the Convention, which will strengthen labour rights of media workers around the world. On its side, it keeps on working towards the adoption of a UN Convention on the Safety of Journalists.

In a statement issued today, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has also welcomed the adoption of the Convention, underlining that "now the battle will be to make sure that each state ratifies and puts the Convention into clear and effective national law".

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 146 countries

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