Success of EPSU’s actions for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women

EPSU campaign International day for elimination of violence against women 25 November 2019

(9 December 2019) On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25, EPSU organized a campaign to promote a health and safe environment in the world of work, through the ratification of the Istanbul and the ILO 190 Conventions. Violence and harassment in the workplace can potentially affect anyone, but some groups and sectors are more at risks than others. The structural nature of violence against women is gender-based, and everyday it prevents many women and girls to access services, work, public life, forcing them into a subordinating position.  The two Conventions are milestones for the protection of women and their rights:

  • The Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence was adopted by the Council of Europe in 2011 and 34 countries already ratified it; we are committed to advocate for its ratification also from those countries that only signed it, the European Union included.
  • In June this year, the ILO adopted the Convention n. 190 concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work.

As part of EPSU’s campaign to support their ratification, some goal-oriented actions were taken, namely:

  • EPSU published a briefing, in which a comparison is established between three instruments that concerns women and workers’ rights: the above mentioned Istanbul and ILO 190 Conventions, and the Social Partners Autonomous Framework Agreement (2007). The briefing is available in English.
  • Social media campaign: Starting on 18 November EPSU run a countdown to 25 November by posting a daily message. On the 25th, we joined PSI’s Twitter marathon, for what concerns  the Europe region.
  • Photo with EPSU frame: an album with all the framed picture  that we took during the recent events is available on Flickr. We will also share them on Facebook and Twitter. Please, download your picture and share it!

The main hashtag used to spread the campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were: #RatifyILO190  #RatifyIstanbul and #TrustyourTradeUnion – feel free to keep using them!

We would like to compliment our affiliates, the majority of whom took actions to commit against violence against women, whether autonomous or in collaboration with us. Here a recap of our affiliates’ actions.

You can follow our accounts here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EPSUnions/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/epsunions/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPSUnions

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94657608@N02/albums