ILO Convention No. 190 on the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work was adopted at the June 2019 session of the International Labour Conference – where Chile voted in favour - and protects all persons involved in employment relations regardless of their contractual status or whether they are in the public or private sector.

It identifies violence and harassment at work as a threat to human rights incompatible with decent work. It provides appropriate and effective remedies and redress, including the need to implement the convention through national legislation, collective agreements, or other measures by national practice.

We already reported that Spain referred to Parliament for the approval of the Convention last February. In 2022, many other countries adopted the Convention (even if it will enter into force in 2023): Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Central African Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Perú, San Marino and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, confirming the increasing focus on the prevention of violence and harassment in the workplace at the global level.

Considering that in Chile, 25 per cent of complaints to the Labour Directorate (the government body that monitors compliance with labour law) are about sexual harassment, and women make 92 per cent of them, the announcement marks an important step in the direction of greater protection for these categories.

If Chile ratifies the convention, as stressed in the official announcement of the Government, it will be subject to the following obligations: 

a) To monitor and control the application of legislation. 

b) To guarantee access to recourse and redress channels, as well as mechanisms and procedures for notification and conflict resolution. 

c) To protect the privacy and confidentiality of the people involved. 

d) To establish sanctions. 

e) To ensure that victims have adequate access to claims, assistance, redress and conflict resolution mechanisms, all with a gender perspective. 

Chile’s president Gabriel Boric said: “I have no doubt that [Congress] will approve [the bill] with speed", adding that this move is part of a wider social dialogue policy.

Employers have a critical role to play in preventing workplace violence and harassment.

On the issue, as we reported here, last July, governments, the private sector, trade unions, and NGOs (COALITION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS) took part in an event focused on ways to create an enabling, gender-responsive, safe work environment for the future.

It aimed to explore strategies to promote universal ratification and effective implementation of ILO C 190 as part of a broader push that goes beyond job creation to the provision of safe, violence-free environments with decent jobs for all, in the spirit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 17 (The Outcomes Documents of the previous 8 September 2021 event can be accessed at the following links: Strategy document of the session, Full Report).