Violence and  harassment  refers  to  a  range  of  unacceptable  behaviours  and  practices  aimed at,  result  in  and/or  are  likely  to  result  in  physical,  psychological,  sexual  or  economic  harm, and  includes  gender-based  violence  and  harassment (C190, Article 1).

Examples of some of these behaviours include but are not limited to: bullying, pranks, arguments, pushing, sabotage, defamation, cyber-bullying, undermining behaviours, shaming, fighting, assault and murder.

Gender-based violence (GBV) and harassment means violence and harassment directed at persons because of their sex or gender, or affecting persons of a particular sex or gender disproportionately, and includes sexual harassment (C190, Article 1).

Examples include but are not limited to: suggestive or explicit language, physical-based comments, offensive behaviour, inappropriate content sharing, sexual harassment, unwanted physical contact, humiliation, intimidation, indecent exposure, coercive or transactional rape or assault, rape and murder.

The impacts to victims are self-evident and monumental, the shockwaves of which can have further widespread impacts across a business. V&H leads to increased turnover, lower rates of productivity, absenteeism, an unhappy workforce, reputational risk and ultimately high costs to employers.

Research indicates that the cost of violence against women could amount to around two per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP).  This is equivalent to 1.5 trillion, approximately, the size of the economy of Canada.

According to the US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, Employee turnover - may represent “the largest single component of the overall cost of sexual harassment”.

C190 specifically broadens the remit and responsibility of companies to encompass areas such as travel to and from work, safe online work environment, public and private spaces where work occurs, third party actors such as business partners and associates, and domestic violence as it affects the world of work.  

In India, women can lose an average of at least five paid work days for each incident of intimate partner violence. This fact would mean the affected woman would get 25 per cent less of her salary each time an incident of violence happens.

In 2016, UN Women calculated that domestic violence alone costs approximately $32.9 billion in England and Wales; it’s likely this figure has only increased with the rise of V&H risk during COVID-19.

C190 requires employers to take appropriate steps commensurate with their degree of control to prevent violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment, and in particular, so far as is reasonably practicable, to:

(a)  adopt and implement, in consultation with workers and their representatives, a workplace policy on violence and harassment;

(b)  take into account violence and harassment and associated psychosocial risks in the management of occupational safety and health;

(c)  identify hazards and assess the risks of violence and harassment, with the participation of workers and their representatives, and take measures to prevent and control them;

(d)  provide to workers and other persons concerned information and training, in accessible formats as appropriate, on the identified hazards and risks of violence and harassment and the associated prevention and protection measures, including on the rights and responsibilities of workers and other persons concerned in relation to the workplace policy.