A RECORDING OF THIS SESSION IS AVAILABLE HERE. Session organized by the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights Interpretation in English, French and Spanish availableBrief description of the session Gender-based violence (GBV), which includes sexual harassment and the threat of violence, is one of the most prevalent human rights abuses in the business context. GBV disproportionately affects women, girls and LGBTI people. Because of the intersectional and multi-layered nature of discrimination, GBV may particularly affect these persons coming from vulnerable groups such as indigenous persons, migrant workers, victims of trafficking, sex workers, domestic workers, persons of disability, and refugees. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation of GBV faced by women, girls and LGBTI people. In this context, this session will discuss various transformative measures that states, businesses, industry associations, trade unions, women organisations and other stakeholders could take to tackle the root causes of GBV.
Key objectives of the session - discuss ways to strengthen the implementation of national and international standards related to GBV;
- showcase emerging business policies, practices and processes (e.g., adopting zero tolerance policy towards all forms of violence at work, conducting human rights due diligence with a gender perspective) to prevent GBV;
- highlight challenge to strengthen access to effective remedy to the victims and survivor of GBV; and
- foster collaboration among different stakeholders to prevent GBV and promote substantive gender equality in the business and human rights field.
Key questions - What steps should states and businesses take, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention 2019 to eliminate GBV and address its root causes?
- How can business enterprises integrate a gender perspective in conducting human rights due diligence throughout their operations and use their leverage to eliminate GBV in their supply chains?
- What strategies should trade unions employ to prevent GBV and assist workers in overcoming gender-based discrimination?
- What support should be provided to victims and survivors of GBV, and organization who work on these issues, in seeking effective remedies in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights?
Background to the discussion Despite numerous laws at national and international levels, GBV is prevalent in all spheres of life: at home, in educational institutions, at work, in sports, in markets, in public transport, in social gatherings, in cyberspace and in the community generally. Although all individuals may experience GBV, women, girls and LGBTI people are disproportionately affected by GBV. The Covid-19 pandemic has also exposed vulnerabilities associated with GBV. In line with the theme of this year’s UN Forum, this session will address GBV faced by women, girls and LGBTI people in the business context. In many instances, GBV is rooted in discriminatory social norms, gender stereotypes and patriarchal power structures. Therefore, eliminating GBV and achieving substantive equality would require tackling these underlying causes of GBV.
In 2017, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released
Standards of Conduct for Business Tackling Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, & Intersex People. In June 2019, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights proposed a three-step gender framework (i.e., gender-responsive assessment, gender-transformative measures and gender-transformative remedies) as part of its gender guidance for the
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In the same month, the ILO adopted the
Violence and Harassment Convention. This session will explore how states, businesses and other actors could draw inspiration from these international standards to take transformative steps to prevent and address GBV.
Additional background documents (pdf format) or relevant linksThe session will help inform the WG’s project ‘
Business and human rights: towards a decade of global implementation' (also known as “UNGPs 10+ / Next Decade BHR”). Centred around the upcoming tenth anniversary of the UNGPs in 2021, the project is taking stock of practice to date, identifying gaps and challenges, and developing a vision and roadmap for scaling up implementation of the UNGPs over the course of the next decade.
