The Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) focused on a drive to combat GBVH at workplace created a unique forum for a captive audience consisting of Corporate HR teams and Entrepreneurs, to engage in a meaningful discussion with relevant information and statistics to achieve possible actionable outcome.
WCIC Chairperson Anoji De Silva outlined the many areas the WCIC is engaged in with the vision of being the ‘Think Tank, Voice and the Platform’ for women in business.
She elaborated on the extensive partnerships we form to achieve our vision. CIPE being one such strong connection which has paved the way for WCIC to work on GBVH among many other topics and to create Initiatives to combat the same at work place.
Speaking on behalf of WCIC and CIPE the project chair, Tusitha Kumarakulasingam outlined the thinking. “We need to begin with a clear understanding of the global Initiatives. The International Labor Organization (ILO) is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that labor peace is essential to prosperity.”
Convention No. 190 (or C190 for short) is the first international treaty to recognize the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment.
“We Invited Elenor Gerasimova ILO Specialist to explain to us the prevailing status. We have two local experts – Marini de Livera and Naushalya Rajapakse who shared their knowledge related to the current legal situation, it’s limitations as well as the current scenario related to the same at work places.”
The experts established that the GBVH is an issue yet as a whole we do not have proper systems, procedures or laws that can play a meaningful role in the eradication. WCIC invited IFC to share their extensive research on the impact of GBVH on businesses. Aarathy Arunasalam, Samurdhi Perera jointly shared the learning’s with the audience.
The participants engaged in a digital survey related to the GBVH which revealed that awareness and experience were prevalent on harassment (physical and mental), bullying, Intimidation and it needs to be addressed effectively for a conducive working environment. The data of the mini survey was in line with the outcome of the national survey done earlier by WCIC as a component of an earlier CIPE project.”
“It clearly establishes the need for formal processes, procedures in workplaces that are administered effectively. Although some organizations do have existing Initiatives most others can improve significantly.
Awareness
During the second half of the day the teams reviewed draft policies and code of conduct suitable for organizations and tried to identify incidents, behavior that needed attention and deliberated on what preventative actions should be in place.
The importance of having formal procedures which the entire company is aware of was considered critical. The participants committed to exploring the existing initiatives within their organizations, If relevant, they agreed to champion changes with the HR teams and to create awareness among team members on what needs to be done if they experience such situations or if they were an observer.
WCIC as a continuation of the project will engage with organizations to ensure that such policies are drafted and Implemented.
“Our goal is to promote a culture of gender equality and safety from GBVH among member organizations, Through this initiative, we hope to create awareness among women about their rights, options for acting against workplace violence and harassment and the authorities established in Sri Lanka to support women and ensure that the organization will take necessary action,” was the message from WCIC.
The Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) was founded in 1985 by a group of visionary entrepreneurs and professionals.
More information on WCIC and its efforts to combat Gender-Based Violence and Harassment could be obtained from, https://www.wcicsl.lk/
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