In a bid to sensitise Nigerians against the dangers of Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH) in the world of work, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) took its campaign to the popular Mile12 market, Ketu in Lagos state.
Based on findings from a recent research study conducted by the NLC women commission, the market was identified as one of the informal economy worksites in Lagos where GBVH was prevalent due to precarious nature of work and patriarchal and socio-cultural stereotypes existing within the society.
Chairperson National Women Commission and Vice President NLC Hajia Salamatu Aliu told journalists that the campaigns by NLC and Solidarity centre was being carried out at Mile 12 market as a proof that the society was bedevilled with GBVH in the world of work.
She said: “It has been confirmed that Gender Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH) exists in the world of work in Nigeria. Ratification of C190 will help all sectors of the society fight against GBVH. So, the NLC women commission once again calls on the government to do the needful soonest.”
Aliu explained that NLC, with support from Solidarity Centre, trained a core group of market sellers within the market on GBVH issues.
Also speaking, Lagos state chairperson of the NLC, Comrade Funmi Agnes Sessi, said GBVH was not an issue peculiar to women workers, but one that also affects men.
She said male drivers, porters and artisans also suffer GBVH.
Sessi explained that the Mile 12 International Market anti- GBVH campaign was a grassroots- driven effort by market traders and workers following series of training organized within the market for core group by NLC/Solidarity Center AFL-CIO.
At the end of the training , participants self-organized themselves into an anti-GBVH Task Force and have on their own, been rolling out weekly sensitisation campaigns in various sections of the market.
“Not just the women, even the men have volunteered to work to ensure that C190 is ratified and domesticated. Workers in the informal economy see the value this highly inclusive convention brings to their businesses and are strongly adding their voices to demand that Nigeria should not delay any further in ratifying this important convention,” she further said.
While lamenting that so many persons had died from GBVH, she said C190 addresses issues of both survivors and perpetrators.
