Speaking on 25th November, the international day to demand an end to violence against women and girls, Congress Assistant General Secretary Gerry Murphy said
That violence against women and girls continues and is tolerated is an outrage which we must act to address; the levels of violence, harassment, discrimination and misogyny experienced by women and girls is a blight on our society.
Violence against women and girls remains one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world. According to the UN, globally almost one in three women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both, at least once in their life; for at least 51,100 women in 2023, the cycle of violence ended with their murder by partners and family members. That means a woman was killed every 10 minutes.
This scourge has intensified in different settings, including the workplace and online spaces, and has been exacerbated by war and climate change.
Speaking in relation to workplace sexual harassment Mr Murphy said
Some years ago Congress conducted a survey on the experiences of trade union members who had been victims of workplace sexual harassment. The results were shocking and showed clearly that the majority of people who are subjected to sexual harassment or assault in the workplace do not go on to report the incident (75%). Perhaps even more worryingly, of those who did report, only around 40% felt that it was dealt with appropriately. Most of the people who experienced the harassment or assault were women and the majority of the perpetrators were men.
We know what the issues are
said Mr Murphy,
structural gender inequality, discrimination, poverty and misogyny to name but a few. Now we must act together for solutions, men must take the lead in calling out misogyny, robust responses from governments and employers, including through leadership, legislation and policy, holding perpetrators accountable, and accelerating action through well-resourced national strategies and increased funding to women’s rights movements.
