By Our Reporter.
Female Workers Member of Parliament Hon Agnes Kunihira has called on trade unions to unite and take in ending Gender Based Violence (GBV).
She said for a long time victims of GBV have been hiding their afflictions while their close associates also downplayed the vice.
The Legislator said time has come for the workers and other stakeholders to work towards elimiantion of GBV.
“Labour unions should take the lead in ending gender based violence ,” She said.
Hon Kunihira was speaking at the stakeholders conference of trade unionist, civil society and government officials on the ratification of ILO convention 190, held September 22, 2021 at Imperial Royal Hotel in Kampala.
The Workers’ MP said there is every reason to believe both sexes suffer daily GBV especially from sexual harassmenet but victims are afraid of coming out openly due to negative public image.
Hon Kunihira challenged especially women to expose the men who harass them sexually as this is the only way of eliminating it from society.
“We cannot say we are fighting gender base violence when we cannot come ou openly to expose the pepetrators,” She said.
The Legislator who was one of the panelists on the theme:”Interrogating, Manifestation of Gender based Violence and Harassment in the World of Work,” advised women to fight for their rights.
She said:” We shall work togther as Workers MPS to lobby our colleagues in ensuring International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 190 is domesticated and enforced.
Commissioner for Labour, Industrial Relations at Gender, Labour and Social Development Ministry Mr Apollo Ozoma said there is need for stakeholders to carry out sensitization to create awarness.
He said:”Tthere is still a problem of lack of evidence to investigative and prosecute suspects implicated in GBV cases.”
Mr Onzoma said under the current Labour laws oral or verball contracts are legally accepted and binding incase a stubborn employer violated workers’s rights he or she would be prosecuted.
Uganda Public Employees Union (UPEU) Chairperson Ms Agatha Namirembe said there is need to help traumatised and disgruntled victims who need time to recover.
She said employers should establish policies at workplaces that should help eliminate sexual harassment and offer punitive measures although it becomes challenging if the enforcer is the violator.
” it becomes challenging in handling GBV if the enforcer is the violator,” She said.
Ms Namirembe said there a challenge on how evidence is collected and how data is processed especially on high profile individuals plus the remedies.
Platform for Labour Action (PLA) Legal Officer Ms Bukenya Naimah said the biggest gap remains on whether cases would be reported even after Convention 190 is domesticated.
She said women still fear being shunned, ridiculed and punished by bosses including losing their jobs if they reported sexual harassment cases.
Public Service International (PSI) Uganda Chairman Mr Aggrey Sanya
called for action – oriented initiatives that will move the talk.
” We must move away from the stage of talking and doing nothing to a stage of moving the talk,” he said.
NOTU Acting Secretary General Mr Tom Amiti said enough has been said on GBV and now action is the only thing to stop the bad practice.
The one day event was organised by Public Service International (Uganda) unions ■
