Introduction

The adoption of the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention (C190) and Recommendation (R206) in 2019 was a landmark achievement for workers around the world. The next step for the global campaign was to put these new rights and principles into reality (see campaign logo in Photo 7.1). In this chapter we chart the next phase of the global campaign starting in June 2019, and its focus on the ratification of C190 and the implementation of the standards. We present examples of national campaigns and alliances to illustrate the different strategies in this next phase of the campaign. The Covid-19 pandemic not only added extra urgency to the campaign but also shifted campaign strategies from early 2020 onwards.

Ratification of ILO Conventions is important, because it requires member states to implement the standards in national law and practice, making them binding and subject to accountability. This process ensures that workers’ and employers’ organizations are formally involved as stakeholders in the application of standards through the ILO's supervisory system. ILO supervision includes the examination of periodic reports on the implementation of Conventions, and there are special procedures for complaints to be made about the general application of Conventions. Supervision is carried out by the ILO's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations and the ILC's Tripartite Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.

The ratification campaign, which started as soon as the 2019 ILC ended, wanted to ensure initially that two countries ratify the Convention, in order for it to come into force 12 months after the second ratification. Ratification campaigns sprang up in countries all over the world, building on the successful campaign for C190 (see Photo 7.2). Ratification by the first two countries, Uruguay on 12 June 2020 and Fiji on 25 June 2020, meant that the Convention came into force on 25 June 2021.

At the time of going to print (autumn 2021), nine countries have ratified C190. In addition to Uruguay and Fiji, Namibia, Argentina, Somalia, Ecuador, Mauritius, Greece and Italy have formally ratified C190. The governments of at least 20 more countries have taken formal steps to ratify and a further 19 countries intend to ratify and are carrying out an analysis of their laws to check compliance with C190.