Impact and people
2021
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Convention 190 in action: preventing harassment of workers in Japanese banks
29 July 2021
Labour banks (“Rokin Banks”) in Japan have been promoting workers’ access to finance for many years. They have also been in the vanguard when it comes to adopting international standards around workplace violence and harassment. Rokin Banks modelled their recent harassment guidelines directly on the ILO’s Convention 190, serving as an example and inspiration for legislation elsewhere in Japan, and for financial institutions around the world.
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Taking the harassment out of ridesharing in Nepal
01 April 2021
Ridesharing motorbike taxi services provide employment to thousands in Nepal, especially young people. A new partnership pilot between ILO and Fight Back Pvt. Ltd is helping raise awareness on occupational health and safety as well as sexual harassment during or after the ride.
2018
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© Better Work 2022
Better Work Viet Nam challenges sexual harassment across the factory floor
14 September 2018
Still an underreported issue in the country, the joint programme of the ILO and the International Finance Cooperation (IFC), sheds light on the nature of harassment in the workplace and ways to tackle it.
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The reality of violence at work in Madagascar
19 June 2018
While workplace violence can differ depending on a country’s development level, the most common forms occur everywhere. In the poorest countries, unacceptable practices are often exacerbated by poverty. We looked at the situation in Madagascar.
2013
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A smart way to prevent bonded labour
03 May 2013
A young couple and their new baby are the first beneficiaries of a national health insurance scheme which now extends to migrant brick kiln workers at risk of bondage, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
2011
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The story of Munti: Tortured to death in Malaysia
15 September 2011
Suparmo, 47 years old, still cannot forget his wife’s condition. Her teeth were broken. Her backbone was fractured. She had bruises and stab wounds on her face and body. His wife’s name was Munti. She was only 36 years old and was in a coma. “I couldn’t believe that she could still be alive with all those severe injuries,” Suparmo recalled. “She had been severely tortured by her employers.”
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The story of Umi Saodah: Tortured and trapped in war-torn Palestine
15 September 2011
“I’m still angry and cannot forget what they have done to me,” Umi Saodah, a 34-year-old, recalled. It’s still crystal clear in her mind how four family members of her employer tortured her two years ago. “They showed no mercy. If they were living here in Indonesia, I would retaliate,” she said.
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The story of Halimah: A father’s persisting regrets
15 September 2011
Kohar, 49 years old and a resident of Cianjur, West Java, has five children: four daughters and a son. His wife died in 1999 and his two eldest daughters have worked in Saudi Arabia. When his third daughter, Halimah, 27 years of age, asked his permission to follow in her sisters’ footsteps working in Saudi Arabia as a migrant domestic worker, he could not say no.
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The story of Elli Anita: Resilience in the face of adversity
15 September 2011
Elli Anita is the third daughter of a family who joined the government-sponsored resettlement program from Jember in East Java to Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, when she was 18 years old. She holds an elementary school level leaving certificate and was expected to work on the family farm. However, after listening to the stories of fellow villagers, she was keen to work overseas as a domestic worker and see other countries.
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The story of Siti Tarwiyah: Beaten to death in Saudi Arabia; blood money is all that remains of a mother’s love
15 September 2011
“I’m still so traumatized. I can not forget my late wife. Her body was covered in wounds as a result of regular caning,” recalled Hamid, the husband of Siti Tarwiyah who died in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, three years ago. Her body was bruised everywhere because members of the employers family used to smash her up against walls. She was only 32 years old when she died.