Strengthening Action against Violence and Harassment with Focus on Sexual Harassment in the World of Work in Nepal

Background

Nepal has made progress in improving the national legislative framework to address sexual harassment by enacting the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (Elimination) Act (SH Act) in 2015. However, effective implementation of the laws remains a serious challenge in the country. Awareness on the contents of the Act is generally limited among the general public as well as the key stakeholders and the government is yet to issue rules, regulations and code of conduct, despite its mandate to do so to support the implementation of the Act. Further, there is limited data on the prevalence of violence and harassment, and no reporting related to the implementation of the SH Act. At the meeting held with the government, employers’ and workers’ organizations and other relevant stakeholders in December 2019, the participants agreed and reiterated the need to strengthen national action to prevent violence and harassment, especially gender-based violence in Nepal. The recent adoption of the new ILO convention and recommendation on violence and harassment in the world of work offers a great opportunity for Nepal to strengthen its laws and their implementation to prevent and address violence and harassment.

Objective

The project aims to strengthen the capacity of the key stakeholders (government, employers’ and workers’ organizations) promoting the world of work free from violence and harassment in the world of work in Nepal, while having the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) as the key guiding standard.

Strategy

At the country level, the project will support the government, employers’ and workers’ organizations in Nepal on their national efforts to:
• strengthen their institutional capacity in preventing and addressing violence and harassment, particularly gender-based violence including sexual harassment both at the federal and provincial levels.
• develop stronger policies, action plans and legal frameworks on VAH while having the ILO Convention No. 190 on Violence and Harassment as the key guiding standard.
• develop rules and regulations and code of conduct to enhance the implementation of the sexual harassment act.
• protect workers from violations of their fundamental principles and rights at work by implementation of gender-responsive interventions to respond to the problems brought by the COVID-19 crisis.
• develop quantitative and qualitative evidence-base through research, knowledge and learning in line with ILO methodologies and standards.

Outputs

- Strengthened capacity of the key stakeholders to prevent and respond to violence and harassment including gender-based violence and harassment and promote gender equality in the world of work.
- Commissioned study on the legal and policy framework on violence harassment in the world of work in Nepal.
- Conducted surveys and researches to understand incidences of violence and harassment.
- Drafted rules to support the implementation of the Sexual Harassment Act for adoption.
- Model Code of Conduct on violence and harassment in the world of work adopted by government, employers’ and workers’ organizations, enterprises and other institutions.

Development partner(s)

Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, National Women Commission, Employers’ and Workers' Organizations.

For further information please contact:

Ms Bina Kunwar Thapa
Senior Programme Officer
Email: