‘Amend labour laws to address sexual harassment at institutions,’ Govt told
By Thandeka Matebesi
A Bulawayo based non governmental organisation focusing on women issues, Emthonjeni Women’s Forum (EWF) is lobbying government to amend labour legislation to include issues around sexual harassment at institutions.
EWF Programs Manager Melissa Ndlovu said there are current engagements with the Parliament of Zimbabwe to push for the introduction of measures to deal with offenders.
“We are lobbying Government to implement policy changes or amendments to the Labour Act and include issues around sexual harassment and measures to deal with offenders.
“We have also engaged with the Parliament of Zimbabwe through the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to push Government towards ratification of the International Labour Organization Convention 190 that comprehensively speaks to issues of sexual harassment”, said Ndlovu.
Ndlovu expressed optimism that the government will consider adopting stern measures in its legislation to deter sexual harassment in various institutions.
“We are hopeful that the government will ratify the law. This is also a broader push from different spheres, angles towards ensuring that legislative authority recognises issues of sexual harassment within the Zimbabwean legislative framework”, she said.
She also revealed that the organisation’s campaign which has been raising awareness on issues around sexual harassment in various institutions is coming to an end this November.
“The #SPEAKOUT/KHULUMA EndSexualHarassment Campaign is about ensuring the elimination of all forms of violence against women and also maintaining the dignity of women.
“The campaign ends on the 30th of November 2020 and we are looking at Gender Based Violence issues and the dignity of women. “As we end the project we are really hopeful that we move out of the institutional level and get to national level”, said Ndlovu.
Ndlovu considers the campaign a success given that it has managed to assist a number of institutions in rolling out sexual harassment policies within their organisations.
“Throughout the campaign, we have worked on strengthening the institutional frameworks including policies towards addressing issues of sexual harassment. We have also raised awareness on what sexual harassment is and how it impacts institutions. We have assisted institutions to roll out their sexual harassment policies. We have been working with two tertiary institutions, namely Bulawayo Polytechnic College and the National University of Science and Technology. The response has been been overwhelming because we have seen commitment in one of the institutions to create a sexual harassment policy and in the other institution they have also committed towards the effective roll out of the policy”, said Ndlovu.
