WCIC & CIPE Strive to make Sri Lankan Workplaces GBVH Free

• WCIC is committed to making the workplace a Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH)-free environment
• The organization also strives to empower women to succeed and contribute positively

The WCIC has been striving to make workplaces free from GBVH, thus enabling women to rise and contribute towards better workplace outcomes.

In collaboration with the Centre for International Private Enterprise, CIPE, WCIC carried out extensive research with the aim of gaining an understanding of the challenges faced by professional women and women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka.

This, according to Tusitha Kumarakulasingam, the Project Chair of WCIC, says it is really committed to taking meaningful action on account of these issues and moving forward with the project's objectives.

These findings from the research showed widespread awareness of GBVH and harassment experiences at work. Despite the increasing attention to the issue, the study found that no formal and effective action had so far been taken to address it.

The significance of the study makes it clear that GBVH not just affects women, but it also affects both women and men. Nevertheless, women face this issue disproportionately. Prior to the study, there was no documentation on the issue.

Also, women lacked information on what GBVH was. It was conducted by the Kantar Sri Lanka in the form of a survey to fill the knowledge gap on GBVH and to educate women in the workforce regarding the issue of GBVH.

The survey revealed some of the major challenges faced by working women in Sri Lanka related to GBVH. The level of awareness with respect to GBVH was found to be quite low, as many women were not even aware of the fact that some of these activities fall under certain offenses or the activities that fall under GBVH.

The level of awareness was highest with respect to bullying, followed by discrimination, and the level of awareness concerning sexual and physical forms of GBVH.

GBVH was experienced by women in all the categories, and the level of bullying was higher, while sexual and physical forms of GBVH were higher among women entrepreneurs compared to the level experienced by professional women.

Therefore, C190 is viewed as one of the essential paths forward for ILO to make a systematic and sustainable approach to these issues.

Despite such organizations as WCIC having been advocating for the ratification of C190, much remains to be achieved in this respect. Ratification cannot be administered without the facilitation of governments; hence, a commitment of the relevant authorities is particularly important to guarantee women safe, inclusive, and decent workplaces.

Women's Chamber of Industry and Commerce was established in 1985 by a small group of entrepreneurs with a vision to empower women in business.

The mission of WCIC is to engage, empower, and enrich on the basis of a well-defined and focused vision through a strategic plan that fulfills the needs of women entrepreneurs for economic uplift in the country.