Instituting Reporting Mechanisms on Violation of Workers’ Rights in the Workplace

The workshop of FES in cooperation with the NGO Ethiopian Labour Rights Watch started with a presentation of a mini research paper stressing why Ethiopia needs to sign the ILO international conventions as C 190, C 182, C 183 and how it helps strengthen the already existing laws dealing with labor/employment as well as how a reporting mechanism on sexual harassment or violation of workers’ rights in general could be set up.  

Through the discussion it was noted how sexual harassment and violence at work can take a number of different forms, and that it is a problem most commonly affecting women, especially when working in industrial parks. However, it was also noted that an effective company internal reporting mechanism has to be combined with a culture/climate of trust and an immediate response from management, that encourages employees to come forward to raise their concerns.