The Ombudswoman, as the central national body for combating discrimination and continuously promoting equality, uses the occasion of International Women’s Day, March 8th, to underline the urgent need to achieve greater gender equality in the field of work and employment, as well as the need for stronger efforts to combat various forms of gender-based violence that women are exposed to—including in the workplace.
One of the steps towards achieving this goal would certainly be the ratification of Convention No. 190 on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work, adopted by the International Labour Organization in June 2019. This was among the recommendations made to the Government of the Republic of Croatia in our last Annual Report submitted to the Croatian Parliament for the year 2022.
Although EU and national legal provisions prohibiting sex-based discrimination in the workplace, as well as international legal standards guaranteeing women’s rights and protection against sex-based discrimination, are already in force in Croatia, ratifying this Convention would represent an additional and much-needed step in the right direction. As a specialized international instrument, the Convention sets clear standards for addressing violence and harassment in the world of work and outlines the obligations for states, employers, and workers’ representatives.
The first global report on experiences of violence and harassment in the world of work, published by the International Labour Organization, reveals that as many as 22.8% of workers worldwide have experienced at least one form of violence or harassment during their working life. These findings align with the large number of complaints our Office receives regarding mobbing, psychological harassment, and violations of dignity at work.
The report further shows that 6.3% of workers have experienced some form of sexual violence or abuse at work—women are disproportionately affected, particularly younger women, who are twice as likely to be exposed to such abuse compared to men of the same age.
Workers who have experienced discrimination on the grounds of sex, disability, nationality or ethnicity, skin color, or religion over the course of their lives are more likely to have also experienced violence and harassment in the workplace. Discrimination on the grounds of sex stands out as particularly common, both in life and in the workplace.
Finally, as the Ombudswoman has been stressing for years, it is essential to raise awareness of and combat intersectional discrimination, as evidenced by the experiences of women facing multiple grounds of discrimination simultaneously—including in the world of work.
At the same time, it is clear that part of the problem lies in the practical application of the legal norms, as well as in the broader societal climate regarding gender equality. According to data from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), Croatia currently ranks only 20th among EU member states in terms of the Gender Equality Index, scoring 60.7 out of 100 points—well below the EU average of 70.2. It is somewhat encouraging that Croatia’s greatest progress in recent years has been achieved in the area of work.
Nonetheless, it remains necessary to continue implementing concrete measures to strengthen the equality of all workers—women and men alike—in terms of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, as well as working conditions, opportunities for advancement, and the protection of dignity. A step toward this goal is the ratification of the above-mentioned Convention, which has so far been ratified by 38 ILO member states, including eight EU member states.