Posted: Friday, 5 December 2008

On this December 6th, as we remember the lives of fourteen women murdered down nineteen years ago, we pledge to take action to prevent violence against women. The Canadian Labour Congress calls for action to end violence against women at home, in the workplace and in the community.

Violence against women is a workplace hazard.

Workers in every sector of the economy experience workplace violence. In the last ten years, workplaces have seen a 40% increase in violence. Women workers suffer violence at a much higher rate than their male counterparts.

Women are too often denied the right to a safe workplace because so many work at jobs that are part-time, low pay, precarious or unpaid, especially women of colour, Aboriginal women and women with disabilities.

Violence against women in Canada continues to be a serious problem and has followed women out of their homes and into their workplaces. The lack of government and employer action to provide safe workplaces continues.

Take action.

Take action by talking to your Member of Parliament and your provincial, territorial and municipal politicians about violence against women at work. Ask them to support measures that will:

change occupational health and safety laws to recognize violence and harassment as workplace hazards;
mandate employers to take concrete steps aimed at violence prevention;
change how workplace accidents are reported so that statistical data can be collected to measure the rates of workplace violence more accurately, and programs can be implemented to stop workplace violence;
create public awareness campaigns to highlight the economic and social effects of violence against women and the social policies needed to achieve women's security and autonomy.

Violence against women - it's a workplace hazard.