The first ever international standard on violence and harassment in the world of work has been adopted at the centenary International Labour Conference (ILC) of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The adoption of the new standard comes at the end of a two-year process, following the first discussions last year and comes after years of campaigning by the ITF and global trade unions, which saw ITF unions take action as part of the collective push to secure the convention through national lobbying of governments, campaigning to raise awareness and support, and providing evidence about the impact of violence against women in transport workplaces.

The new international law takes the form of convention 190 (a legally binding international treaty) and recommendation 206 (non-binding guidelines on how the convention can be applied).

The ITF had a delegation at the ILC that included Valérie Latron from France and Lisa Kelly from Canada and was led by Claire Clarke and Neha Prakash from ITF women.  Ekaterina Yordanova from Bulgaria, a member of the standard-setting committee on violence and harassment in the world of work, and a key player in the negotiations between the EU-28 and the workers’ group, and Kalthoum Barkallah from Tunis attended the ILC as part of their national delegations.