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UN Human Rights Council 41: violence against women at work

The UK set out its belief that women must be empowered to have a voice and be able to access opportunities that are fundamental to freedom and development.

UN Chair

Thank you, Mr Vice-President,

The United Kingdom very much welcomes this discussion on violence against women at work.

Gender-based violence is pervasive; it threatens the lives and wellbeing of women and girls and it must be eliminated. Women must be empowered to have a voice, to have agency, to live in safety and to be able to access opportunities that are fundamental to freedom and development.

In the UK, we have a strong legal framework to prevent and address violence and harassment in the workplace. And, at the International Labour Conference last week, the UK was proud to support efforst in agreeing the first ever global treaty to end violence and harassment in the workplace.

It is encouraging to see many positive measures being taken at the international, regional and national levels to address the scorge of violence. However, we need to take accelerated action to prevent violence and to improve our response to the impacts of violence against women in the workplace.

The UK is leading efforts to eradicate violence against women and girls in all its forms. We know that violence against women and girls is preventable. The UK’s ‘What Works to Prevent Violence’ programme has demonstrated that even in the most challenging settings, violence can reduce by up to 50% in less than 3 years. This evidence should be a catalyst for us all to improve our efforts to prevent violence

Thank you, Mr Vice-President.

Published 27 June 2019