Background
Everyone has the right to live a life free from violence, including sexual harassment, be it at workplace or in public spaces. In spite of this, harassment against women in the world of work is present in all jobs, occupations and sectors of the economy in all countries across the world. Sexual harassment against women in the world of work is a serious violation of women’s human rights and a major barrier to achieving equality of opportunity and access to decent and dignified work (ILO, UN Women, Addressing Violence and Harassment against Women in the World of Work, 2019. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---europe/---ro-geneva/---ilo-ankara/documents/publication/wcms_731370.pdf). It has a devastating impact on women’s health, wellbeing and economic status. It is also deeply connected to social norms, values and stereotypes that foster gender inequalities, discrimination against women and unequal power relations between men and women, including intersecting forms of discrimination, for example, based on gender, race, age, disability and others. Taking into account that definitions of workplace sexual harassment vary in national legislations of different countries, estimates from available country surveys show that as many as 75 per cent of the world’s women aged 18 years and over, or at least 2 billion women, have experienced sexual harassment (Chamie, J. 2018. “Sexual Harassment: At Least 2 Billion Women” in Inter Press Service News Agency. Available at: http:// www.ipsnews.net/2018/02/sexual-harassment-least2-billion-women/ [31 October 2018]). Despite its high prevalence, sexual harassment in the workplace remains largely unreported, with many victims, bystanders and witnesses afraid or reluctant to come forward or unsure about how to do so. Where victims do complain, many face ineffective complaints’ systems or procedures, experience retaliatory action, or further violence and harassment, or lose their jobs. Various international and regional women’s rights instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the ILO Convention No. 111 and the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), call on the governments, employers, workers and their organizations to take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment and to develop programmes and procedures to eliminate sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women in the workplace and elsewhere. Practical workplace strategies and policies informed by reliable data are an essential tool to promote this transformation, as is ensuring that employers have the skills and knowledge to implement these policies. In 2019 the Parliament of Georgia adopted landmark legislation establishing regulations for the prevention and response to sexual harassment in public spaces and in the workplace. The adoption of the sexual harassment legislation was preceded by the UN Women/GEOSTAT National Study on Violence against Women 2017 (UN Women/GEOSTAT, 2017. National Study on Violence against Women in Georgia. Available at: https://georgia.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2018/03/national-study-on-violence-against-women-in-georgia-2017) which revealed that 20 per cent of women in Georgia have experienced sexual harassment, of whom 10 per cent have reported experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. UN Women in Georgia has been supporting national partners, including the Public Defender’s Office, Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as private sector companies in setting up various mechanisms for the prevention and response to sexual harassment. Under the Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia (GG4GEG) project generously supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN Women plans to further accelerate support to the Government of Georgia towards the prevention and elimination of the practice of sexual harassment. In this connection, UN Women is supporting the Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and the Civil Service Bureau in setting up effective complaints’ mechanisms on sexual harassment for the civil service (Civil service refers to the permanent professional branches of a state's administration, excluding military and judicial branches and elected politicians.). To support the Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and the Civil Service Bureau in developing internal complaints’ mechanisms on sexual harassment for line ministries/state agencies in the civil sector (up to 8), UN Women is planning to hire a National Consultant. The objectives of the consultancy are as follows:
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Duties and Responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities of the national consultant are:
Deliverables:
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Competencies
Core Values:
Core Competencies:
Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637 |
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Experience and competencies:
Language:
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