Business Joining the Coalition to End Violence against Women

Business Joining the Coalition to End Violence against Women Programs and Actions from the Workplace to the Community The United Nations, Governments and international institutions, joining with the leading advocacy of civil society and women’s organizations, increasingly recognize the cost and consequence of the pandemic of violence against women Taking effective action and building influential stakeholders’ coalitions involves all sectors of society The Women’s Empowerment Principles – Equality Means Business calls attention to the role that the private sector can positively play to address gender-based violence, establishing workplaces where sexual harassment and violence against women are not tolerated The efforts that some companies are taking, extend beyond the workplace to the communities where their workers come from and go back to every day Here are some examples from WEPs companies that highlight these policies, practices and programmes:  An influential global technology company based in India (HCL, India) established a zero tolerance policy against sexual harassment at work and implements policies that ensure employees a safe and secure work environment But what if there is an incident? Is it safe to report it? The company has a “whistle blower” policy to protect sources, an ethics committee and bodies that quickly review grievances  Another company (Infosys Limited, India) provides self-defense classes on its campus for women; special transportation, including a security guard if necessary, to make sure that women reach home safely on days when they are working late to meet client deadlines They keep the issue on the front burner by using email and business newsletters to send the message that this is a safe and harassment free workplace for everyone  A large Brazilian company (ITAIPU, Brazil) took the step to create a shelter for women survivors of domestic violence, along with a referral and information Support Center The business cooperates closely with the Government to strengthen its National Place of Action The leadership sets the tone by including men in its Management Committee of Gender Equality and participates in the White Ribbon Campaign, sending a clear public message that violence against women is everyone’s business  Demonstrating that girl children have every right, a company (JSL, India) launched a special “Save the Girl Child” initiative to empower pregnant women with knowledge about healthy pregnancy, safe delivery and infant care In addition, the program addresses the problem of female feticide, using its leadership, to bolster the law, by sending the unambiguous message that girls matter  A large garment company’s programme (MAS, Sri Lanka) established indicators of success on addressing violence against women that include: total number of incidents of sexual harassment and action taken, along with the number of initiatives and participants in activities that provide information, education and training on sexual harassment in the place The company also conducts gender sensitive training for Managers and Executives, working with men to reduce gender-based violence at the workplace Overall, the leadership seeks to achieve a corporate culture where women are treated fairly and their human rights respected, even in the midst of a national culture where women and girls face endemic discrimination and violence  A large cosmetics company (Avon, US) dedicated to the empowerment of women globally makes the company’s mission to end domestic violence In 2004 they launched “Speak Out Against Domestic Violence”, an initiative to build awareness, educate, and improve prevention and direct service programs with focus on prevention and victim support programs Moreover the company established the $2 million “Global Believe Fund” to support women's domestic violence shelters and agencies around the world, created to draw attention to the alarming lack of adequate services for women and children who are victims of domestic violence Through their global philanthropy they donated almost $50 million to support the cause in nearly 50 countries and by end of 2012, in the U.S alone, provided more than $33 million for the domestic violence cause According to the Acid Survivors Foundation, Bangladesh has the highest reported incidence of acid violence in the world with 46 per cent of the perpetrators being someone known to the victim An acid attack takes place every two days in this – South Asian country This Bangladesh (TeleConsult Group, Bangladesh & US) based company Management Consultancy firms included in its business plan a component to promote women’s empowerment by supporting skills development and Information and Communication Technologies training for women This incorporates two diverse goals: starting a phonebased crisis support centre, as well as generating employment opportunities for acid attack survivors There are more than 1,000 women who have been trained since 2011 and among the 35 call centre staff members  Another WEPs-affiliated company that is working to end violence against women is Turkey’s leading technology and communications company (Turkcell, Turkey) It supports the “Zero Tolerance for Violence against Women” campaign of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies by integrating mobile technology and mass communication capabilities to empower women in daily social life For example, they are working on a new mobile technology with the Turkish Family and Social Policy Ministry that aims to combat domestic violence by providing “women panic buttons” which transfer calls directly to the 155 police emergency line  ... 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