Jordan: One in five female employees is subject to harassment in the workplace

One in five female employees is subject to some form of violence or harassment in the workplace, a survey revealed on Wednesday.

This statistic was announced during a one-day event to launch the preliminary findings of a survey titled: “Justice for Women and Girls Affected by Violence and Harassment in Jordan” prepared by ActionAid Arab Regional Office.

The survey was conducted in partnership with trade unions and the Maal Centre, and targetted 2,323 workers, of whom 84 per cent were Jordanians, including 85 per cent women, as well as migrant workers in eight industrial zones: Karak, Zarqa, Amman, Aljoun Aqaba, Irbid, Jerash and Madaba.

Some of the findings revealed that the more the workplace “is considered dangerous, the more there are cases of violence and harassment”.

Around 25 percent of women subjected to violence and harassment at work were trainees, followed by 21 percent who were paid on a daily basis, according to the survey.

Meanwhile, one in three migrant Arab women reported being subjected to some form of violence or harassment while at the workplace.

work, with much thanks to Jordan’s women’s movement, there remain serious implementation gaps which prevent justice,” said ActionAid regional director Caroline McCausland.

These gaps are caused by barriers to justice on all levels — particularly social barriers, institutional barriers and material and economic barriers, McCausland told The Jordan Times.

“This is a Jordan-led initiative formed at the demand of Jordanian stakeholders, including the women’s rights movement and trade unionists,” she explained.

Meanwhile, International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Gender Technical Specialist Reem Aslan said ActionAid’s “in-depth study is quite timely, as it is in line with the ILO’s recent convention (No. 190) concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work, adopted at the International Labour Conference in June, 2019”.

The survey provides concrete statistics that can guide Jordan’s future plans, especially plans of the government, the civil society, trade unions and employer associations, as all employees have the right to decent work conditions free of any kind of violence or harassment, Aslan said.