UPDATED December 04, 2008
The
PEI Federation of Labour's Press Release in Advance of the 2008 National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
On this December 6th, as we remember the lives of fourteen
women murdered nineteen years ago, we pledge to take action to prevent
violence
against women. The P.E.I. Federation of Labour calls for action
to end violence against women at home, in the workplace and in the
community.
Violence against women is a workplace hazard.
Workers
in every sector of the economy experience workplace violence. In the
last ten years, workplaces have seen a 40% increase in violence.
Women workers suffer violence at a much higher rate than their male counterparts.
Women
are too often denied the right to a safe workplace because so many work
at jobs that are part-time, low pay, precarious or unpaid,
especially women of colour, Aboriginal women and women with disabilities.
Violence
against women in Canada continues to be a serious problem and has
followed women out of their homes and into their workplaces. The
lack of government and employer action to provide safe workplaces continues.
Take action.
Take
action by talking to your Member of Parliament and your provincial,
territorial and municipal politicians about violence against women at
work. Ask them to support measures that will:
- change occupational health and safety laws to recognize violence and harassment as workplace hazards;
- mandate employers to take concrete steps aimed at violence prevention;
- change
how workplace accidents are reported so that statistical data can be
collected to measure the rates of workplace violence more accurately, and programs can be implemented to stop workplace violence;
- create
public awareness campaigns to highlight the economic and social effects
of violence against women and the social policies needed to achieve
women’s security and autonomy.
Violence against women - it’s a workplace hazard.
Press
Release Main
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