Two years after the international outburst of the #MeToo movement, which unveiled countless stories and instances of sexual harassment in the workplace and beyond, Equinet, together with the UN Human Rights Regional Office for Europe, organised a conference on this crucial topic. The conference which took place in Brussels on 24 October, was dedicated to informing policy makers about the central role played by equality bodies in tackling sexual harassment in the workplace.
While political discussions and general awareness-raising on sexual harassment in the workplace has consistently increased in the past two years, progress needs to be made in preventing and systematically tackling the issue. National equality bodies are highly relevant actors to ensure effective implementation of anti-harassment laws and policies. They do so through direct assistance to victims, but also through collecting data on sexual harassment, conducting research and surveys to help identify gaps, setting-up codes of conduct in the private and public sector, building partnerships with civil society and social partners, issuing recommendations to policy-makers, training and campaigning.
While many examples and good practices were discussed during the conference, the array of work done by equality bodies is so vast that it cannot all be shared as part of the conference programme. This is why Equinet organised an exhibition alongside the event.
