Received from: EIS
Congress adopts the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) definition of work-related violence as:
“Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.”
This definition includes:
i. verbal abuse or threats, including face-to-face, online and via telephone
ii. physical attacks.
The latest ONS figures for violence at work recorded 688,000 incidences in one year.
Surveys have consistently shown that LGBT people face high rates of abuse, harassment and exclusion. A Stonewall survey reported that 10 per cent of BAME LGBT people responded that they had been attacked compared to 3 per cent of white LGBT people.
A TUC survey found that around 7 in 10 LGBT workers experienced sexual harassment at work.
A separate TUC report highlighted that over 70 per cent of BME workers have experienced racial harassment at work in the last five years.
The most common form of gender-based violence at work is sexual harassment. Gender power relations and their intersectionality with other factors, such as age, ethnicity and the nature of the job, are associated with the form and source of violence experienced by female workers.
Congress condemns the risks of violence faced by all workers at their workplaces, especially for LGBT, BME and female workers.
Congress instructs General Council to write a report on work-related violence. The report should include:
a. identifying the prevalence of workplace violence by gender, and in relation to BME and LGBT+ workers
b. consider recommendations to workers and employers
c. consider recommendations to the UK government and
devolved administrations.
Educational Institute of Scotland