To mark 25 November, International Day for the elimination of violence against women, the Workers Health and Safety at Work Council (ISIG) published its report on women who lost their lives in their workplace in the first 10 months of 2018.

The figure stands at a staggering 92 women who died in their workplace. The report underlined that the workplace is one of the important areas where violence against women is practiced.

The ISIG Council said that every day at least four women suffered violence in Turkey.

One of the least visible aspects of violence against women is that occurring at the workplace. “As a combination of both class and gender inequality, - said the report - workplaces provide a more severe picture of violence against women. Only 3 out of 10 women in Turkey can be included in economic life. One in four women work as unpaid family workers. Women who work beyond this threshold of economic violence are sentenced to temporary and precarious work. Almost half of the female workers are not legally working. Female workers receive less wages than men and are employed in worse conditions. One of the main reasons for violence against women in the workplace is the continuation of the gender role of women workers in the workplace and precarious labor conditions”.

Government policies help to increase violence

The report underlined that violence against women in the workplace is mostly implemented by bosses, male superiors and colleagues. “This violence is applied in some sectors such as service sectors”, said the report adding: “Government policies increase violence against women in the workplace”.


Death of migrant women high
 


The report also noted that “out of the 92 women who died in their workplace in the first 10 months of 2018, 10 were migrant women, 7 of them minors”. 

As to where these deaths occurred, the report said: “7 women died in Antalya, 7 in Aydın, 7 in Bursa, 6 in Kocaeli and 6 in Şanlıurfa. 51 percent of female job death occurred due to traffic and service accidents. Traffic and service accidents are one of the most important cause of death in the workplace, as jobs are often precarious, especially in agriculture”.

For this reason, women who lost their lives in their workplace were often victims of truck, tractor or minibus accidents, on their way to the fields.

The highest number of women deaths occurred in the agriculture-forestry sector.

While 52 percent of the total deaths at work occurred in this sector, 9 percent of total deaths occurred in the textile-leather industry and trade-office sectors.

Other sectors where female workers lost her life were the health industry with 8 percent and housing with 7 percent.

“The increase in deaths of women as a result of men violence in the workplace is remarkable”, said the report adding that “5 women were murdered or suffered sexual and physical violence at the hand of a man coming from within or outside their workplace”.

A situation which shows the insecurity of the workplace, especially for women.