THE prevention and treatment her gender violence and harassment to space her work was the subject of an event on the theme: “Tackling violence and harassment in the world of work” organized by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EBEA) and the Research Center for Equality Issues (KETHI) of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The event was welcomed by the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Responsible for Demographic Policy and Family Matters, Maria Syregela, the vice-president of the Committee for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament and MEP, Eliza Vosenberg and the general secretary of Demographic and Family of Politics and Gender Equality, Calypso Goula.

The president of EBEA and president of the National Chamber Network of Greek Businesswomen (EEDEGE), Sofia Kounenaki Efraimoglou said: “Violence and harassment at work is an issue of capital importance for society and businesses. Dealing with it, in addition to being a duty in the context of ethical governance, is also a necessary condition for the smooth and productive operation of any business. This is why the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representing the 120,000 companies with the largest contribution to the country’s GDP, has and will continue to have an active role in the effort to combat harassment and gender inequalities in the workplace. We have a responsibility to join forces. We cooperate with the State bodies. We participate and undertake targeted and meaningful actions. It is not enough to disavow harassment with blanket references. Changes are needed both at the level of organization and at the level of mentality. We need to support businesses to integrate the issues of violence and harassment into their value system. It’s a matter of principle – as is more broadly the promotion of equality and increasing women’s participation in economic and social life.”

The Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Maria Syrengela, emphasized: “For our government, dealing with violence and harassment of women has been a priority since the beginning. We have taken very important steps so that women can feel empowered and live in a safe environment, free from fear, violence and discrimination. And we must not forget that addressing gender and domestic violence is not only a matter of policies, laws and decisions. A prerequisite is the active attitude and action of all of us. All citizens, women and men, state, civil society organizations and social actors”.

The general secretary of DOPIF, Calypso Goula, said: “It is very important that the terms and conditions for the prevention and combating of violence and harassment at work, both in the private and in the public sector. Recently, we have noticed that more and more companies are responding to the obligations provided by the law by creating policies to prevent and combat violence and harassment.”

The president of the Board of Directors of KETHI, Marina Stefou emphasized in her greeting: “Our goal is to practically support businesses and employees not only to detect violent and harassing behaviors and report them, but to create a stable environment to prevent such behaviors and, consequently, an essentially healthy working environment”.

MEP Eliza Vosenberg said: “The European Union promotes regulations that strengthen the fight against violence and harassment in the working environment. A typical example is the proposed European Directive, which includes a series of measures, in order to effectively prevent and deal with phenomena of violence and harassment against working women”.