A Legal Review of Gender-Based Harassment in the Workplace by Looking at Convention No. 190 of the International Labor Organization

Today with the expansion of the definition of workplace health, which addresses physical safety and health and confronting stress factors in the workplace, mental health has also become one of the bases of Labor Law Studies. The issue of gender-based harassment is considered to be the most common form of harassment in the workplace and so its prevention is of great importance. According to Convention No. 190 (June 2019) of the International Labor Organization, which is in regards to combating harassment in the workplace, one of the most important roles governments and organizations should play is to provide solutions and requirements that help to reduce and prevent gender-based harassment in the workplace. Member states are obliged to observe the provisions of the convention including the formulation of laws and their modification in order to combat gender-based harassment in the workplace. It is important to note that our cultural contexts and jurisprudential principles also concur with the legislation in this area. In addition, the articles of the Labor Law are general and only discuss the prohibition of gender-based harassment at the workplace and the employer’s responsibility. Therefore, in view of the existing vacuum of laws and regulations governing labor relations, this research provides specific articles which need to be added to reform the Labor Law. This was done using a Descriptive- Analytical Method using the library as a tool, and the articles were formulated based on the solutions presented in the above convention. The legislative background of this hidden abuse was reviewed, and the reforms needed for the labor law were outlined in a way that makes them more closely aligned with the religious and cultural principles of the Iranian society.