Companies can play an important role to tackle Gender-Based Violence. Whether you are from an organization taking your first steps in trying to understand how gender-based violence (GBV) affects your business, right through to those who have been expertly working on this topic for some time, insights and experiences shared could help to shape your business for the better.
In attendance at a breakfast meeting, Gary Bustin, President of PNGTF and Yanamlyn Yana, Senisim Pasin Coordinator, spoke to our team of their utmost appreciation of the partnership with CIG, and how CIG supported PNGTF to get all its staff and spouses to attend the Senisim Pasin Program last year.
CIG then extended this program under its Young Mind Screening program targeting 3,000 secondary students & youths in Port Moresby early this year. CIG and PNGTF visited KilaKila Secondary School, POM Business College and Badihagwa Secondary School, before COVID lockdown. Click the link to view video of CIG & Senisim Pasin – Young Minds Community Screening
Gary, was excited to meet the team and commended the journey the partnership has taken to this juncture.
We are now looking at how we can continue this partnership by ensuring there is an ongoing internal program to maintain ‘safe working space’ at CIG, developing corporate partnerships and looking at available opportunities to extend the Young Minds Screening program. There is still a lot more groundwork to cover under the current pandemic circumstances, but the partnership is optimistic. The future is ours collectively.
Why is GBV an important topic business should be thinking about?
Gender equality cannot be achieved without tackling GBV and sexual harassment. Any business that is serious about gender equality, equity, inclusion, and diversity needs to address it, even though it is a difficult subject. Addressing GBV can help businesses manage the reputational risks as well as costs to business in terms of absenteeism, turnover, efficiency and other impacts in the business and enhances the company’s reputation and helps to retain females in the workforce who in-turn support their families.