Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

1. Legislation. The Committee notes that the Act on equal opportunities for women (LIOM) is still undergoing reform. Various organizations from civil society and government institutions involved in the application of the Act have participated in the reform process. It also notes that the special regime for women in domestic service, referred to in section 50 of the LIOM, is also still undergoing reform and that regulations have not therefore been issued. Please provide information on the progress achieved in the process of reforming the Act and on the manner in which the Committee’s comments have been taken into account. The Government adds that another measure planned is the establishment of a tripartite commission to raise awareness of and disseminate the Act in the world of work. Please provide information on the establishment of this commission and on the activities undertaken by it during the period covered by the next report.

2. Sexual harassment.  The Committee once again requests the Government, when reforming the LIOM, with regard to the definition of sexual harassment (sections 147-A of the Penal Code and 60 of the LIOM), to consider the possibility of including the notion of a "hostile working environment". It also requests the Government to take into account the obligation of employers to ensure a workplace free of sexual harassment, which implies that enterprises have to adopt appropriate measures to prevent and penalize sexual harassment. In this respect, the Committee recalls its comments in paragraph 2 of its previous direct request concerning sections 50 and 88 of the LIOM.

3. The Committee notes that, according to the report, mechanisms are being prepared to prevent sexual harassment at work and in educational centres in coordination with the Secretariat of Education and the Secretariat of Labour. Please provide information on the measures formulated and the results of their application in practice. Moreover, the LIOM is being incorporated into the internal rules of both public and private enterprises. Please indicate the enterprises in which the LIOM has been incorporated into the internal rules and provide copies of such rules, particularly in the public sector. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would also provide information on the impact of the amendments to the LIOM on the internal rules of enterprises and on the manner in which the measures and regulations prepared take into account the Committee’s comments relating to the inclusion of the notion of a "hostile working environment" and the responsibility of employers to guarantee a workplace free of sexual harassment.

4. National policy. Please provide an evaluation of the progress, achievements and obstacles encountered in the implementation of the National Plan for Equal Opportunities 2002-07. Taking into account the fact that the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) identifies women and ethnic groups in a situation of vulnerability as targets, please also provide information on the activities undertaken in this context. Furthermore, please provide information on any other new element relating to the national policy of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation.

5. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the activities carried out by the Commission for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the National Commission on Racial Discrimination, Racism, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance with a view to achieving equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation. The Committee is addressing the situation of indigenous peoples in the context of Convention No. 169.

6. Export processing sector. The Committee notes that the Programme for Integral Competitiveness Training in the Clothing Industry is being implemented in cooperation with the National Vocational Training Institute and that it has trained 60,000 workers since 2002. The components of the Programme are: productive capacity; safety and health; and vocational capacity-building. It also notes that, under the Enterprise Responsibility Programme, over 17,000 workers in the export processing sector have benefited from food subsidies, transport, free meals at weekends and life and health insurance, and that certain enterprises provide child care services and that, where there is no coverage by the Honduran Social Security Institute, export processing enterprises have undertaken to provide medical services at the workplace. Please continue providing information on the situation of women in export processing enterprises and on the activities carried out to ensure equal treatment in such enterprises.

7. Complaints. Noting that the Department for the Protection of Children and Women of the Secretariat of Labour and Social Security received 230 complaints in 2002 relating to the application of the LIOM, the Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the complaints relating to the LIOM lodged during the period covered by the next report and the manner in which they are resolved.