Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a violation of human rights and is caused by gender inequality and norms on the acceptability of VAWG.
VAWG affects women and girls’ freedom of movement, participation in school, employment, leisure/recreation, and ability to safely politically organize, and their right in all spaces to live free from fear and experience of violence.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual harassment (SH) against women and girls in workplaces, especially in the informal sector, and in public spaces are highly prevalent in urban and rural areas.
The tea sector, like many other work sectors around the world, including those in agricultural value chains, is not exempt from this problem.This can be seen with the high presence of women occupying low-paid and low-skilled jobs in the sector with high risks of harassment and violence, increased media reporting of cases of VAWG in the sector, and recent action taken by some companies to urgently respond.