International Women’s Day, celebrated on 8 March, remains highly relevant today as a moment to reflect on the progress made in gender equality and on the challenges that still persist in building fairer and more equal societies. Among these challenges is the urgent need to prevent and combat gender-based violence and harassment at work, phenomena that continue to disproportionately affect women across different professional sectors.
According to the EU Gender-Based Violence Survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), violence and harassment in the workplace remain underreported, despite their significant impact on workers’ health, safety and professional opportunities.
Did you know? | Violence and harassment at work in the European Union
- Gender-based violence also occurs in the workplace, including sexual harassment, psychological abuse and other unwanted behaviours at work.
- Many situations remain unreported due to fear of professional consequences or lack of trust in support mechanisms.
- Violence and harassment have significant impacts on victims’ mental health, well-being and career progression.
- Sectors with strong public interaction and a high female presence, such as the health sector, face increased risks.
- Prevention requires organisational policies, training and coordinated institutional responses, rather than only individual solutions.
Source: EU Gender-Based Violence Survey (FRA & EIGE, 2026).
Combating violence and harassment at work
Despite legislative progress and public policies developed at both European and national level, situations of violence and harassment at work still often fail to receive an adequate response. Prevention requires an integrated approach involving public authorities, employers, trade unions, experts and policy makers, as well as the promotion of organisational cultures based on respect and equality.
In Portugal, CITE – the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment plays a key role in promoting equality between women and men and in preventing discrimination in employment, contributing to the implementation of more inclusive and safer working practices.
The contribution of the European project BRAVE-WOW
In this context, CITE is part of the European project BRAVE-WOW – Building Respectful and Violence-free Gender-inclusive Environments in the World of Work, funded by the EU programme CERV – Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values.
The project brings together organisations from Portugal, Italy, Slovenia and Spain with the aim of preventing gender-based violence and harassment at work in the health sector through the development of tools, training and policy recommendations based on scientific evidence and international good practices.
Promoting equality to transform the future of work
Marking International Women’s Day through initiatives such as BRAVE-WOW reinforces the importance of collective commitment to building safe, dignified and violence-free working environments.
This project represents an essential contribution to the promotion of public policies on gender equality, to combating discrimination between women and men in employment, and to strengthening a working culture based on respect, equality and dignity.