Myanmar: Union launches TikTok campaign vs. violence against women

Using a popular video-sharing social networking service, the Building and Wood Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (BWFM) launched a TikTok competition calling on participants to submit videos that creatively narrate the violence and harassment inflicted against women workers. The said competition is part of the union’s contributions to BWI’s 16 Days of Trade Union Activism on Violence against Women. 

As of the moment, the videos submitted to BWFM and posted online have already over 600,000 viewers. Deadline of submission of videos will be at the end of the 16 days campaign. Winners of the competition will be announced in CTUM’s official Facebook fan page. Selected winning videos will also be screened during BWI’s global gender seminar on 10 December.  

BWFM has also developed and distributed online advocacy materials calling for the elimination of violence against women. Similarly, the union distributed pamphlets and posters in industrial zones to educate members and build a strong constituency in support of the call for the Myanmar government to ratify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 190. 

The union said that it held an online multi-stakeholder awareness-raising training activity on ILO Convention 190 last 29 November. The training was attended by key trade union leaders, women worker committee members, ILO Yangon representatives, ITUC Asia Pacific, BWI and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. The event discussed ways to move forward the ratification campaign and a proposal to draft a local legislation on the protection of women from violence. 

On the celebration of human rights day on 10 December, which is also the last day of the 16 days global campaign, BWFM plans to hold a virtual stakeholders’ meeting to build stronger cooperation among tripartite partners on the campaign against gender-based violence and the ratification of ILO Convention 190.