Remote work and domestic violence against women

Abstract

After the outbreak of the pandemic, many companies in Turkey either started or continued to work remotely and many of them aim to make remote work permanent in the post-pandemic period. Remote work, once a luxury of high-skilled employees, is becoming more common across the entire labor market. As large numbers of workers were instructed to work remotely from home-offices during the pandemic, reported domestic violence cases against women increased. Women have been treated as collateral damage in the ongoing fight against the pandemic. Given the expectation that remote work will remain commonplace once the pandemic is over, it is of great importance for the sake of women workers to provide sufficient protection against domestic violence. Turkish Remote Work Regulation is grounded in a mutual agreement between the employer and the employee, and it favors flexibility for employers over security for employees, it also overlooks the specific needs of women workers, including protection for domestic violence victims. Turkish National Act on the Protection of the Family and the Prevention of Violence against Women contains, promisingly, regulations regarding women workers, but it has not proved sufficient in providing the necessary protections. In order to meet the needs of women in an unequally organised work environment and for the realisation of not only de jure but also de facto equality between women and men in the world of work, new approaches are required.