Unilever Nepal Ltd, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, 2021, pledges to not only create a safer community at work, but to be one of the voices of change for Nepal. Through its campaign ‘#UNMUTE, End the Silence on Domestic Violence’, it is committed to speaking up against violence and supporting not only its employees but their families with education, awareness and resources around safety.
Unilever aims to reach women across its ecosystem and educate them on their rights as well as provide access to resources like a toll-free helpline, providing counselling and access to NGO services, access to ‘safe leave’ and flexible working conditions for survivors. Also, perhaps the first one to do so, Unilever has framed a ‘Domestic Violence & Abuse Policy’ to protect and support its employees from domestic abuse. This extends the scope of employee well-being beyond work that is, the office, to his/her personal life and home.
The stand on domestic violence from Unilever Nepal comes at a time when a significant number of its office-based staffs are working from home. Domestic abuse thrives in secrecy and creating an environment where people can disclose their experiences without stigma, is what the policy seeks to do.
With the same thing in consideration, Unilever Nepal Ltd also organised a virtual panel discussion aligned with the campaign #Unmute. Speaking during the discussion, Unilever’s Managing Director Amlan Mukherjee shared the need for all of us to unmute so that we can curb the significant rise in domestic abuse cases across Nepal along with the rest of the world. He explained how important it is to stand up as volunteers if we want to see change. He also pressed on the need to bring change in us, our family and then society and how the campaign #Unmute encourages survivors and allies to break this cycle of abuse and speak up.
Meanwhile, social activist Anuradha Koirala said that there is a lot of domestic violence around us without us even realising it and it’s very difficult to realise that one is going through domestic abuse. She iterated the need to create a safer community for all begins from home and highlighted the need for children to be made aware of sensitive issues and respect everybody irrespective of their gender as domestic violence is not limited to women.
On the occasion, Manju Gyawali, a lawyer, said that one needs to break his/her silence and create enough circumstantial evidence to establish the truth and make sure justice prevails. She mentioned that necessary stringent legal provisions are already in place to help victims who decide to speak out.
