A/HRC/44/36 8. While acknowledging the efforts made by countries to prevent and respond to violence in the world of work, the High Commissioner recalled the gap in current responses. She pointed out that legislation often did not cover the full spectrum of work, missing out women and girls working in less protected areas, such as domestic workers, including migrant domestic workers, and others working in the informal sector. Referring to the impact of actual and perceived risk of stigma, revictimization and reprisals that prevented victims and survivors from speaking out, she emphasized the need to guarantee access to justice and effective remedies for women and girls who faced violence and harassment in the workplace. She called not only on States but also on companies, social partners and trade unions to take measures to prevent violence against women in the workplace. 9. In conclusion, she underlined the importance of the newly adopted ILO Convention No. 190 and the centrality of ILO efforts in promoting the rights of women at the forefront of labour rights, and welcomed the fact that the Human Rights Council was giving consideration to this topic. 10. In her opening statement, the Prime Minister of Iceland emphasized that the commitment to gender equality was established in the Charter of the United Nations but the commitment had not yet been fulfilled. She noted that the first World Conference of the International Women’s Year in Mexico in 1975 led to the first World Plan of Action and that the Beijing Platform for Action of 1995 had played a decisive role in setting the path towards gender equality. 11. She noted that in Iceland in 1975, more than 25,000 women had taken part in a oneday women’s strike to emphasize the importance of their contribution to the economy, both in paid and unpaid work. She stated that currently nearly 80 per cent of Icelandic women were active in the paid labour force and their contribution had been decisive in the economic growth and development of the country. She noted that Iceland had ranked at the top of the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum for 10 consecutive years. 12. She acknowledged that the advancement of human rights had never followed a linear path and expressed concern over backlashes, such as the recurrent denial of women’s reproductive freedom, the repoliticization of women’s bodies, sexist hate speech, misogyny and online violence, as well as the backlashes against the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer plus persons. She observed that the #MeToo movement continued to expose the systematic harassment of and violence and everyday sexism used against women. She emphasized that the #MeToo movement had explosive power and demanded structural solutions and accountability by employers, unions, authorities and perpetrators. She acknowledged that the movement had achieved social recognition and public awareness of the prevalence of sexual harassment and violence and pushed Governments, educational institutions and employers to deal with this problem at its true scale. 13. The Prime Minister then called on Governments and international organizations to facilitate societal change and to lead the way, rather than slow down or deter such change. She further stressed that sexist structures could only be dismantled through a large movement and called for solidarity to “push back the pushback” against gender equality and universal human rights. She also pledged early ratification of ILO Convention No. 190 by Iceland. 14. In conclusion, she appealed to the audience to take maximum advantage of the ongoing global Beijing + 25 review and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as an opportunity to strengthen political efforts for the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. B. Overview of presentations 15. The moderator, Mr. Deva, introduced the panellists. He drew the attention of the audience to the fact that the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises had issued a report on the gender dimensions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (A/HRC/41/43). In the report, the Working Group suggested that States and business enterprises should take the following actions to tackle violence against women in the world of work: (a) address the root causes 3