A/HRC/55/49 often made invisible and not identified as workers because they are part of the fishing household.28 27. In certain segments of the processing sector worldwide, up to 85 per cent of the employees are women. The disproportionate amount of women’s work in processing arises from discriminatory perceptions that women are more compliant, flexible and meticulous and accept lower pay than men. These patriarchal norms lead to poorly paid, precarious work for women, with little to no recognition provided at the policy level. 29 In times of scarcity, in some communities, women have had to offer sex to boat owners and boat crew in exchange for fish; in some communities, when a woman is a successful fisher, she is accused of witchcraft and persecuted.30 28. States should therefore take a gender-justice approach to fully realize the rights of and opportunities for people of all genders, redistributing power and ensuring equality among all genders. 29. States must also adopt specific measures to address gender-based discrimination, while creating spaces for civil society organizations, in particular for women fish workers and their organizations, to participate equally in all decision-making processes.31 For example, Bangladesh has several programmes that benefit women and provide capacity-building and financial assistance, enhancing their post-harvest practices, marketing and value-chain development.32 Fish workers F. 30. Fishery work is one of the three most hazardous occupations and is described by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as “dirty, dangerous and difficult”. 33 Yet States often fall short of their obligations and fail to monitor the sector and implement applicable national health and safety regulations, causing unsafe and unhealthy conditions across the sector. 31. Each fish worker, on average, provides for three dependents or family members. For each worker involved in capture fisheries, about four jobs are produced in the secondary activities, including fish trading, processing and selling, many of which are performed by women.34 32. Commercial fisheries are well-known for being dangerous and for their high rates of fatality, injury and disease. Most fatal incidents occur at sea, either from overexposure to heat, sun and salt water or because of the dangerous equipment, inoperative machinery or inadequate safety equipment. Inland fish workers often lack adequate safety equipment and may suffer fatal accidents caused by unstable fishing platforms. The health of aquaculture workers is compromised by prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals and antibiotics in the water, which make aquaculture increasingly dangerous. 35 Post-harvest workers, most of 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 GE.23-26071 FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022, p. 207. Ibid., p. 71 Namaganda Rehema Bavuma and Park Muhonda, “Fisherwomen’s struggle for their right to food and nutrition: challenges and coping strategies of fisherwomen in Uganda and Malawi”, in Right to Food and Nutrition Watch: Stewards of Our Waters and Seas – Time to Recognize and Support Small-Scale Fishers (Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition, 2022). Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 14; Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 34 (2016), paras. 35 and 36; and Voluntary Guidelines, para. 8.2. International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty, People-Centred Assessment of the Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Eradication: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka (2023), p. 38. Available at https://www.foodsovereignty.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SSFGuidelines_Report_AP_web.pdf. A/HRC/40/56, para. 20. ILO, Work in Fishing Convention and Recommendation, 2007: Action Plan 2011–2016 (Geneva, 2011), p. 1. Submission from Fellesforbundet – seafood and aquaculture workers. 7