Care workers shouldn't come home with bruises. How can we stop it?

Christy Hoffman is General Secretary of the UNI Global Union

They call it care work because it’s built on compassion, but what does it say about our societies when those who care for our loved ones are punched, spat on or groped in the line of duty?

This week, UNI Global Union released a new report, Protecting Those Who Care, exposing a global epidemic of violence and harassment in the care sector. The findings are staggering: More than eight in 10 care workers have experienced or witnessed abuse. Nearly one in three faces it monthly. One in six, every single week. Two-thirds of the victims are women.

We hear the same stories from every corner of the world:

“He got my phone number - I don’t know how. He texted me what he wanted to do to me. Sometimes, he groped me. I reported it, but management said I had to deal with it myself.”

“We’re admitting residents who need 24/7 care … but there’s not enough staff. I’ve been punched, slapped, bitten, choked - the list is endless.”

These voices are not rare outliers. They are the daily soundtrack of a profession in crisis. Violence and harassment in care are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a system that chronically undervalues care work. Understaffing, poverty wages and impossible workloads leave workers exposed.

When health systems fail, care workers become the public face of that failure, and the target of its frustration.

Violation of human dignity

For too long, violence has been treated as “part of the job.” It’s not. It’s a profound violation of human dignity. Our report shows that workers in short-staffed facilities are more than twice as likely to face abuse. Nearly 70% of those who report violence say their employer offered little or no support.

Despite these grim realities, unions are delivering change.

In Ghana, the Health Services Workers’ Union secured collective agreements mandating confidential reporting and real sanctions for abusers. In Japan, UA ZENSEN helped pass the Kasuhara Countermeasure Law, requiring employers to prevent harassment from patients or families.

In Canada, Unifor fought for the right of workers never to be assigned alone in dangerous situations. Across Latin America, unions are turning trauma into policy: in Argentina, FATSA helped advance the Ley Micaela, or Micaela Law, which mandates gender and violence training for all public officials; while in Chile, FENASSAP championed the Ley Karin, named after nurse Karin Salgado, who died by suicide after enduring workplace harassment, and it now provides explicit protections against abuse in both public and private sectors.

These are victories built not on silence, but on solidarity. Each clause, each contract, each law tells care workers: you are not alone.

But more needs to be done to ensure that workers can care without fear. We are calling on governments to ratify and enforce the International Labour Organization’s Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment, to fund prevention systems and to work with unions to build safer care environments. And we are calling on employers to make prevention a core duty - with zero tolerance, not zero accountability.

Violence and harassment creep in where care work is undervalued, underpaid and under-protected. Ending it is not just about defending workers, it’s about saving care itself.

We cannot build sustainable, dignified care systems on the backs of exhausted, frightened, and injured workers.

Care workers deserve what every human being deserves: safety, dignity, and respect. They give their hearts every day. The least we can do is ensure they arrive home safely.