[Wamvan] The Vulnerability of Immigrant Farmworkers in the US to Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment

[Meenakshi Mannoe]

http://www.xojane.com/issues/sexual-harassment-farm-workers-human-rights-watch

Human Rights Watch just released an important
report<http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/05/15/cultivating-fear> on
sexual harassment and exploitation of women farmworkers in the United
States. For those familiar with the uphill battle for food justice in the
US, it’s a chilling, frustrating and infuriating document. Those who are
not may be shocked by these findings -- and hopefully they are going to
become a motivator for getting more actively curious about the source of
our food.

Three million people<http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/human-rights-watch-says-female-farmworkers-suffer-sex-abuse-to-avoid-deportation-loss-of-jobs/2012/05/16/gIQAQb1iSU_story.html>
labour
on farms in the US as migrant and seasonal workers, producing the food and
other crops that consumers buy from the shelves of Whole Foods to the
stands in front of Chinese markets. A combination of factors makes
them uniquely
vulnerable to exploitation<http://www.splcenter.org/sexual-violence-against-farmworkers-a-guidebook-for-criminal-justice-professionals/who-are-farmworke>,
creating a system in which truly humane food is difficult to obtain; on
some farms and ranches, the livestock receive better care than the workers.
For an illustration, look to the recent proposed law in Californiaensuring
access to clean water and shade for
farmworkers<http://grist.org/industrial-agriculture/worker-safety-act/>,
because these weren’t available before.
[image: Farmworkers in a cucumber field.]

Farmworkers harvesting cucumbers. Long shifts of standing and bending are
great for your body. (Photo by Flickr user Bread for the
World<http://www.flickr.com/photos/breadfortheworld/>,
Creative Commons license.

Department of Labor statistics provide some interesting insights into the
world of farmworkers in the US, over 50 percent of whom are undocumented
immigrants. Most are between 20 and 24, when their youth and strength can
keep them going through long days on the field, and close to 60 percent
don’t speak English in any capacity. This can be especially important when
people are attempting to report assault, because if they can’t interact
with law enforcement and officers of the court without an interpreter, they
may miss opportunities for justice. That's assuming they get as far as
reporting.

Most live in poor conditions, some provided by employers, and it’s not
uncommon for extremely exploitative relationships to arise between
farmworkers and bosses. They may be kept in company housing when not on the
job, for example, while supervisors hold their identification papers, in
situations that are effectively agricultural
slavery<http://www.ciw-online.org/slavery.html>.
Those with guest worker visas are especially vulnerable because their
employers get to decide whether they stay in the United
States<http://www.indyweek.com/BigBite/archives/2012/05/16/new-report-highlights-sexual-abuse-targeting-farmworkers-including-in-north-carolina>.
Trapped under the company’s eyes at all times, they don’t have an
opportunity to report crimes and seek assistance from the outside.

When you’re poor and a member of a population living on the margins, you’re
extremely vulnerable to sexual assault, and you’re in a very weak position
when it comes to doing something about it. This is a problem that’s hard to
talk about without making it sound like hyperbole, but this quote puts the
situation pretty well: “...the EEOC reports that women in California refer
to the fields as 'fil de calzon' or the fields of panties because sexual
harassment is so widespread.
(source<http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/food-justice/food-justice-resources/farmworker-sexual-violence-facts/>)”
It’s also a problem that is hard to track and fight, because many women
don’t report.
[image: A 1973 protest in front of a Safeway stocking non-union grapes.]

Farmworkers advocating for better conditions in 1973. This has been going
on a while, folks. (Photo from Washington Area
Spark<http://www.flickr.com/photos/washington_area_spark/>,
Creative Commons license)

Fear of reporting sexual assault among farmworkers comes from a number of
attitudes, some of which are articulated by the Southern Poverty Law Center:

For a woman, reasons for not reporting sexual violence can include the
stigma related to sexual violence, fear of her partner’s response, fear of
upsetting her children, pressure to be the source of emotional support and
stability for her family, and concern about how she will be perceived in
her community. Male victims may feel confined by gender norms that prevent
them from being emotional, fear the stigma that may come from disclosing
the sexual violence, and fear more harm to themselves and their families.
Thus, gender plays a significant role in both men’s and women’s ability to
disclose incidents of sexual violence.

There’s also, of course, the worry of being fired or deported.

On Wednesday, the House passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 222 to
205 despite the fact that it lacked some key protections for immigrant
women, just like those abused in the fields of the United States. The
timing in contrast with the HRW publication was eerie; Congress sent a
message that women working in the agricultural industry were not a cause
for concern even as HRW indicated that sexual assault, violence, and
harassment are so widespread that most interview subjects said they had
personal experience with it or knew people who had.
[image: Two field workers who appear to be planting or seeding.]

Field workers. (Photo by Flickr user Charlton
Clemons<http://www.flickr.com/photos/leadenhall/>,
Creative Commons license.)

Organisations like the Farmworker Sexual Violence Technical Assistance
Project<http://www.crla.org/farmworker-sexual-violence-technical-assistance>
work
to advocate for farmworkers and create a framework for handling and
pursuing reports of sexual violence in the fields. But they’re fighting a
rising tide with limited support; some are funded, for example, by agencies
receiving VAWA funds, the same agencies currently learning that Congress
doesn’t deem immigrant women worthy of basic protections in the United
States.

100 children die annually working on US
farms<http://www.alternet.org/story/155410/over_100_children_a_year_die_working_on_farms:_why_do_prominent_right-wingers_fight_safety_regulations>
and
conservatives continue to fight ag-centred safety legislation. Hundreds of
thousands of women are assaulted on US farms annually while the House says
immigrant women don’t need protections addressing their uniquely vulnerable
positions. Agricultural work ranks
high<http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/the-most-dangerous-jobs-in-america/>
in
the list of dangerous occupations in the United States.

Buying food without suffering is extremely hard, for consumers worried
about the hidden cost of what’s on their plates. The HRW report does
indicate that women who work directly for farmers are less at risk of
sexual violence, and consumers may want to note that small farms in
general tend
to have better human rights
records<http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/familyfarms/>.
Seeking produce sourced from farmers’ markets and farm stands is certainly
something to consider, but consumers have to be wary; the popularity of
farmers’ markets has created a market for industrial produce repackaged as
the product of small local
farms<http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Hidden-Camera-Investigation-Farmers-Markets-103577594.html>
.
[image: A strawberry in a bowl of cherries.]

A farmers' market strawberry. Did I meet the farmer? Yes.

What are consumers supposed to do about this? When you’re separated from
the source of your food by a variety of factors, it’s difficult to
determine if it comes from humane sources, or you may lack the purchasing
power to lean on providers to treat their workers fairly. Calling on
Congress to make sure basic workplace protections *also* apply to
agricultural workers is certainly one form of direct action consumers can
choose to take.

Another is to support activities like shareholder activism, where people
buy blocks of shares in order to have a right to bring resolutions and vote
at annual meetings -- if a company won’t take a message from Congress, it
has to take one from its shareholders. Such measures have been used
historically to improve working conditions as well as promote animal
welfare in industrial agriculture settings.

Organisations like the Southern Poverty Law Center also need support to
keep their operations going. They conduct investigations as well as
providing support in individual cases, allowing your contributions to go
further than they could on their own.

Above all, angry consumers need to let Congress know they’re not happy with
conditions on US farms, to let farmworkers know consumers are concerned, to
let agricultural firms know they’re being watched and to let their
communities know about the injustice in their backyards.
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