WUNRN
Human Rights Watch
Direct Link to Full 101-Page Report:
CULTIVATING FEAR: THE VULNERABILITY
OF FEMALE IMMIGRANT FARMWORKERS IN THE US, TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE & SEXUAL
HARASSMENT
Hundreds of thousands of women and girls in the United
States today work in fields, packing houses, and other agricultural workplaces
where they face a real and significant risk of sexual violence and sexual
harassment.2 While the
exact prevalence of workplace sexual violence and harassment among farmworkers
is difficult to determine due to the challenges of surveying a seasonal,
migrant, and often unauthorized population, the problem is serious.3
The report describes rape, stalking,
unwanted touching, exhibitionism, or vulgar and obscene language by
supervisors, employers, and others in positions of power. Most farmworkers
interviewed said they had experienced such treatment or knew others who had.
And most said they had not reported these or other workplace abuses, fearing
reprisals. Those who had filed sexual harassment claims or reported sexual
assault to the police had done so with the encouragement and assistance of
survivor advocates or attorneys in the face of difficult challenges.