Sexual Harassment

Decent Essays
Many women experience sexual harassment in the work place. About one in three women report that they have been sexually harassed at work. While this is a huge problem, many of these women have enough power to file complaints against the perpetrators and get justice. However, this is not the case for many women working in the agriculture industry in the United States. Many of these women are undocumented immigrants which creates a intricate power dynamic between the agricultural companies and the women immigrant workers. Sexual harassment is defined as “harassment (typically of a woman) in a workplace, or other professional or social situation, involving the making of unwanted sexual advances or obscene remarks.” The key word in this definition …show more content…
Her point was later proven because once she filed a complaint about the sexual harassment she was fired

and threatened if she continued with her case. Another farmworker reported that if you did not let “it” happen, you would not have a job the next season.
The farm owners’ power goes way beyond the ability to fire the women. This is exemplified in the court case against Evan’s Fruit. A total of twenty-six women spoke up about sexual harassment and fourteen women testified under oath against Juan Marin and others.
However, the jury still ruled in favor of Evan’s Fruit. This power dynamic can also be seen in the
DeCoster Egg Farms. The people in charge of the DeCoster facilities heard that immigration was nearby and investigating. They then locked the workers in the facilities for multiple days with minimal food and left them in disgusting conditions. Many of the women locked up reported many cases of rape and sexual harassment. However, many of the workers including the perpetrators and the victims ended up being deported leaving the victims without justice and the perpetrators without consequences.
It is so easy for the companies, such as the DeCoster Egg Farms and Evan’s Fruit, to
…show more content…
There are very few sources of help for the women farmworkers.However, there are some. Some lawyers will fight for these women such as the lawyers who fought for Olivia, who was raped. Even though her perpetrator was found innocent, Haris Farms, where she worked, was found guilty. In addition, undocumented victims of crimes can obtain a U Visa. This will allow them to have justice and not be deported. However, these support systems are rare, hard to access, and often unknown to many of the women. More often than not, women are discouraged from reporting incidents of sexual harassment. For instance, in one town, Sherriff
Paul Schultz tried to be a part of helping immigrants while also helping immigration. This created an extreme conflict of interests so he was not able to provide help to the immigrant women. In addition, only three states have laws for sexual harassment training.
It is important to focus on the justice and human rights that these women deserve rather than the fact that they may not be documented. However, that is not what the government sees. These women are treated as if they should not have a right to

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