Human Rights are a Vegan Issue

[Tim Gier]

From Human Rights Watch

US: Sexual Violence, Harassment of Immigrant Farmworkers

(New York) – Hundreds of thousands of immigrant farmworker women and girls in the United Statesface a high risk of sexual violence and sexual harassment in their workplaces because US authorities and employers fail to protect them adequately, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The current US Senate bill reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) would go some way toward fixing the problem and should be enacted, but much more needs to be done, Human Rights Watch said.

The 95-page report, “Cultivating Fear: The Vulnerability of Immigrant Farmworkers in the...,” 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.