Modern Slavery: Sexual Assaults on Migrant Workers

[By TRACIE CONE Associated Press FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Female farmworkers across the United States are commonly sexually harassed and assaulted, in part because their immigration status makes them fearful of calling police, according to a report being released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch.


The survey by the international rights group mirrors two previous reports on the risks facing women and girls that had focused on California, where most of the nation's farmworkers reside.


"Our research confirms what farmworker advocates across the country believe: Sexual violence and sexual harassment experienced by farmworkers is common enough that some farmworker women see these abuses as an unavoidable condition of agricultural work," said the report.] http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FARMWORKERS_SEX_HARASSMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT




[MAY 16, 2012 This 95-page 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...]
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/05/15/cultivating-fear