A new documentary to be premiered on Tuesday night on PBS and in Spanish on Saturday night on Univision will put a spotlight on the problem of sexual harassment faced by many of the nation's 560,000 undocumented female farmworkers. The documentary, based on a report undertaken by the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) and the International Reporting Project (IRP), will focus partly on the case of Maricruz Ladino, a farmworker engaged in a four-year legal battle with a supervisor who she says took her to a remote part of the farm and raped her. "If I said anything I would lose my job," she says. "I couldn't lose my job because I was the one taking care of my daughters." The CIR and IRP report undergirding the film claims that while hundreds of female agricultural workers have complained of sexual abuse, law enforcement has done "almost nothing to prosecute potential crimes".
After conducting a year-long review of the 41 federal sexual harassment lawsuits filed on behalf of at least 153 people since 1998 against agricultural companies, the CIR and IRP found that not a single one of the men accused of sexual assault or rape had been convicted. The vast majority of those accused of sexual abuse were workplace superiors. Of those who complained to company management, 85 percent faced retaliation - demotions, firings or further harassment.
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According to the CIR and IRP's report, undocumented women working in agriculture often face "persistent peril". The report indicates that the legal cases delved into during the 51-minute documentary - aside from Ladino's, cases occurring on Harris Farms, in Fresno County, California; Evans Fruit, in eastern Washington; and DeCoster Farms in Iowa - may be only the tip of the iceberg. Many others may keep quiet about abuse out of shame, fear of deportation or losing their jobs, language barriers and ignorance of workplace laws. An estimated 50 to 75 percent of US farmworkers came illegally to the United States.
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Proponents of the comprehensive immigration reform bill currently making its way through Congress - the Senate is expected to cast a final vote on it by the end of this week - say that if it becomes law, it could offer protections for agricultural workers which would make them much more likely to report abuse on the job. One such proponent, Representative Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), told the CIR and IRP that the reform could help "stop the daily routine rape of women in the workplace".
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"Rape in the Fields" airs at 10pm EST on Tuesday night on PBS in English. "Violación de un Sueño" will air in Spanish at 7 p.m. EST Saturday on Univision.
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