Examining the Sexual Harassment Experiences of Mexican Immigrant Farmworking Women

• NCJ Number: 229789
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2010 Pages: 237-261
• Author(s): Irma Morales Waugh
• Date Published: March 2010
• Length: 25 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: University of Californa Labor and Employment Research Fund
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study provided a contextualized understanding of the experiences of sexual harassment among Mexican immigrant women employed on central California farms.

Abstract

This study examined sexual harassment experiences of Mexican immigrant farmworking women (n = 150) employed on California farms. Of the estimated 1 million California farmworkers, 78 percent are Latino, mostly from Mexico, and 28 percent are women. Unlike gender-segregated worksites of Mexico, women farmworkers in the United States labor alongside men, facilitating harassment from coworkers and supervisors. Simultaneous sexist, racist, and economic discrimination are comparable to converging lanes of automobile traffic (Crenshaw, 2000) that women, standing at the intersections, manage to avoid harm. Findings highlight how discrimination shapes women's experiences and demonstrate the need for institutional policies to protect them. References (Published Abstract)