This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager
Thursday, June 21, 2018
“If I had stayed quiet, that man would still be doing this…”Coalition of Immokalee Workers
“If I had stayed quiet, that man would still be doing this…”
“…If we stay quiet, change will not happen. If I had stayed quiet, that man would still be doing this… We need to speak out. There were many abuses in the past, but I have more confidence because now, there’s the Fair Food Program.”
Those are the words of a young tomato harvester who, in the very first year of the Fair Food Program, summoned the courage to call the Fair Food Standards Council to report a supervisor who had sexually assaulted her.
Before the Program existed, she could have been fired for speaking the truth. And so, far more likely than not, she would not have spoken up. She would have put her head down, endured whatever abuse might come, and hoped for the day when it would stop or she could find her way to a new job.
Instead, under the Fair Food Program, the Fair Food Standards Council – the FFP’s independent monitor, known as “La Comida Justa” in the fields – immediately investigated and verified her report of assault, assisted her in making a police report, and successfully petitioned the grower to fire the offending supervisor.
She later told the Program’s human rights monitors: “I thought we were alone in what had happened to us… [but then] I saw it was not that way. There was an organization that was going to listen to our story and try to achieve justice.”
Through the Fair Food Program, farmworker women, together with their male co-workers, are building a new world for workers in the fields, one in which women no longer face a daily barrage of catcalls, groping, and sexual assault in the fields. A world without victims.
Yet, outside the protections of the Fair Food Program, hundreds of thousands of farmworker women still face unchecked abuse in the fields. In fact, one study reported that a staggering 4 out of 5 farmworker women experience harassment or assault on a regular basis at work.
Indeed, far too many women in the world – from all walks of life – know the pain of sexual harassment and assault. And, we know how few proven solutions to those crimes exist, and how few women have access to effective complaint mechanisms at work without fear of losing their jobs, or having to wait years for justice.
The Fair Food Program is the only proven solution to sexual violence in the U.S. produce industry – one that not only brings justice to survivors of assault, but, through its prevention mechanisms, creates a world where people no longer have to endure abuse or suffer at the hands of their employers. PBS Frontline, creators of the haunting documentary “Rape in the Fields,” hailed the FFP as “unique” in the country in its ability to prevent sexual violence.
Because you believe that sexual violence has no place in our food system,become a Fair Food Sustainer today. Work alongside farmworker women building an industry that is free of sexual harassment and assault.
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