AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

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

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

“Now the Fear Is Gone” highlights power of the FFP to fight sexual abuse and advance gender justice!…

Coalition of Immokalee Workers

9:17 AM

To alfredjohnson34@comcast.net

New Report: “Now the Fear Is Gone” highlights power of the FFP to fight sexual abuse and advance gender justice!…

Just three weeks out from the Freedom Fast and Time's Up Wendy's March in NYC, new report spotlights solution to national epidemic of sexual harassment and assault born in the fields of Florida...

Just as farmworker women from Immokalee — together with their male co-workers from the fields and allies from across the country — begin to prepare for next month’s five-day fast calling on Wendy’s to help end sexual violence in its supply chain by joining the Fair Food Program, the Worker-driven Social Responsibility Network has released an extensive report that underscores the urgency of the fasters’ cause and the unique power of their solution.

The new report, entitled “Now the Fear Is Gone: Advancing Gender Justice through WSR,” surveys “the abusive conditions that women farmworkers face daily in fields across the US, and spotlights the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Program as a root-cause solution to gender-based violence in the workplace.”

Here’s an excerpt from the report’s Introduction:

Sexual abuse, harassment, and other gender-based violence is a threat to all women workers and an international crisis. It is a chronic assault on the humanity of women, undermines women’s health and productivity, and makes the workplace a hostile environment. No group of women suffer more than low-wage women workers. With little power and fewer resources, low-wage women workers often have no choice but to accept humiliating treatment, harassment, quid pro quo arrangements, and even assault simply to earn a meager living...