This project was created in response to concerns voiced by farmworker health and social service providers about the occupational health risks of women agricultural workers, as well as increased media and legal attention regarding sexual harassment in the agricultural workplace. The hidden nature of this issue profoundly impacts women’s ability to work safely in agriculture. The agricultural industry also shares its concern about the lack of culturally-appropriate educational resources available to address this problem.
The overall objective of this project is to examine and address sexual harassment as an occupational health hazard in the Washington agricultural workforce. The short-term goals of this project are to: 1) develop educational and informational products that address sexual harassment in the agricultural workplace; and 2) effectively disseminate these products through key stakeholders and throughout the Yakima Valley using a variety of methods. The long-term goal is to share this educational and informational strategy with other agricultural communities throughout Washington. The PNASH Center has been working with stakeholders throughout Washington State to develop a sexual harassment prevention program specific to the needs of this industry and culturally appropriate for Latino farmworkers.
This project won the 2020 Award Winner for American Public Health Assoc. Public Health Education & Health Promotion. It has also received additional funding ($5,000) from the University of Washington’s Center for Communication, Difference, & Equity to co-create a Spanish graphic novella for the ¡Basta! toolkit with farmworker women.
Principal Investigators: Jody Early, Ph.D, M.S., MCHES and Victoria A. Breckwich Vásquez, Dr.PH, MPH, M.A.
Professor, Nursing and Health Sciences
University of Washington, Bothell
Partners and Advisories:
Washington State Human Rights Commission
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Northwest Justice Project
Washington State Growers League
Equitable Food Initiative, Inc.
Washington State Department of Agriculture
Resources:
Sexual Harassment Prevention webpage
Basta! Preventing Sexual Harassment in Agriculture Toolkit
Kim N.J., Vásquez V.B., Torres E., Nicola R.M., Karr C.(2016) Breaking the Silence: Sexual Harassment of Mexican Women Farmworkers. Journal Argomedicine 21(2): 154-62.
Facebook: Preventing Sexual Harassment in Agriculture