Farmworker organizations, along with the UC Merced Community and Labor Center, hosted an online event on April 3, during which presentations and trainings addressed the challenges that women in agriculture and farmwork face. As a result, attendees gained access to new resources and connections for ongoing advocacy.
Building on the event’s topics, the forum addressed wage disparities, lack of safety nets, workplace sexual assault, and health and safety risks for farmworker women. Speakers also raised concerns about the lack of lactation spaces and employer toilets.
Ana Padilla, executive director of the Community and Labor Center, said the event was organized through partner conversations as a call to action for farmworker women’s rights.
Continuing the discussion, the forum also addressed recent sexual allegations against Cesar Chavez, a historical figure who advocated for farm workers nationally. Padilla stated that issues of sexual violence and harassment in farm work have deeper historical roots. She emphasized that large farms are still confronting the legacy of slavery and related abuses, pointing out that sexual violence was, and continues to be, a systemic issue across society.
To illustrate the personal impact, Luz Gallegos, executive director of Training Occupational Development Educating Communities (TODEC), a legal center serving immigrant communities in the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley, shared the story of a farmworking woman who sought their services amid sexual harassment she was facing at work. Gallegos disclosed how sexual violence can affect an individual’s mental health.
“She came to us in 2020 during the pandemic when there was so much going on,” she said, “She reached out to us to ask for help, she shared that she was getting sexually harassed at work but was scared to come forward, she was scared to come forward and right away we started providing her support.”
Gallegos noted that the political climate instilled fear in the woman and prevented her from seeking professional counseling due to her immigration status.
“A few weeks later, we got a call from her sister that she was in the hospital,” said Gallegos. “We found out that she tried to commit suicide; her son found her.”
Gallegos further added that through the organization, they have legal support teams that assist agricultural workers and their own separate immigration departments that serve farm workers.
Further expanding on the event’s discussion of challenges faced by women, Edward Flores, faculty director of the Community and Labor Center, presented on issues including health, safety, noncompliance, low earnings, fears of retaliation, and health outcomes for women farmworkers.
To support these points, Flores referenced the 2021-2022 farmworker health study, led by community and worker organizations. The study surveyed 1,242 people across six languages, using 330 questions. Over 56% were women; 98% identified as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish; 90% were foreign-born; and 86% primarily spoke Spanish.
The study’s findings highlighted significant gaps: 46% of women reported having no posted heat plan at work, and 25% reported almost never having access to employer toilets. Over 83% of nursing mothers lacked designated pumping areas.
Shifting focus to community responses, Monse Garcia Jimenez, a farmworker organizer with CAUSE, introduced Dar A Luz, a project supporting the health and legal rights of pregnant and postpartum farmworker women.
This project, which began in 2022 in collaboration with UC Law (Work Life Law), seeks to address ongoing concerns. Explaining the driving motivation, Jimenez emphasized the need both to raise awareness of the struggles of farmworking women and to ‘also give direct resources and aid to farm working women who are pregnant before and after childbirth,’ she said.
Building on Dar A Luz’s mission, Jimenez explained that agricultural work is among the most hazardous industries for pregnant and nursing mothers.
“A few of the things we have seen of risk being pregnant and being a farm worker is the increased risk of falls. There’s an increased risk of injury, exposure to extreme heat, and exposure to pesticides. These can affect the health of the mom and the baby. Often, the health of the mom and the baby can lead to preterm birth, developmental disorders, and lower IQ,” said Jimenez.
She further pointed out that exposure to toxins in the workplace before and after childbirth presents a threat, even when women are pumping or lactating.
She highlighted legal protections and misconceptions. Jimenez stated that, according to the Employment Development Department Labor Code, a law that protects women in the workplace who are exposed to toxins such as pesticides, they can receive State Disability Insurance from the moment they receive a positive pregnancy test. She added that many people wrongly believe they cannot access disability until the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy.
