Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health published a study detailing the unique experiences of women farmworkers in the state of Michigan. Researchers examined occupational and social challenges faced by women farmworkers, focusing their findings on five specific dimensions: gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, reproductive health concerns, pregnancy challenges and work-life balance issues.
For the study, researchers interviewed 35 farmworkers across the state of Michigan, 57% of whom were women. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Alexis Handal, the lead researcher of the study, said interviewing both men and women allowed researchers to gain different perspectives on the farmworker experience.
“ When we were asking these more open-ended questions, we weren’t necessarily only focusing on women and the experience of women farm workers,” Handal said. “ What came out of the analysis was an interesting perspective both from the women’s perspective and from male farmworkers — perhaps what they’ve observed with their spouses’ experience.”
This research was part of the Michigan Farmworker Project, a project started by Handal and Lisbeth Iglesias-Ríos that aims to study and mitigate health inequities within the farmworker population. Handal told The Daily the project was started to provide a platform for the voices of historically neglected agricultural workers.
“ We were trying to understand what was going on with this essential workforce,” Handal said. “They’re a very invisible population of workers and this invisibility is due to historical policies that we have in the U.S. that exclude and deny agricultural workers labor and social protections that you might see for other worker populations.”
The project involved collaboration with community-based partners, such as the Farmworker Legal Services, to understand farmworkers’ situations in various contexts. Kara Moberg, the managing attorney at Farmworker Legal Services, told The Daily it is important for community-based organizations to work with academic researchers on projects like these as it allows for communication with people experiencing the situations firsthand.
“Community based organizations are oftentimes on the ground and have experience with terminology that is understandable and utilized by community populations,” Moberg said. “(Collaboration) helps guide the challenges that community partners are seeing or hearing about so that … service providers are providing services to that community base.”
The findings of this study revealed instances of exploitation of female farmworkers, specifically related to female health issues and sexual harassment. Female farm workers interviewed in the study shared how bathrooms were rarely accessible, which poses serious health threats in women such as urinary tract infections or menstrual complications. Handal said these experiences shared by farmworkers were alarming and revealed the importance of access to sanitary facilities.
“ We had women talking about having to change their sanitary pads in the middle of the field because they didn’t have enough time to walk all the way to a bathroom and back,” Handal said. “(There were) instances of urinary tract infections because they had to hold their urination until lunch, and so I think that that was really striking and was surprising in the detail of that kind of exploitation and that kind of work environment.”
Despite these conditions, the study revealed women farmworkers are reluctant to come forward due to fear of retaliation. Moberg said these women experience a hesitancy to report discrimination or unsafe conditions due to the fears of losing their jobs.
“ Workers definitely have expressed fear in reporting discrimination or harassment that they’ve experienced out of fear of retaliation,” Moberg said. “They’re not wanting to come forward with their concerns when it could mean a loss of income, especially when they’re responsible for the household income — for the income for their children — and there is a need for them to have that income.”
There are legal protections set in place for women in the workplace, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. However, Handal told The Daily the implications and enforcement of these policies for the agricultural workforce remain unclear.
“ It’s a very vulnerable and marginalized workforce,” Handal said. “ We don’t know what the implications are for those policies if the workers do not have the legal status to be eligible for some of those protections.”
When asked about potential reforms for these industries, Business and LSA senior Clare Decker, vice president of finance of the Campus Farm, told The Daily having women in leadership positions in the farming sector would be effective in making the work environment more equitable and safe for farmworkers.
“ Highlighting the women that are already out there in those positions so that younger women know it’s okay to be involved in those spaces is important,” Decker said. “ We need to provide more safe ways for women if they’re experiencing sexual harassment or, whatever kind of discomfort they’re experiencing. There needs to be ways for them to report that safely.”
Daily News Staff Reporter Tenzin Menrinetsang can be reached at tenzinm@umich.edu.
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