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Frontline Documentary Rape In The Field

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Sexual harassment in the workplace takes many forms, and could result in a system of assault that could perpetuate continually. In the Frontline Documentary Rape in the Fields (2013), the power dynamics of undocumented female field workers and their male co-workers or bosses creates a dynamic in which these women must consent to unwelcome behavior, and many must engage in regular intercourse with these men for fear of being deported along with their entire family. Thus, these men have a leverage and can blackmail these women into agreeing to engage in a sexual relationship with these men, crossing the line between consent and force. In one case, one of the male farm owners insisted that a female subordinate engage in intercourse with him, and threatened her with a gun. This is an …show more content…

This is the greatest threat that binds them to these situations, as it affects not only these women, but their families as well, who are often dependent on the small wage that they contribute. These women are largely Latina and have little to no grasp on the English language, making them culturally isolated and unable to communicate or report these crimes to an American, English speaking, court. In most cases, higher level employers are far more willing to believe the male employees who are being repeatedly accused as opposed to the women who are far more likely to be perceived as untrustworthy due to their inability to fully communicate and the gender and power bias by these corporation owners. In these environments, women have often nowhere to turn to as well as an overall fear for their lives, jobs, and the livelihood of their families. The sexual harassment of these Latina women, documented and undocumented, is unjust and an example of the violation of power and demonstrates the difficulty for women to come forth in sexual harassment cases across the

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Angela Davis demonstrates the ongoing violent abuse as she quotes a report on sexual maltreatment in women’s prisons, “We found that male correctional employees have vaginally, anally, and orally raped female prisoners and sexually assaulted and abused them” (Davis 78). However disturbing this blunt sexual contact that male officers take with the vulnerable prisoners may be, the officers adopt even more severe tactics to harass and abuse the women as they often utilize “mandatory pat-frisks or room searches to grope women 's breasts, buttocks, and vaginal areas...” (Davis 79). To add insult to injury, women are virtually incapable of escaping from their abuser(s). Prison employees upkeep their inappropriate behavior as it is believed they will “rarely be held accountable, administratively or criminally” (Davis 78).

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Even after this, she would not let it get to her as she believes Latina women are works of God. Cofer’s purpose for writing this essay was to show that Latina women are victimized even though “they make good domestics” (Cofer). She also explicitly states that her “personal goal in [her] public life is to try to replace the old persuasive stereotypes and myths about Latinas with a much more interesting set of realities”

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Sexual harassment is a common problem for women in the workplace. The trauma they suffer as a result is extensive. More than half a million women work in the fields and a majority are undocumented immigrants. The documentary Rape in the Fields, addresses some of the struggles these workers face. Due to their immigrant status the women are powerless, subject to unwelcome sexual advances and unable to seek help from the authorities.

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Companies would ignore the women’s compliments of them being sexually abused and receiving sexual harassment. Its disappointing because this companies where the biggest cleaning companies and still had problems resolving these types of problems. I think it’s unfair because if this same problem happened inside an office or in a higher position, the company would have taken an immediate response to this problem and probably terminated the abuser in that same time. I think these companies de-value women’s work, because they see it as a simple task that they don’t need a degree or certificate to do it. Most of these women are undocumented and most of them don’t know their rights, which companies take advantage of

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The women that do try to report prison guards end up even more damaged when their violators go unpunished. In a small study done on sexual abuse in US prisons, of the complaints that women filed, only 18% of male prison guards ended up with some type of punishment (Isaac, Lockhart, Williams). This lack of discipline for brutal crimes against black women sends a message to black women in prison is that they are invaluable. It “perpetuates the degrading images of black women as ‘unnatural, dirty, sick, and sinful’”

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