2010-06-14 Espanja: Siirtotyöläisten seksuaalinen hyväksikäyttö

[kohmelo]

Monet Espanjan maatiloilla työskentelevät ulkomaalaiset työläiset joutuvat tyytymään pieneen palkkaa, kurjiin työoloihin ja jopa seksuaaliseen häirintään työnantajan suunnalta.

Nyt joukko marokkolaisia naisia on rikkoneet hiljaisuuden ja nostaneet syytteet työnantajiaan vastaan.

http://www.ansamed.info/en/spain/news/ME03.XAM17030.html

SPAIN: IMMIGRANTS REPORT SEX FOR EMPLOYMENT ***
(ANSAmed) - MADRID, JUNE 14 - An army of some 20,000 immigrant women (part of the 37,000 seasonal workers employed in "Huelvàs red gold" season, i.e. the gathering of strawberries). In the past, through unions, had reported harassment and in some cases mistreatment at the hands of their employers. But now they broke the wall of silence: two reports of sexual abuse against five agricultural entrepreneurs have been filed by eight Moroccan women (ages 18 to 30) with the Huelva tribunal, according to a news investigation by El Pais. Allegedly the immigrants were induced to have sexual relations under the threat of losing their job if they refuses. Miguel Angel Arias, prosecutor of Huelvàs Provincial Audiencia, recognised sufficient grounds for prosecution. The first trial emerged from a report filed in April 2009 by four Moroccan women against the owner of an agricultural business located in Morguer, against his son and one of their employers. They are charged with intimidation, threats, and ongoing sexual abuse. The humiliations occurred in the fields where, in the event of refusal, the workers were prohibited from going to the bathrooms or from drinking, with 40 degrees under the sun, or the number of collected crates was underestimated. A witness, a Rumanian worker, made the first report to the Guardia Civil of the abuse suffered by the immigrants, who did not report them because of the fear of losing their employment. The alleged responsible parties have been put on trial, and the case will be tried in autumn. The second report was filed by four Moroccan women employed in the strawberry sector last June by a company located in Palos de la Frontera, in Andalusia. In this case, aside from sexual abuse and intimidation, the magistrate could also charge the owner with incitement and exploitation of prostitution, should it be proven that the man received money from acquaintances in exchange for performances by the workers. In order to prevent the witnesses from withdrawing their accusations on the eve of the trial, the Guardia Civil recorded the reports on video. But the investigators emphasise the difficulty of portraying the abuses: "in many cases there is mention of vitiated consent, since the entrepreneurs have no need to force the victims, because they are at their total mercy, and in the absence of any form of protection they do not put up any resistance at all", explained investigation sources. The 20,000 immigrants employed this year to pick strawberries come from Poland, Morocco, Senegal, Bulgaria, Romania and the Philippines, work from dawn to dusk for an average 38 euros per day and the family economy, in most cases, depends on them. According to El Pais, approximately 50,000 local seasonal have been employed in total in the harvest that is about to end, mostly local workers, foreigners with a Spanish residence permit, while a contingent of 4,500 Moroccan women has been put under contract in the home country. A number much lower than the 35,000 of the 2005 season when, with the real estate boom, Spanish labour was hard to find in the fields.(ANSAmed).
2010-06-14 17:03