Moroccan Women Farm Workers Face Abuse: Activists Launch Campaign

To denounce the discrimination and violence suffered by Moroccan women agricultural workers, and to advocate for the respect of their rights. This is the goal pursued by the GJFD, which has decided to launch an awareness campaign on social networks, called "YOUDA".

This awareness will be done by publishing the testimonies and recommendations of agricultural workers, victims of discrimination, gender-based violence and sexual violence. According to the GJFD, the women workers who are one of the weakest links in the agricultural chain, are defenseless and without means in the face of the covid-19 crisis. Their fundamental rights are constantly violated, denounces the GJFD. These include the absence of employment contracts, medical coverage and non-compliance with legal working hours.

The drama is the constant risk of sexual violence that threatens these women on the way to their workplaces and that related to the means of transport that exceed their capacities. The group warns of the difficulties for these women to seize justice in order to denounce the sexual and physical violence of which they are victims. This is due to the complexity of the procedures.

An agricultural worker named Manal testifies that some employers are violent towards the workers. They impose things on them that they do not want to do. Those who lack the minimum are forced to endure, because they have no choice. This is why the GJFD calls on the authorities to pay particular attention to agricultural workers who are also exposed to the risks of covid-19.