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The Holocaust Of The Fields Essay

Decent Essays

The documentary Rape in the Fields follows several personal accounts of women working as farmers, who have been sexually assaulted and raped in their work place. These migrant women work in the fields and packing plants of America and have suffered incredible injustice and sexual violence against them at their jobs. This film highlights their struggle for justice and the hardships they face as undocumented women, fighting to remain employed and provide for their loved ones in a work place of abuse and maltreatment.
There is an obvious power structure within the agriculture industry in this country. Female farmers are powerless especially compared to farm owners and supervisors. The women who are undocumented essentially don’t have a voice. Many of the female farmers throughout the film were raped and sexually abused by their supervisors, bosses, employers and even fellow co- workers. They were desperate to keep their jobs and make a living for their families so they did not speak out against the violence they suffered. Getting sexually assaulted and harassed was the price to pay in order to keep their jobs and stay in this country. The women were seen as sexual objects and property by their perpetrators. This signifies the powerlessness and the hopelessness of their situation. In contrast, those who held power were their bosses, supervisors and farm owners. They knew how hopeless the female workers were and completely took advantage of that.
After all, rape is about power,

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