Women around the world who have been victims of rape or sexual assault in the workplace face a series of challenges as to how to address the matter.
There is often a fear of retaliation from the perpetrator, a fear of losing the job and a strong desire to avoid even more negative attention on top of the damage already done.
Imagine an undocumented woman in this position. The possibility of deportation and separation from her family looms, making a legal claim a rather unappealing measure to take in spite of the graveness of the crime.
Meanwhile, the perpetrator remains at ease and at large, benefiting from the oppressive silence of fear.
La Voz Project aims to turn this scenario around. Equal Rights Advocates, in collaboration with SF Women Against Rape, Worksafe and Catholic Charities is providing legal support and counseling for immigrant women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted in the workplace.
Through a series of trainings, legal clinics and counseling held at the Women’s Building, the project provides free services in English and Spanish to low-income immigrant women seeking information and support.
“We have a hotline and we get a lot of calls,” said Nicole Marquez, an attorney on fellowship at ERA. “But that certainly does not reflect the number of incidents that are taking place. It’s estimated that 40–90 percent of women experience sexual harassment at work, and only 10–13 percent of those women ever report it.”
ERA provides legal aid to marginalized women across the nation, while SFWAR manages advocacy, counseling and social services to victims of sexual abuse in the Bay Area. Worksafe is a California-based organization working to eliminate workplace hazards and protect workers’ rights, and Catholic Charities has a team of immigration consultants that have long served the Latino community in San Francisco and beyond.
“This is a natural partnership,” explained Janelle White, executive director of SFWAR. “All of us have worked together for so long, but the goal now is to meet all needs in one location. It’s a wraparound clinic that aims to make this information and support more accessible to the public.”
Two “Know Your Rights” trainings will take place before each clinic in the months of August, October and December.
“It’s important that these trainings are culturally competent, language specific and relevant to the community it serves,” White said.
The first training happened on Aug. 8, and was led by Marquez. “People don’t know that Federal Law protects the rights of undocumented women. Discrimination in the workplace on basis of sex, pregnancy, race, national origin and religion is illegal … regardless of the immigration status of the subject,” she explained during the training.
“The California Fair Employment and Housing Act further ensures that discrimination is illegal on the basis of all the above reasons plus medical condition, disability, sexual orientation and marital status. This is especially important given that we’ve seen an increase of sexual harassment towards trans-gender and queer people because of prejudice towards their orientation,” she added.
Christine Yang, a woman attending the first training on Aug. 8, said: “I felt very comfortable sharing my stories here. They’ve made a very open atmosphere, where anyone could say what their fears are.”
The second training will take place on Aug. 22, and its focus will be the U-Visa, a type of visa set aside for victims of crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are willing to assist law enforcement in the investigation of the crime.
Christopher Martinez, program director of Catholic Charities CYO Refugee & Immigrant Services, affirmed this.
“If someone was a victim of a violent crime and they come forward despite the personal risks, they are doing a service to the community. The U-visa is about safety for the individual as well as the community,” she said.