It has resulted to the death of women and made victims live a life full of fear or dejection. In this essay, I will look into undocumented immigrant minority women and sexual harassment. I will look at immigrant domestic workers and the sexual harassment of women from Latina. Today, Latinas compose the main category of women joining the domestic labor force in the United States (Lopez, 2009). What is worrying is that most of this immigration is undocumented. These women continue to suffer at the hands of their employers, since their immigration is undocumented with the relevant authorities, and employers take this as an added advantage. Employers harass these women sexually, mentally, and even spiritually. Some are made sex slaves or sex objects. Sexual harassment is a social crisis, and doing away with it can be achieved effectively if only grass root interventions are used (Roz%u030Cman, 2009).
Social context of sexual harassment
Domestic work represents a significant portion of the labor market in most countries. At least 7.5 % of women in paid employment globally are domestic workers. Women also comprise a large share of international immigrants. They comprise approximately half of the total immigrant worldwide. Domestic work is a growing sector in most economies. What is surprising is that undocumented immigrant women workers continue to experience harassment of all kinds from their employers (Lopez, 2009). The growing demand for domestic work in most countries has also been fueled by increasing affordability for house help. United States largely rely on immigrant women workers from neighboring countries.
The economic and human costs of sexual harassment to domestic workers can be huge for the individual, communities, families or even the economy (Das, 2008). Despite the fact that accurate data is not available, assumptions can be made that gender-based violence, such as sexual harassment against women, is on the rise. Undocumented Latina immigrant women are faced with sexual abuse from their employers. Additionally, these women are faced with hostile working conditions and low wages. The women are highly vulnerable, because employers can and do exploit them while threatening to deport them. Employers also block them from any attempts to improve their living conditions (Lopez, 2009).
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Approximately 75 % of undocumented Latino immigrant women identify two main reasons for coming to America. Most identify economic opportunity and desire to construct a superior life for their relatives as the second reason for immigration. These two reasons show that women can go to a great extent so as to develop society their families. Since economic and job opportunities are the major reasons for the Latino women to come into the United States, most employers take this advantage and sexually harass these women. The majority of the undocumented immigrant Latino women work as childcare providers, and others work as housecleaners or housekeepers (Lopez, 2009).
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15% OFF on your 1st orderImportance of evaluating sexual harassment to the local, national or global community
Evaluating undocumented immigrant minority women and sexual harassment is an essential topic, because each day, more and more immigrant women suffer at the hands of their employers. Sexual harassment not only affects the health of a woman but also leads to lose of a job. Additionally, sexual harassment has worsened the environment in which women work, and this makes them leave their jobs (Roz%u030Cman, 2009). Sometimes sufferers of this social crisis become distressed and incapable of performing their roles. Additionally, victims go unpaid and suffer many hours of unpaid vacation each year in the United State. Sexual harassment has also a discouraging outcome that disappoints women and prevents them from being productive within the places of work. On the other side, sexual harassment among men reinforces a mentality that domestic women workers are sex slaves or objects. The effect of sexual assault on a woman’s determination is also serious (Lopez, 2009).
When I was starting my research, I did not expect to find many cases of sexual harassment. This is because I assumed that U.S is a developed nation with a well-organized justice system. However, I discovered that above 90 % of women who are domestic workers are harassed by employers, and they suffer from some debilitating stress condition. Such reactions can include headaches, sleep disorder, and depression.
Sexual harassment and WCD
This study is concerned with sexual harassment of immigrant undocumented women. Working with Bhavnani’s paradigm of Women, Culture, and Development, I will be highlighting how this social crisis can be perceived from the standpoint of sexuality and gender, as one of the factors that deter women from participating in any economic development. Within Bhavnani’s paradigm, these two topics relate the purple color (Chua, Bhavnani, & Foran, 2000). This is true, because society has mandated women with both the roles of production and reproduction. As a result of changes in economic setup, women are now seeking employment opportunities so as to support their families.
Sexual harassment relates to WCD, because it affects women. It also relates to WCD because of culture, where women find themselves in a vulnerable position. In most cultures, women are implicitly treated as the property of men, so sexual harassment is taken to be a normal undertaking (Chua, Bhavnani, & Foran, 2000). Finally, sexual harassment relates to WCD in that most of the harassment occurs at work places where women try to engage in development activities to earn a living so as to develop themselves or their families.
Undocumented immigrant minority women and sexual harassment are a social crisis in America today (Das, 2008). It hampers the social life of the victims working in the domestic sector. They are deprived of their constitutional rights, because they sneaked into the country without following the relevant immigration guidelines. Sexual harassment is any unlawful or unwelcome sexual requests or advances. Sexual harassment may take many forms. It can involve direct propositions by the employer to have sex (Roz%u030Cman, 2009). It can also include creating an extremely hostile environment for the domestic Latino workers. Sexual harassment is a demeaning behavior, because it psychologically hurts the women who are involved in it. A significant number of Latino women have been sexually harassed at some point in their domestic roles to varying degrees. Some have suffered personal injury and emotional traumas. Women aged 15-30 are mainly the target of sexual harassment (Roz%u030Cman, 2009).
The best solution to sexual harassment based on what evidence indicates
Comparative data on the prevalence of sexual harassment is not easy to collect. However, based on some evidence found, tackling sexual harassment will require the passing of rules and laws that will criminalize this social crisis. The law needs to stipulate the penalties which the harassers will face. Additionally, the law will need to set up or establish procedures for arresting the harasser through evidence that is provided on the location or site of harassment. Another solution that can help eradicate the social crisis of sexual harassment can be deployment of more police officers. Detectives need to be deployed in very crowded areas such as schools or public streets (Roz%u030Cman, 2009).
My solution to sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a complex social crisis, and its stoppage or eradication requires actions in areas of community development. The first grass root action that can help eradicate this social crisis from society is ensuring that the community is educated on sexual harassment. Fundamentally, such beliefs will help drive the overall direction of the preventive process of sexual harassment. Norms of sexual harassment against women greatly influence the prevalence of sexual harassment for women in domestic employment. Mobilizing the community through awareness creations and trainings can help reduce the prevalence of sexual harassment.
My solution to ending sexual harassment against undocumented immigrant women workers is better than the previously given solution, because it is holistic. Having a grass root action that will eradicate sexual harassment is the only way in which sexual harassment will be eradicated. When the community is made aware through education and awareness creation, women will become empowered. They will know their human rights and the rules that safeguard them against any form of sexual harassment. It is also through community awareness program that women can be trained on how to prevent any attempts of exploitative men. Through awareness, women can also be educated on places where they can seek help should they become victims of sexual harassment.
In the future, governments across the world should introduce programs that promote gender mainstreaming. Affirmative actions should be embraced to help end the inequalities between men and women. If my plan to end sexual harassment against women is engaged, I can predict a society in which both men and women feel equal at workplaces. Women will no longer feel inadequate. In the future, I can envision that there will be problems with the boy child. As a result of women receiving more attention, they might become more empowered that men. This will bring many divorces and conflicts in families.
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