I find it incredibly upsetting how many women and girls have been cruelly and horrifically hurt and murdered because they prostitutes. And distressing how most of society seems not to care that much as if these women and girls are not fully human . Prostitutes are human beings, often beautiful human ...more
In a Day's Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America's Most Vulnerable Workers. A nominee for the Pulitzer and winner of the PEN/Galbraith Award for Nonfiction, this book focuses on sexual violence against women farmworkers, domestic workers, and janitorial workers - a ...more
"To start, there is the predictable list of barriers: fear of losing their jobs, fear of being blamed by their husbands and partners, and the immutable sense of shame. They're terrified of what it might feel like to talk about the assault, and they have real concerns about what it would mean for the ...more
Was very informative! Both about sexual violence in the workplace and the organizing done to combat it. While there were points of criticism for unions, overall it was very hopeful in the power of workers to fight for better conditions
Some negatives are descriptions of sexual assault and a racial sl ...more
Such an important book. Among the many revelatory things was how much fear of unemployment is as a factor in enabling the sexual violence against precarious workers. Yeung suggests—to her surprise—it’s even more of a factor than undocumented immigration status. The implication of this point is that ...more
"By questioning Hill’s veracity so forcefully without giving her a chance to back up the weight of her claims, the senators sent a clear message that women who speak up about unwanted sexual behavior by a powerful man will be disbelieved and perhaps even publicly called liars." - Regarding the confi ...more
Somewhat repetitive, Leung sends dispatches from the front lines of the fight against sexual harassment in the United States while also providing context through personal stories, summaries of legal battles, sociological & psychological studies and discussions with industry leaders. While all the wo ...more
I already knew from her work on "Rape in the Fields" that Bernice Yeung's examination of sex crimes against field and domestic workers would be worth the read. True to expectations, it is thorough, factual, and has a quiet narrative force that kept me reading page after page. What I didn't expect wa ...more
This is a very timely, informative read about sexual harassment and assault in the workplace among those whose jobs we rarely see--night custodians, farm workers, domestic workers. Many of these workers are female, and many of them are undocumented. They are often afraid to pursue legal action again ...more
Coming from a family where work like that presented in this book allowed for me to get an education and have a good life now, it was heartbreaking to read what women go through when faced with an impossible situation - say what happened and watch your children starve or go on like it never happened? ...more
A book that can be difficult to read based on the subject matter but one that can be very eye opening. I think most of us know that these happen to these women, but sometimes can get so caught up in the stories we do hear that you can forget that there are plenty of women who simply can't report thi ...more
A fantastic read about the “hidden” problem of sexual violence among migrant workers. This story highlights the intersectionality of being an undocumented immigrant and a woman in industries that are complicit with allowing sexual violence to occur. I very much appreciated the author consistently de ...more
I know this has received high marks and it is an important subject but it reads like someone’s dissertation. Definitely expounds on the problem of sexual harassment and assault within migrant & immigrant professions such as janitorial services, agriculture, domestic care, etc. I was surprised at how ...more