There would not be agriculture in the US without farmworkers. 70% of farmworkers are foreign-born, and many lack legal protections. Despite their crucial contribution to the agricultural industry, they make up less than 1 percent of all U.S. wage and salary workers. They are invisibilized — unseen, unprotected, unheard. There is a dual burden placed on women farmworkers, who face additional economic inequality and sexual harassment in and off the field.
Líderes Campesinas is a statewide network, mobilizing farmworker women and girls to become agents of social, economic and political change. Since 1988, they have been creating opportunities for dialogue, community education, theater, and storytelling to end abusive working conditions and advocate for human rights. The organization’s work is rooted in the idea that leadership is collective, not individual, and that when we uphold women’s rights, we take care of our whole communities.
