—story by Ross Courtney
Actors dramatize an uncomfortable orchard scene in a video screenshot from ¡Basta!, a College of Washington sexual harassment prevention coaching curriculum. (Courtesy Pacific Northwest Agricultural Security and Well being Middle)
Agricultural employment teams are making a brand new push this spring for corporations to make use of a coaching curriculum designed to stop sexual harassment in Washington’s specialty crops.
It’s referred to as “¡Basta! Stop Sexual Harassment in Agriculture.” (“¡Basta!” is Spanish for “Sufficient!”)
The curriculum, with sources out there in English and Spanish, options dramatized movies set amid the orchards, ladders and bins that Washington’s farmworkers and supervisors will acknowledge.
The package, which additionally contains coaching guides and mannequin insurance policies, was launched in 2019 by the College of Washington Pacific Northwest Agricultural Security and Well being — or PNASH — Middle. This spring, PNASH granted $7,500 to an ag employer affiliation to assist unfold the phrase.
“We need to make it extra of a supported exercise within the trade,” stated Michael Gempler, government director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima-based ag employment nonprofit.
He envisions distributing a whole lot of thumb drives to farms everywhere in the state.
Gempler additionally hopes to encourage employers already utilizing the coaching to make use of it repeatedly. The subject must be addressed greater than as soon as, he stated.
“Altering human habits is tough,” he stated.
The brand new funding additionally can pay for added content material, particularly a brand new “train-the-trainer” video and one other about legal responsibility and authorized rights and tasks, stated Jody Early, a UW professor of nursing and well being research and the principal investigator for ¡Basta!
The curriculum growth was fueled by the #MeToo motion, Early stated, in addition to some sexual harassment investigations led by the Equal Employment Alternative Fee at Central Washington fruit corporations within the early 2010s. A number of dozen corporations and organizations — and most significantly, staff themselves — helped put it collectively.
“Farmworkers have been calling for this from the start,” Early stated.
The Kershaw Cos., based mostly in Yakima, have been utilizing the coaching curriculum for a number of years, stated Chafeka Abdellatif, director of human sources.
The setting and language of the movies assist a “sensitive topic” resonate with orchard staff who typically work far-off from the principle workplace, Abdellatif stated.
“It’s a terrific instrument for the trade to make the most of,” she stated. “It’s essential that sexual harassment is addressed.”
To order a free ¡Basta! coaching package from PNASH, go to: deohs.washington.edu/pnash/basta-toolkit. •
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