Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-mzp66 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-11T10:48:17.849Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sexual harassment in an east African agribusiness supply chain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Susie Jacobs ,
Bénédicte Brahic  and
Marta Medusa Olaiya
Susie Jacobs*
Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Bénédicte Brahic
Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Marta Medusa Olaiya
Affiliation:
Women Working Worldwide, UK
*
Susie Jacobs, Department of Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manton Building, Rosamund Street West, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6LL, UK. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article discusses sexual harassment in the east African cut-flower and horticultural industry, based on research on 62 farms in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It argues that sexual harassment is fostered both by coercive labour conditions within global value chains and by existing hierarchical gender relations. The research finds that harassment is widespread, that many lack a vocabulary to describe or discuss this, and that female casual and temporary workers are most likely to be targeted. Action research coupled with organisation of workers, however, has been effective in giving ‘voice’ to those suffering harassment: this is a first step in a feminist labour mobilisation and policy formulation. Procedures against sexual harassment are beginning to be formulated: a key concern is implementation. Addressing sexual harassment is central in ensuring the security of working people, particularly the most marginalised.

Keywords

D63F02J53Decent workgenderglobal value networkslabour rightsoccupational safetysexual harassmenttrade unionsvulnerable workers
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 26 , Issue 3: Special Collection: Women’s Agency at Work , September 2015 , pp. 393 - 410
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barrientos, SW (2014) Gender and global value chains: challenges of economic and social upgrading in agri-food. European University Institute Working paper, Florence. Available at: http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/32897/RSCAS_2014_96.pdf?sequence=1 (accessed 9 June 2015).Google Scholar
Berdhal, J (2007) Harassment based on Sex: protecting social status in the context of gender hierarchy. Academy of Management Review 32(2): 641–858.Google Scholar
Brahic, B, Jacobs, S (2013) Empowering women: a labour rights-based approach. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 26(3): 601–619.Google Scholar
Brahic, B, Olaiya, MM, Jacobs, S, English, R (2011) Organising women in the agribusiness sector: case studies from East Africa. Labour, Capital and Society 44(1): 70–97.Google Scholar
Briskin, L (2002) The equality project in Canadian trade unions: confronting the challenge of restructuring and globalisation. In: Colgan, F, Ledwith, S (eds) Gender and Diversity in Trade Unions. London: Routledge, pp. 28–47.Google Scholar
Christian, M, Evers, B, Barrientos, SW (2013) Women in Value Chains: Making a Difference. Capturing the Gains Briefing paper no. 6.3, February. Manchester: University of Manchester.Google Scholar
Cockburn, C (1991) In the Way of Women. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, R (2009) Gender: In World Perspective. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Dejardin, AK (2008) Gender Dimensions of Globalization. Geneva: ILO. Available at: www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@integration/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_100856.pdf (accessed 30 May 2015).Google Scholar
Domínguez, M (1998) Sex discrimination and sexual harassment in agricultural labor. American University Journal of Gender and Law 231: 231–259.Google Scholar
Doss, C (2011) Intrahousehold bargaining and resource allocation in developing countries. World Development Report 2012, Briefing paper. Washington, DC: World Bank. Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2012/Resources/7778105-1299699968583/7786210-1322671773271/Doss-Intrahh-bargaining.pdf (accessed 13 June 2015).Google Scholar
Elson, D, Pearson, R (1981) Nimble fingers make cheap workers: an analysis of women’s employment in third world export manufacturing. Feminist Review 7: 87–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
European Commission (1999) Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in the European Union. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, L, Shullman, S, Bailey, N, et al. (1988) The incidence and dimensions of sexual harassment in academia and the workplace. Journal of Vocational Behaviour 32(2): 152–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedmann, H (1986) Patriarchal commodity production. Social Analysis 20: 47–55.Google Scholar
GIZ (German International Cooperation) / Baumgarten I (2014) Sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the public sector workplace in Tanzania mainland. Final study report. Available at: www.tgpsh.or.tz/fileadmin/documents/News/Report_Sexual_Harassment_in_Public_Sector_Tanzania-June_2014.pdf (accessed 16 October 2014).Google Scholar
Global Horticultural Workers’ and Environmental Rights Network (GHOWERN) (2013) Best practices for combating sexual harassment at the workplace in the horticulture industry in the East African Region. Unpublished Report, Kampala.Google Scholar
Gruber, J (1990) Methodological problems and policy implications in sexual harassment research. Population Research and Policy Review 9(3): 235–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hale, A (1996) The Deregulated Global Economy: Women Workers and Strategies of Resistance. In: Sweetman, C (ed) Women, Employment and Exclusion. Oxford: Oxfam, pp. 8–15.Google Scholar
Hewamanne, S (2008) Stitching Identities in a Free Trade Zone: Gender and Politics in Sri Lanka. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) (2002) Violence against women in the workplace in Kenya. Washington, DC. Available at: www.laborrights.org/sites/default/files/publications-and-resources/Kenya.pdf (accessed 21 November 2014).Google Scholar
International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2013) Spreading the message on sexual harassment in Jordan’s garment factories. July. Available at: www.wurn.com/news/2013/07_13/070113_jordan.htm (accessed 4 June 2014).Google Scholar
International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2014) Sexual harassment at work: factsheet. Available at: www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—declaration/documents/publication/wcms_decl_fs_96_en.pdf (accessed 2 June 2014).Google Scholar
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) (2008) Stopping sexual harassment at work: a trade union guide. Brussels. Available at www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/Harcelement_ENG_12pgs_BR.pdf (accessed 12 February 2015).Google Scholar
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) (2014) Asia-Pacific report to ITUC 3rd Congress. Available at: www.congress2014.ituc-csi.org (accessed 22 October 2015).Google Scholar
Jacobs, S (2010) Gender and Agrarian Reforms. New York; London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kelly, L (1988) Surviving Sexual Violence. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Kirton, G (2007) The Making of Women Trade Unionists. Farnham: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Labuschane, L (2008) Flower farming: Kenyan horticulture leads the way. Pesticides 82(2): 6–7.Google Scholar
Ledwith, S, Colgan, F (2002) Tackling gender, diversity and trade union democracy. In: Colgan, F, Ledwith, S (eds) Gender and Diversity in Trade Unions. London: Routledge, pp. 1–27.Google Scholar
Lonsway, K, Cortina, L, Magley, V (2008) Sexual harassment mythology: definition, conceptualization and measurement. Sex Roles 58(9–10): 599–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCann, D (2005) Sexual Harassment at Work: National and International Responses. Geneva: ILO Conditions of Work and Employment Programme. Available at: www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_protect/—protrav/—travail/documents/publication/wcms_travail_pub_2.pdf (accessed 18 March 2015).Google Scholar
McDonald, P (2012) Workplace sexual harassment 30 years on: a review of the literature. International Journal of Management Reviews 14(1): 1–17.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, C (1979) Sexual Harassment of Working Women. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Mariam, A (2011) Speaking truth on behalf of Ethiopian women. Huffington Post, 25 May. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/speaking-truth-on-behalf_b_635317.html (accessed 20 June 2015).Google Scholar
Marix Evans, L, Jack, M (2011) Programme evaluation report for WWW. Unpublished, November, Manchester.Google Scholar
Maypole, D (1987) Sexual harassment at work: a review of research and theory. Affilia 2(1): 4–38.Google Scholar
Maypole, D, Skaine, R (1982) Sexual harassment of blue collar workers. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 9(4): 682–695.Google Scholar
MyWage, Kenya (2014) Sexual Harassment: what does the law say? Available at: mywage.org/Kenya/home/labour-laws/fair-treatment-at-work (accessed 10 October 2014).Google Scholar
O’Leary-Kelly, A, Bowes-Sperry, L, Bates, A, et al. (2009) Sexual harassment at work: a decade (plus) of progress. Journal of Management 35(3): 503–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantaleón, L (2003) Sexual harassment in the export processing zones of the Dominican Republic. Fundación Laboral Dominicana. Available at: digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1484&context=globaldocs (accessed 20 June 2014).Google Scholar
Parker, J, Foley, J (2010) Progress on women’s equality within UK and Canadian trade unions: do women’s structures make a difference? Industrial Relations 65(2): 281–301.Google Scholar
Pearson, R (2007) Reassessing paid work and women’s empowerment. In: Cornwall, A, Harrison, C, Whitehead, A (eds) Feminisms in Development. London: Zed Books, pp. 201–213.Google Scholar
Rogers, JK, Henson, K (1997) ‘Hey, why don’t you wear a shorter skirt?’ Structural vulnerability and the organization of sexual harassment in temporary clerical employment. Gender and Society 11(2): 215–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rospenda, K, Richmann, J, Nawyn, S (1998) Doing power: the confluence of gender, race and class in contrapower sexual harassment. Gender and Society 12(1): 40–60.Google Scholar
Schneider, B (1982) Consciousness about sexual harassment among heterosexual and lesbian women workers. Journal of Social Issues 38(4): 75–98.Google Scholar
Selwyn, B (2013) Social upgrading and labour in global production networks: a critique and an alternative conception. Competition and Change 17(1): 75–90.Google Scholar
Siddiqui, DM (2003) The sexual harassment of industrial workers. Dhaka, CPD-UNFPA paper. Available at: www.cpd.org.bd/pub-attach/unfpa26.pdf (accessed 17 June 2014).Google Scholar
Takao, S (2001) Increasingly less equal. Japan Quarterly 48(3): 24–30.Google Scholar
Uggen, C, Blackstone, A (2004) Sexual harassment as a gendered expression of power. American Sociological Review 69(1): 64–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verhart, N, Pyburn, R (2012) Gender Equality in Certified Value Chains. In: Harcourt, W (ed) Women Reclaiming Sustainable Livelihoods. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 62–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welsh, S (1999) Gender and sexual harassment. Annual Review of Sociology 25: 169–190.Google Scholar
Wijayatilake, K, Zackariya, F (2001) Sexual Harassment at Work: Plantation Sector. Colombo, Sri Lanka: ILO. Available at: www.actnowsrilanka.org/en/books/142-sexual-harassment-at-work-plantation-sector (accessed 12 May 2014).Google Scholar
Wilkerson, J (1999) The impact of job level and prior training on sexual harassment labelling and remedy choice. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 29(8): 1605–1623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witz, A, Savage, M (1992) The gender of organizations. In: Savage, M, Witz, A (eds) Gender and Bureaucracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 3–62.Google Scholar
Women Working Worldwide (WWW) (2007) Promoting women workers’ rights in African horticulture, Unpublished, Manchester.Google Scholar
Women Working Worldwide (WWW) (2013) Sexual harassment: executive summary of research carried out on selected horticultural farms in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Unpublished, Manchester, March.Google Scholar