Moroccan women in Huelva : Nine farm workers file complaints against their managers

Nine Moroccan female workers have reported to the Spanish Civil Guard alleged sexual and labor abuses when working in a strawberry farm in the Huelva province in Southern Spain, reports EFE on Monday.

These Moroccan women, working temporarily in Spain, were seen in front of the Labor Inspectorate in Huelva with Podemos deputy Diego Cañamero, who told media that complaints were filed Sunday before the Civil Guard.

Four of the above-mentioned Moroccan women said that they were sexually assaulted by a single person while the rest claimed that they have been forced to work in terrible working conditions.

Cañamero said that all of the Moroccan women were very scared when they denounced the alleged abuses. «We couldn’t keep them in the farms, we sent them to a village to spend the night … We will try to protect them so they can safely follow up with the complaints they lodged», he told the same source.

The deputy called Spanish authorities to provide a shelter for these women «where they can stay and attend the hearings, and appear before the judge to continue and carry on procedures».

Some of the women affected told media that their manager at the farm mistreated them and that «they had to pay for three hours a day to be provided with water and electricity, stressing that sometimes they were unable to shower».

According to EFE, some of the victims have been abused by their managers «who blackmailed them into having sex with them».

The complaint was lodged after four other Moroccan female workers did the same on Friday, accusing their manager in a Moguer farm of allegedly abusing them.