The Journalist behind the Huelva Gate investigation invited to the EU parliament

Photojournalist and investigative reporter Stefania Prandi is invited to the European Parliament (Brussels) to present, in September, her new book «Oro Rosso» on female farm workers in Morocco’s southern province Souss-Massa, Italy and Spain, reveals Spanish online newspaper La Mar de Onuba.

The journalist is invited by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats(S&D), the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). In her book, Prandi concluded that female farm workers «picking red fruits such as strawberries and tomatoes are paid less than men, forced to work for extended working hours, and are sexually harassed, blackmailed, raped and verbally abused», says the same source.

Stefania Prandi’s name got associated with Moroccan strawberry pickers in Huelva. She, alongside a journalist called Pascale Muller, conducted an investigation for Correctiv, a well-known German organization that backs «independent investigative journalism», revealing a series of abusive and inhumane practices (mostly Moroccan) female farm workers go through in southern Spain and Southern Morocco.

Prandi and Muller’s investigation was also published by Buzzfeed News Germany. After the paper was released, a number of Moroccan women in Huelva stood up against sexual assaults. Some of them have even sought the help of the Spanish authorities, filing complaints against their alleged abusers.