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In the fall of 2017, women from all walks of life began sharing stories of sexual assault and harassment using the social media hashtag #MeToo. As the movement continued to grow and as more high-profile celebrities were coming forward with their stories, 700,000 farmworkers that form the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas wrote an open letter in solidarity with the #MeToo movement.

“For the past several weeks we have watched and listened with sadness as we have learned of the actors, models and other individuals who have come forward to speak out about the gender-based violence they’ve experienced at the hands of bosses, coworkers and other powerful people in the entertainment industry. We wish that we could say we’re shocked to learn that this is such a pervasive problem in your industry. Sadly, we’re not surprised because it’s a reality we know far too well,” the letter said.

Bernice Yeung, reporter at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, writes about the realities farmworkers and immigrant women in blue-collar jobs face. Her book, In a Day’s Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America’s Most Vulnerable Workers, details accounts of sexual harassment and assault against immigrant women working in isolated workplaces across the nation.

Yeung joins Maria Hinojosa in the studio to discuss what happens when immigrant women speak out, and the need to share the stories of America’s most vulnerable workers.

Editor’s Note: The release date for Yeung’s book has been moved to March 20. The story originally mentioned the book was coming out in May.

Featured image by ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images

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