, a program developed by the University of Washington鈥檚 School of Nursing & Health Studies faculty with community partners and stakeholders, has received national recognition from the .
The culturally tailored program received the association鈥檚 in the category of workplace training. 鈥淚t represents the best of community-engaged program design and public health education,鈥 a reviewer said. The award was presented recently at the association鈥檚 virtual annual meeting, which was timely in light of and , both in October.
Jody Early, an associate professor, and Victoria Breckwich V谩squez, an affiliate assistant professor, developed the program over six years of work with women farmworkers, human rights organizations and industry partners. It was launched in November 2019 by a team that included Dennise Drury, an outreach and education specialist at the at the UW in Seattle, and Elizabeth Torres, research project coordinator for , a community health program within PNASH.
The name 隆Basta! (鈥渆nough!鈥 in Spanish) comes from a poem written by a farmworker who had experienced sexual harassment and assault.
Multi-level approach
Directed at farmworkers, managers and owners, 隆Basta! features a 15-minute with scenarios from farmworkers鈥 actual experiences. They depict the personal, interpersonal and workplace impact of sexual harassment. A companion toolkit includes printed materials in Spanish and in English. The content covers how to report incidents, cultivate a workplace climate of respect and create a policy aligned with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
A 隆Basta! training of 1 to 2 hours includes the video, toolkit and a facilitated discussion. 鈥淲hen we talk about preventing sexual harassment, education is not a cure-all, but research shows it matters,鈥 Early said. 鈥淲e need to address how issues of power, racism, gender, immigration, patriarchy, socio-economic status and policy perpetuate it.
鈥淭he time invested in this training, as well as ongoing discussions and additional workplace strategies, will more effectively foster a climate where sexual harassment cannot thrive,鈥 Early said.
隆Basta! is managed by PNASH, which is located in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences in the UW School of Public Health. 鈥淧NASH has used 隆Basta! to train hundreds of people across Washington,鈥 said Drury, who also is a graduate student in the department.
Trainings and toolkit
One of the biggest training sessions was a presentation to the Washington Growers League conference in February in Granger, in the farm-rich Yakima Valley of eastern Washington. Training sessions also have been conducted by the state Department of Labor & Industries, Washington State Tree Fruit Association, and , a rural health network.
隆Basta! is the only such publicly available resource tailored to the agricultural industry that PNASH knows of, Drury said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why there鈥檚 been a lot of attention. There鈥檚 nothing like this for free for employers to use.鈥
A peer-to-peer training initiative, led by Breckwich V谩squez, is currently in development with funding from the . Breckwich V谩squez also is advocating for state policy changes through the , which she founded and co-leads.
鈥淚n Washington state, there is no law mandating sexual harassment training in the agricultural sector, and farmworkers are limited to legal remedies only if they report the harassment,鈥 Breckwich V谩squez said.
Next, a graphic novella
A new addition to the toolkit will be a Spanish/English graphic novella co-written by Early and an advisory team of farmworker women from Proyecto Bienestar. Illustrated by Seattle artist Myra Lara, it is expected to be published in December.
鈥淏ased on actual cases in Washington state, we are using story and art to encourage richer and more authentic conversations around sexual harassment and to extend these conversations beyond the workplace鈥 Early said.
Funding for the novella comes from the , and the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Printed copies will be distributed in clinics, libraries and churches to reach people beyond agriculture.
Progress
Even without a legal requirement, some industry stakeholders have begun to implement sexual harassment prevention training, Early said.
鈥淎n increasing number of growers understand that this is a serious issue which affects worker safety as well as their bottom line and reputation,鈥 Early said. 鈥淏ecause of the history of agriculture, it hasn鈥檛 always been easy to get buy-in, but we鈥檝e been lucky to find and partner with innovators who care about the health of their employees and about cultivating a respectful and supportive work environment.鈥
Progress is being made in increasing industry and government recognition of sexual harassment as a workplace health and safety issue, Early said.
鈥淥ur vision is to extend this work and to expand our partnerships and our reach.鈥
