Five on Friday: International Day of the Girl

Fri, 10/11/2019 | by Claire Hutkins Seda

A woman working in the field with a bandana promoting The Bandana Project

Justice for Migrant Women and HOLA! USA are partnering together to raise awareness about sexual harassment against farmworker women and girls who plant, pick, and pack the fruits and vegetables that puts food on our tables. The #BandanaProjectChallenge will be launched as a part of the International #DayoftheGirl actions taking place throughout the US and around the world. The Bandana Project was created in 2007 to raise awareness about and end the widespread problem of workplace sexual violence against farmworker women and girls across the United States.

It can be a challenge to select just five pieces to highlight each week -- particularly when the news feels so bleak. Here are some of the articles that we bet you haven’t seen yet this week. We’ve even tripled our Weekly Win to make sure more good news gets out there. We think you’ll enjoy this week’s articles, and maybe find them useful in your own work in health justice. Pull up a chair, grab some tea, and dive in to this week’s Five on Friday:

Amy sent around a new MMWR entitled, “Severe Silicosis in Engineered Stone Fabrication Workers — California, Colorado, Texas, and Washington, 2017–2019,” and an NPR segment interviewing one of the affected workers. She added: “This is significant. These workers are young and Latino and two deaths are notable.”

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Amy also shared another medical concern to monitor: “Weighing Just 107 Pounds and at Risk of Death, an Asylum Seeker on Hunger Strike Finally Gets His Freedom.” A physician who reviewed the detainee’s medical records said it was “the worst medical care I have seen in my ten years of practice.”

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Alma in Massachusetts offered up the new article from the journal Diabetes Care, “Long-term Effects of Disasters on Seniors With Diabetes: Evidence From Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.”

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Amy also shared, “Migrant child died after release from detention, attorneys group alleges.”

Kate sent in a New York Times article, “Desperate Migrants on the Border: ‘I Should Just Swim Across,’” which gives chilling accounts of migrants, including that of a young mother and her toddler who drowned while trying to swim across in late September.

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Vineyard owner walks with daughter

West Coast Weekly Wins: Three articles were sent around with good news, and all were centered around the West Coast. Alma in Texas shared a piece on Napa vineyard owners who started off as farmworkers. Del shared news of the new Bracero monument in Los Angeles. And Jillian sent around the news of a farmworkers’ daughter who is now a PhD student who is studying conditions in the fields of Washington State.

Have a safe and healthy weekend.