Ending Workplace Violence with Empowerment & Self-Defense

In 2015, we partnered with SEIU-USWW in a comprehensive effort to expose the issue of unreported rape and harassment in the industry. As first responders in the janitorial industry, we saw firsthand how poverty, isolation, and predatory, undercapitalized employers can make female janitors vulnerable to male supervisors who seek to take advantage.

After evaluating more than 100 reports of sexual violence at work from nonunion female janitors, we realized that traditional gender socialization and economic desperation left women without a support network that prioritized their individual well-being. 

As a result, we worked with various partners to provide an intensive training course that would create an opportunity for women to connect with their self worth and demand respect at work.

This work requires us to create a safe environment where each woman has the opportunity to explore their own life experience. Our hope is that they develop a perspective that prioritizes the safety of their individual well-being where decisions are made to protect, defend and advance her well-being.
Female janitors in a Ya Basta! Self Defense Group class
We believe ending violence and abuse in the workplace will be accomplished not only by legislative reform, but by empowering people to use their voices. In order for a worker to defend their wages they need to understand the rules regarding being paid. While women engage in this journey of empowerment, we saw the need to teach them their rights to respond to physical or mental attacks. In order for a female janitor to defend her person, she needs to have a plan. We formed the Ya Basta! Self Defense Group. While we teach janitors how to punch, kick and jab to protect themselves from potential attackers, our classes are more about self-exploration and building self-confidence. We carefully take women through a journey creating an opportunity to heal and empower, concluding that sexual violence is never their fault.

This special investment of time and resources is critical because we find that most of the women who participate have never had the time or the space to think about their emotional well-being, their physical body and the pain they carry. Together, we talk about our shared culture and experiences as immigrant women in the janitorial industry, building a powerful community of trust.

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