SALON

Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 1:00 PM UTC

Top 5 investigative videos of the week: Female farmworkers sexually abused

From exploited American field hands to helpless Mexican journalists, a look at the finest docs YouTube has to offer VIDEO

By

Topics: Video, , ,

Top 5 investigative videos of the week: Female farmworkers sexually abusedScene still from "Hidden in the Harvest"

The Top 5 investigative videos of the week

This week’s videos feature a number of iconoclasts: from intrepid journalists working in one of the most dangerous cities in the world to a woman fighting against the odds to educate the girls of her country.

For a first look at more stories like these, make sure that you are subscribed to The I Files, a cost- and spam-free one-stop news source. We plow through hours of online video to free you up for more interesting pursuits. Watch our videos, then go fight the good fight. Just be safe out there.

“Mexico’s Female Crime Journalists,” Vice

“We’ve become war correspondents in our own land.”

Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, is one of the most violent cities in the world outside a declared war zone, with 10,000 people killed over the past four years alone. While there has been a decline in the number of murders recently, the city still averages four killings a day.

“Mexico’s Female Crime Journalists” looks at the fallout of the narcotics war through the eyes of four reporters at El Diario de Juárez newspaper. Filmed during the runup to the Mexican presidential election last year, the doc provides an engrossing profile of women who risk their lives to give the victims of crimes a voice and to hold government officials accountable.

Two of the paper’s staff members already have been assassinated, as journalists have found themselves becoming part of the conflict because, as one reporter explains, “information became an instrument (for drug traffickers) to spread fear.”

In one of the film’s most powerful moments, a mother who has lost two sons to the violence breaks out of a scripted press conference to confront Mexico’s president. As he nods and mutters niceties, she lashes out.

“Don’t say, ‘Of course,’ Mr. President,” she implores. “Do something for Juárez. Make Juárez the way Juárez was before, not the bloodbath that it is now.” She then turns her back on him and walks out.

Remembering the dramatic confrontation, the journalist shakes her head and says, “That was really amazing for all of us – it was the first time I ever saw anyone telling the president that this war was having an immeasurable cost that he was unaware of.”

A warning: The video features some grim and explicit footage.

“Hidden in the Harvest,” The Center for Investigative Reporting

“If he kills me, who will take care of my kids?”

These are the words of a female farmworker profiled in this raw graphic-novel video, which looks at the lives of the largely unseen women who handle the food we eat every day.

“Hidden in the Harvest,” – a companion piece to “Rape in the Fields,” a documentary that aired on FRONTLINE earlier this week – tells the story of three women who came to the U.S. looking for the American dream but say they suffered sexual harassment and abuse while trying to work to feed their own families. Voice actors are used to protect the women’s identities.

It is impossible to know how many of the more than half a million women who work in the food-processing and agricultural industry have faced sexual abuse or assault at work. Many are migrants and are afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs or being deported.

Almost as upsetting as hearing the details of these stories is learning that in the last 15 years, not a single supervisor accused of sexual assault or rape in the agricultural industry (at least those with federal sexual harassment lawsuits filed through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) has been tried in a criminal court.

“Winter of Discontent,” Al-Jazeera

As Russia gears up to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the government is promoting idyllic images of the “Russian Riviera” as a land of natural beauty and prime ski resorts.

But the descendants of the Circassians who once populated Sochi and its environs remember the land as the place where, in the late 1800s, 1 million of their people were driven from their homes and another 1.5 million were killed, in what they consider to be genocide.

“Winter of Discontent” follows a group of international activists who are trying to raise awareness of this forgotten history. To highlight these crimes, the group launches an anti-mascot campaign, a contest for people to design a symbol that reflects the history of Sochi more accurately than the adorable woodland creatures put forth by the Russian government.

The film profiles one graphic designer of Circassian descent as he grapples with his lost identity and designs his contest entry. As inspiration, he visits his ancestral homeland for the first time.

“It’s like waking up after 150 years, a long sleep, like a very long hibernation,” he reflects.

“In China, a Staggering Migration,” The New York Times

The Chinese government plans to move 250 million people from farms to cities over the next 12 to 15 years. It’s an almost mind-boggling scheme – a transition that took centuries to achieve in Western countries.

The government hopes to speed up urbanization and spur economic growth. Millions of farmers would move from rural areas to high-rise apartment complexes, a plan that some critics call “warehousing” and radical social engineering.

This short video takes a computer-generated journey over some of the most populated cities on the planet to try to visualize the scope of this unprecedented move and get a sense of what the process would entail.

If the video prompts more questions, a New York Times print piece offers more background and an in-depth look at what some call the largest migration in human history.

“Humaira the Dreamcatcher,” Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

“Women are very strong. They have the power to build and destroy empires.”

This is a revolutionary and even dangerous message in conservative rural Pakistan, where religious militants have attacked more than 600 schools in the last six years.

It’s the mantra of Humaira Bachal, a woman from a poor neighborhood where “people feel education is pointless.”

Directed by Emmy and Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the short documentary follows Bachal as she fights ingrained social prejudice and cultural traditions to educate the girls of her community, a daunting task in a country where 26 percent of women are literate.

If you get beyond the somewhat schmaltzy music at the beginning, it’s an amazing story of perseverance and courage. Bachal’s own back story is dramatic: In ninth grade, when her father forbade her from leaving the house to take her exams, Bachal’s mother stood up for her and confronted him, getting beaten and suffering a broken arm in the process. (Bachal’s father now says he was illiterate and ignorant at the time.) Bachal views her mother’s support as instrumental in her upbringing and now tries to convince other women that they hold the same power to change their daughters’ lives.

Men “fear that once women become independent, they will raise their voice against the violence that is inflicted upon them,” she says. “They want to keep treating us like animals.”

Amanda Pike

Amanda Pike is the producer for The I Files, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting. The I Files selects and showcases the best investigative videos from around the Web and across the world. Major contributors include CIR, The New York Times, BBC, ABC, Al-Jazeera, Vice TV and the Investigative News Network. You can follow Amanda on Twitter: @AmandaHPike. More Amanda Pike.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

Loading Comments...

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
3287 points3288 points | 4074 comments
vote
Before Edward Snowden: “Sexual deviates” and the NSA - When the last major defection hit the NSA, the government smeared the leakers as gay. New documents show they lied
2675 points2676 points | 185 comments
vote
This man is still lying to America: A smoking gun shows Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is not coming clean to us -- again
761 points762 points | 43 comments
vote
We must hate our children. We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
108 points109 points | 17 comments
vote
James Clapper is still lying to America
83 points84 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows