Rabat - Authorities in Spain have captured a 47-year-old Spanish national for alleged sexual assault of Moroccan seasonal farmers in Huelva, in southwestern Spain.
Rabat – Authorities in Spain have captured a 47-year-old Spanish national for alleged sexual assault of Moroccan seasonal farmers in Huelva, in southwestern Spain.
The suspect was arrested on Friday, May 25, according to Spanish news outlet El Espanol. The source reported that the alleged suspect was in charge of supervising seasonal farmers working in strawberry fields during working days.
El Espanol added that the suspect was questioned by the police and was released on bail.
The arrest operation followed an exclusive press report by El Espanol, featuring several alleged Moroccan victims of sexual assault.
“They know that we are poor, that we have children, that many of us are divorced or widowed, they blackmail us by depriving us of work if we do not surrender to their sexual desires,” said one of the alleged victims.
The German investigative journalism NGO Correctiv published an investigation on May 2 in collaboration with RTL Nachtjournal and Buzzfeed News on Moroccan women farmers in Spain and in Morocco’s Souss Massa region in the south.
In the report, women claimed that they were harassed, insulted, and raped in the field.
Recently, the Ministry of Employment reported that it has opened an investigation; a Moroccan-Spanish delegation also carried out a visit on May 10-11 in the province of Huelva to inquire about the conditions of women farmers on Spanish farms.
Following the visit, the ministry issued a statement, refuting claims that Moroccan seasonal agricultural farmers working in Spain are being harassed.
The Ministry also explained that the working conditions of Moroccan women workers is in conformity to the employment contract concluded between the two parties. The workers allegedly received work permits from Spanish authorities to pick strawberries between April and June.
