“Like with any kid, you’re not fully aware of the danger. You just know that there are particular situations that stand out. We were expected to keep up with the adults, and we would push our bodies as much as possible,” Norma Flores López, Justice for Migrant Women

We are in a season where many children enjoy a break from school and families gather to share fresh fruits and vegetables. This time of respite and play, however, is not the reality for the children who make it possible for us to share a fresh meal with our families.

There are nearly 3 million farmworkers in the United States, hundreds of thousands of whom are children, including young girls. In the United States, children as young as 12 are legally allowed to work in the fields with little to no protections. 80% of farmworker women surveyed in the California Central Valley in 2010 reported that sexual harassment is a major workplace problem. Just as children are not protected from other harms that exist in the fields, they are not excluded from experiencing gender-based violence.

This is why Congress MUST pass the Children's Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act). While retaining exemptions for family farms and education programs, the CARE Act would bring age and work hour standards for children in agriculture up to the standards for children working in all other industries & provide greater protection against physical harms.

Tell your Representative to co-sponsor the CARE Act and show support for this critical legislation!