Baja California’s Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana (citizen security department) organized a forum in San Quintín on March 28 to address violence against female agricultural workers. The event, called “Cosechando Igualdad” (Harvesting Equality), brought together dozens of farmworker women to discuss domestic violence, workplace harassment, and labor abuse in one of the state’s most productive agricultural zones.
Mental health professionals and crime prevention specialists led sessions on identifying, preventing, and reporting violence. The government also opened direct channels for complaints and provided information about institutional support programs available to women in the region.
Escuadrón Violeta and Reporting Channels
Among the resources presented was the Escuadrón Violeta (Violet Squad), a state program focused specifically on victims of gender-based violence. Officials described the forum as a safe space for women to learn about their rights and access services that have historically been difficult to reach in rural areas.
San Quintín, located roughly 300 kilometers south of Tijuana along the Transpeninsular Highway, is the heart of Baja California’s agricultural export economy. The valley employs an estimated 80,000 farmworkers, many of them indigenous migrants originally from Oaxaca and Guerrero in southern Mexico. The region produces strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other crops sold throughout North America.
A History of Labor Exploitation
Working conditions in San Quintín have drawn international attention for years. In 2015, thousands of farmworkers staged a massive strike demanding higher wages and an end to abuses. Women played a central role in that movement, organizing despite facing sexual harassment and violence on the job in addition to the same exploitative conditions as male workers. Reports of such abuse in the valley date back to at least 1988.
Government agencies have long struggled to deliver health care, child care, and other services to the area despite payroll taxes that are supposed to fund them. Many of San Quintín’s workers have historically lacked registration with IMSS, the Mexican Social Security Institute, leaving them without access to benefits.
The forum is part of Baja California’s broader effort to extend institutional resources into rural areas where social services remain limited. About 44 percent of San Quintín residents were born in another Mexican state, creating a transient population that can be harder to reach through traditional government programs.
The event was first reported by Punto Norte.