Employment and Vocational Training Minister Mohamed Yatim urged Wednesday Moroccan women working in strawberry farms in Huelva (Spain) to voice any potential abuse they may be subjected to, says Le Desk quoting the Justice and Development Party portal. Speaking to Pjd.ma, Yatim stressed that his ministry is calling the Moroccan authorities to not keep quiet about the abuse or sexual assaults targeting these farm workers. He also declared that the Employment ministry will be processing the results of the inquiry conducted by the Spanish authorities on the alleged abuse. Yatim's statement, however, comes as his department denied in two previous communiqués the outcome of an investigation published by Buzzfeed News in April. The latter featured the accounts of several Moroccan women working in Huelva's strawberry farms who claimed having been sexually assaulted, abused, raped and blackmailed by their managers. In previous articles published by Yabiladi on the matter, the ministry, in the person of its secretary general, confirmed that none of the Moroccan women had ever lodged a complaint to the authorities, reporting abuse. The ministry stuck to its guns even after sending a delegation to Spain to inquire on the conditions under which these women work. On Wednesday, an authorized source at Morocco's consulate in Seville told Yabiladi that Moroccan temporary workers in Huelva phoned the consulate to report their managers' abuse, after informing the Spanish authorities. According to the same source, these women notified the consulate after several articles emerged in the last weeks revealing their struggles. For the record, an investigation was initiated by the prosecutor's office in Huelva regarding the alleged abuse and an individual was arrested Friday and later released, awaiting his trial.
