When we think about Williamsburg, it's easy to forget that there exist issues other than housing and gentrification, issues that don't even involve hipsters at all. A new video from "social news network" Vocativ explores the world of female day laborers employed by neighborhood Hasids, and some of the uncomfortable and often exploitative interactions that occur therein.
"Without papers, without rights, without language, you're exposed to any kind of abuse" said Javier Bosque, director of the South Side Community Mission, an immigrant advocacy non-profit. "And that's what happens with these women."
The video homes in on the corner of Division Street and Marcy Avenue, where women congregate to wait for jobs cleaning homes and offices of Hasidic Jews who live in the area. Culture clashes are all but inevitable—according to Vocativ's report, the women are not allowed in a Hasidic home when they're menstruating (the video does not go into how that is proven), nor can they bring, say, a ham sandwich for lunch. They're often short-changed, with one woman saying she was promised $12.50 an hour, but only given $10.
Many women also have chilling tales of sexual abuse—in one instance, a worker was filmed by a man and his friend as she cleaned, with the men ordering her to "bend over." Another said her employer demanded she leave the bathroom door open while she used it, and still another said she was asked to give her client a massage, a demand she had resigned to go through with—until he made his way to his bed. Terrified, the worker fled.
"This is not allowed in the community," Bosque said. "But there are specific individuals who think that because these are women on the street, 'OK, I'm going to give them some money and they will allow me to touch them.'"
Women might not report these instances of sexual harassment or mistreatment because of their legal statuses, said Community Organizer Yadira Sanchez: "Many of the women of the corner may not know that they have issues that they need to fight for."
