Report Sheds Light on Sexual Violence Against Female Janitors

A report released by KQED sheds light on sexual violence against women janitors in the workplace.

For over a year-and-a-half KQED investigated janitors who were being sexually assaulted while on the job. Lots of women have been suppressing these cases, staying under the radar to government agencies that are supposed to keep workers safe, the station reports.

The nation’s biggest janitorial company, ABM, hired Mary Shultz to help improve company policies after winning a major gender discrimination lawsuit against them. According to KQED, Shultz believes that with such a diverse group of workers, these issues are bound to arise.

KQED caught up with Maria Magana, a 50-year-old janitor who used to work for ABM. Magana and KQED went to the bank in Bakersfield where she used to work, and where her supervisor used to “grope her, grab her, taunt her.” She reportedly would hit him with her broom and threaten to spray cleaner into his eyes. She even pointed out the conference room where he tricked her into going and raped her, but she was too ashamed to tell anyone.

Magana was one of 21 women in California who were a part of a lawsuit brought about by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who claim that ABM did not protect them from sexual harassment. The investigation found that ABM is not the only company where janitors have been abused, but in fact, sexual violence is a problem across the nation.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission responds to cases of sexual harassment. But what is the government doing to prevent these dangerous issues in the first place? According to the investigation, about 50 workers are sexually assaulted or raped on the job per day.

But the Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t have standards for preventing any sort of workplace violence. State regulators are working on new petitions for the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to request that rules be made to protect workers from workplace violence, but, it is not clear if it will include explicit language regarding sexual assault.

Contact Us