Mujeres Luchadoras Progresistas (Women Striving for Progress) began as a project of PCUN (Oregon’s farmworker union) in 1992 and was incorporated as a non-profit in 2001 in order to foster the organization’s development and self-determination. In 1992, PCUN’s service center noticed a marked increase in women members who were reporting domestic violence, sexual harassment in the workplace, and other problems. There were no agencies or organizations in the community that addressed the root causes of women’s oppression: economic inequity and dependence. In order to address these issues at their source, and the system which perpetuates these conditions, farmworker women need support from their peers.
Since its creation MLP has worked to build a base of farmworker women to address these issues. While we address systematic and institutional sexism, we are careful not to approach the work in a way that would divide the family or isolate women from the very limited support or security they presently have.
