Explosive revelations have emerged regarding the sexual exploitation of staff on tea farms in Kenya that provide a few of the UK’s most beloved grocery store manufacturers, including PG Tips, Lipton, and Sainsbury’s Red Label.
An undercover reporter investigating the matter uncovered the sordid actuality in which more than 70 women on Kenyan tea farms had been subjected to sexual abuse by their supervisors.
The undercover reporter, who was posing as a employee, secretly filmed native bosses pressuring her for sex. Shockingly, the bosses had been employed on plantations owned by Unilever, and James Finlay & Co. After the exposé, three managers have been suspended.
What’s even more alarming is that Unilever had beforehand faced comparable allegations over 10 years ago, and had supposedly launched a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual harassment, together with reporting methods and other measures. However, a joint investigation by BBC Africa Eye, and Panorama, revealed that the allegations weren’t being acted upon.
The girls who work on tea farms spoke out about their harrowing experiences, saying that they felt that they had no alternative however to give in to their bosses’ sexual calls for as a result of work is so scarce.
One lady interviewed said…
“I can’t lose my job as a outcome of I even have kids.”
Plain alleged that a divisional manager stopped her job until she agreed to have sex with him whereas one other was infected with HIV by a supervisor.
“It is just torture. He needs to sleep with you, then you definitely get a job.”
An undercover reporter from the BBC named Katy (a pseudonym) went to work on tea plantations. She was interviewed by John Chebochok, a recruiter for James Finlay & Co. However, the interview location turned out to be a resort room.
Chebochok, who had been identified as a “predator” by several women and worked on Finlay’s plantations for over three decades as each an estate supervisor and a contracting company proprietor, allegedly trapped Katy towards a window and demanded that she touch and undress him.
He said…
“I’ll provide you with some cash, then I’ll provide you with a job. I have helped you, assist me. We’ll lie down, finish and go. Then you come and work.”
Katy resisted his advances earlier than a member of the production team made a cellphone name to provide her an excuse to leave.
“I was so scared and so shocked. It have to be actually troublesome for the ladies who work under Chebochok.”
After the BBC contacted James Finlay & Co, the company said that Chebochok was instantly suspended and that it had reported him to the police. The firm is now investigating whether there is a systemic drawback with sexual violence in its Kenyan operation.
While working undercover on a farm, Katy additionally experienced sexual harassment at a location that was being run by Unilever at the time. She attended an induction day the place the divisional manager, Jeremiah Koskei, spoke to recruits about Unilever’s zero-tolerance policy in the path of sexual harassment.
Later that evening, Koskei invited “Katy” to satisfy him in a lodge bar and tried to pressure her into having intercourse with him, suggesting that they return to his compound together.
Katy said…
“If my whole life was pegged on this chance, I can only think about how that encounter would have unfolded.”
Katy was assigned to the weeding team, which involves demanding labour for six days a week. Many women who work on this team request to be transferred to other duties because of the gruelling nature of the work. While working in the weeding staff, Katy’s supervisor, Samuel Yebei, asked her to have interaction in sexual activity with him in exchange for lighter duties.
Katy reported the behaviour to considered one of Unilever’s sexual harassment officers. She was told…
“Stand by your ideas. Don’t give your physique in exchange for a job.”
Despite her makes an attempt to follow up and discover out what actions have been being taken towards her superiors, Katy did not receive any response. Unilever expressed being “deeply shocked and saddened” by the allegations and offered its operation in Kenya while the BBC was conducting its investigation. The new proprietor, Lipton Teas and Infusions, stated that it had instantly suspended the 2 managers and initiated a “full and independent investigation.” However, Jeremiah Koskei did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment, and Samuel Yebei denies the allegations made in opposition to him..