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 THIS STORY IS PART OF ILRF'S MOTHERS' STORIES SERIES. To read other stories, click here.

Xiomara was interviewed by ILRF's partner, COSIBAH in Honduras.

My name is Xiomara, I am thirty two years old, a single mother, and I have three children. I work in a shrimp packing warehouse in Honduras. My job is to remove the head and shell of the shrimp. I have worked in the shrimp packing plant for seventeen years since I was fifteen years old. I needed to help support my family with added income because what my father earned at the time was too little to support a family with six children. I earn about $7 a day, $42 per week, and $181 each month. I am not paid by the hour, but am paid for the number of pounds of shrimp produced. I work 16 hours a day, 6 days a week for 7 months of the year. The minimum wage for rural workers in Honduras is $230 per month, so I do not earn the legal minimum wage. I am hired on temporary contracts by the company.

Everyday before I go to work, I need to work around the house for an hour to prepare food for myself and my three children. I wake up, sweep, clean the house, prepare food, and leave before my children go to school. When I get home from work, if the children have made a mess, I have to clean it up, and make sure they have eaten something for dinner.

In order to provide my children with a better life, I would need to earn $423 each month. My job does not contribute to social security. My employer does provide some maternity leave, but according to what the employer is willing to give, not to what is required by law. I don’t think that what is required of me at work compared to what I am paid is fair. They have required me to work excessively long hours, using chemicals that are damaging to our health and reproductive system. The employer does not provide us with gloves, masks, or other protective equipment although we are exposed to chemicals and the sharp shells of the shrimp.

Xiomara is not alone. Unskilled women workers have entered export-processing industries throughout the developing world at an alarming rate. Women overwhelmingly occupy the lowest paying, most unstable jobs, producing our clothes, agricultural products and other luxuries for export to the US.