liva found work at a maquiladora, a factory producing goods for export, almost by chance. She did not know how to sew, but learned quickly and spent years working to meet the factory’s demanding production targets.

After seventeen years, that work had taken a lasting toll on her body. As the condition of one arm worsened, she faced a painful dilemma: how to protect her livelihood without risking further damage to her mobility.

Oliva began questioning the injustices women face in Mexico’s maquiladora industry. In speaking up, she also discovered the formidable challenges confronting workers who demand that their concerns be heard.

Through her experience, this episode explores the human cost of production demands and the struggle to protect workers’ health and rights. Her story brings attention to the women whose labor sustains the industry and what happens when that work puts their own futures at risk.

Audio in Spanish. English synopsis below.