My practicum was at The Tree House, a place where women find support for diverse challenges in their lives, including addiction, access to food, basic supplies such as clothing and showers, and emotional support. It is a place where they can find hope, care, and someone who will truly listen to them. It was an eye-opening reality check. I had the opportunity to stay close to women from diverse backgrounds facing various challenges, including abuse, addiction, abandonment, racism, and more. Studying human rights and social justice, particularly focusing on women’s rights, I realized how far we, as students and researchers, are from the reality of society. We discuss DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) and read about anthropologist researchers who immerse themselves in the field, staying close to people and learning about their realities. However, in the end, we all return to our own reality, and usually, it is far from that of minorities. There is social, financial and psychological assistance, but not enough; it is just like putting out fires.
The system does not work to help those women escape their difficult realities; it merely serves as a temporary band-aid. What is essential to understand is that we are the system, we build it, and we must change it. The society is so deeply immersed in patterns imposed during colonization that, in situations where women are being abused and oppressed, people blame these women, the victims become guilty; people often say: women should not be there at a certain time, or women should not wear that kind of clothes, or women should not act like that, and many other judgments. We need to realize that biases and stereotypes, whether conscious or unconscious, must be deconstructed to be able to look at people through their own souls and ours.
There are so many talents, hopes, desires, experiences, knowledge, passion, and love beneath these layers imposed by ‘us’, the system, which imprisons these women from living, from being, from conquering, from building, from sharing, from loving, from being who they are. We all need to do our part as a community. We need to understand our speech, hear ourselves, and correct any offensive jargon that should not be said or repeated.