For this week, I’ve been meeting with various community leaders and organizations, having conversations on how disasters have been affecting different communities and how different communities have been responding. It’s been an honor meeting with them and listening to their stories and listening to the efforts made by these various organizations and community leaders to continue to lift up Puerto Rico. For this topic, I’d love to start with beginning to talk about the organization Siempre Vivas.

Siempre Vivas is an organization that has as a goal to help women who are experiencing domestic violence; beginning in 1997 in Recinto Universitario de Mayaguez. The organization helps through creating a support network and environment for participants which provides educational resources, support for and during legal matters (like support for court meetings), and support for the children of the participant families. Siempre Vivas assists the community, students who are victims of gender violence, and the LGBTQ+ community. Facilitators include professors, students, and other community entities. The organization has helped up to 1600 women, many of which have moved on to become facilitators in the org, social workers, and legal intercessors.

I was referred to Dr. Luisa Seijo-Maldonado, the leader of Siempre Vivas. A professor of RUM’s Social Sciences Department, committed to social justice and issues revolving around gender and violence towards women. It’s been an absolute pleasure meeting her and her team, their love and commitment for what they do and their participants is refreshing to witness. Dr. Luisa Seijo-Maldonado immediately opened the doors to meet and discuss the subject.

I was allowed to sit in with one of the support groups and listen. The meeting was held virtually. Much like the warm dynamic experienced when interacting with Dr. Seijo-Maldonado and her team, participants provide each other with support and the room to express how they feel and give each other educational resources moving forward with not just their healing process, but with their legal processes as well. Throughout the meeting, participants were encouraged to reflect upon how they felt at the moment and to update the group on how each individual case was going. Many important realities were highlighted throughout this meeting.

Since I lived in Puerto Rico, prior to my leave after Hurricane Maria, I always heard expressed from various people the lack of efficiency present in Puerto Rico’s Departamento de la Mujer (Department of Women), the lack of attention the courts give victims of domestic violence, and the lack of efficiency of the Departamento de la Familia (Department of the Family), but it becomes even more powerful and apparent when current victims of domestic violence express these realities in their experiences. It all culminates with many of the participants expressing their lack of trust in these institutions.

The participants of the meeting I observed relayed how many of them had for a long time attempted to file cases with these institutions, seeking protection and help, but having employees of these organizations either not respond to their calls or stating that they just can’t get to them yet. Come Hurricane Maria and many of them were told then that because of the disaster, they could not be tended to; Hurricane Fiona, of course, was a repeat of this. Many of them stated that organizations such as Siempre Vivas were very much needed in order to respond to these systemic failures.

Participants didn’t just talk about these systemic failures, they also talked about the life threatening realities brought upon by COVID19 in the courtroom. Due to everything being virtual, victims were forced into the situation of having to go through hearings with the abuser quite literally in the room with them. Of course, this setup makes it extremely difficult for victims to be safe when trying to testify or for the presenting of evidence. COVID19 also made support in the court buildings nonexistent for many. Now, victims were forced to appear alone without anyone to support them and show that she is not alone (something Siempre Vivas always does, make sure participants are not alone at any step of the process).

When one of the participants was asked what she feels is needed in PR in regards to addressing gender violence, she responded “No hay orientación para la población y mucho menos la mujer (There’s no type of orientation for the population and a lot less for women).” The system is failing women, especially victims of gender violence. I can not count how many times I’ve heard people in PR criticize a victim of abuse and question why she didn’t seek out a restraining order. Well, these participants and many other women can assure you, they did seek one out…they were simply denied. Why? They are refused restraining orders because according to authorities, they must present some kind of evidence of threats or violence and according to many authorities, stating that an individual has been stalking you or sending and/or leaving threatening messages is not enough because, according to authorities: how do they know it’s really that person? Many of the participants expressed how they attempted to get a restraining order and were denied. This is a common enough event that some participants expressed their doubts in regards to the value of a restraining order.

Siempre Vivas doesn’t only provide support in these meetings and in the legal process, but also when a participant is in need of support due to economic hardship. These services include things like food, diapers, etc..

This is only the first entry which will discuss Siempre Vivas and their many impacts in the community. I’ll finish off this entry by stating this: I can not stress enough how committed Siempre Vivas is to what they do, again, as an observer, it’s very visible and it’s a relief to see; I can not stress enough how much organizations such as this one are needed. In regards to the participants in the meeting I attended, they’re driven women, they support each other in amazing ways, they know what they and their children need and they’re vocal about they’re experiences. I’m enraged whenever I think about how these women and so many others are being consistently failed by the system. Thankfully, organizations such as Siempre Vivas, have stepped up to support them in their fight for justice, so they know they’re not alone in this and they let other women know, they’re not alone; both team members and participants are playing active roles in supporting women and families in need of it.