Taylor Faiella, She/Her/Hers, RPCV(Fiji, 2015-2017), MSW Candidate

I am deeply passionate about working towards achieving gender equity by empowering womxn and girls. I have worked with so many womxn and girls who continuously face interpersonal violence, institutional violence, and policies that affect their autonomy. I believe it is possible that we can create a world where womxn and girls have access to equal opportunities. If we work towards the social, physical, psychological, and economic development of womxn and girls then barriers to personal and professional advancement will be removed. That is the work I am committed to doing. 

Given the current political climate, womxn identifying persons are striving while simultaneously living in a state of fear. Womxn are striving in political positions as there are more womxn in office today than there ever has been (“Women of Color in Elective Office 2019”). However, if we were just thriving without the threat of the patriarchy, the House of Representatives and the Senate would consist of half womxn and half men as opposed to the current situation where only a quarter of womxn are represented in each. If the patriarchy ceased to exist, it would be easier to feel confident while we negotiate our worth to a boss who holds the power and authority in the room. In this political climate, we are thriving, while also actively watching efforts being executed to diminish our protection and right to obtain reproductive health care.

I am dedicating my career to gender equality. More specifically how sexual abuse pertains to gender inequality. I want to work with all folks who have had their sense of sexuality threatened because someone decided they were less powerful than they were. I cannot fathom that the current President has been accused of sexual assault more than 20 times, and yet nothing has been done, and it has barely been addressed (Relman, 2019). For the womxn who had the courage to tell the public that they have been sexually abused by the President and to receive no justice, does so much harm to our country. This sets the precedent for other survivors today who may encounter a comparable situation. Someone may decide not to report their assault out of fear of not being believed, or even worse, not finding justice.

When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer, I witnessed womxn getting treated like second class citizens. Sexual harassment, assault, and rape were common problems that womxn faced. Some of my closest friends would tell me stories of their husbands forcing himself upon them. They were powerless. Their attempts to say no were then silenced by domestic violence, their husband’s second option. It was difficult to help empower womxn to report the violence, especially when they were bonded to said men because of material goods, money, and resources.  Though at times I felt it might be considered culturally insensitive and not my place to “educate” them on the patriarchal culture, I, at times, did so anyway. I was extremely frustrated that womxn could be treated like this so commonly. As a health educator at the nearest high school, I taught sexual education which was an extremely taboo subject. I felt that the least I could do was use my professional job as a teacher to educate the next generation of young men to question the power of their gender roles. I also spent equal time teaching young womxn to recognize what was consent and what was not. As I got closer to the end of my service, I was excited to go back home to a country where I was “fully respected” and where rape and sexual assault were not as prevalent. It was to my surprise that I came home in the midst of the #METOO movement. Within two weeks of my arrival, there were over 10k womxn digitally telling their stories of sexual abuse. I became more aware of the disparities that womxn are subjected to in this country, the high rates of sexual assault, and how prevalent it was for someone to abuse their power to manipulate someone who was less powerful than they were. I was disgusted. I wondered to myself how many womxn all over the world have gone through an instance of threat or were harmed by another human. I wondered how many womxn have experienced symptoms of trauma due to sexual abuse.

I share this all to say that this is the reason I am becoming a social worker. I understand how social workers can impact the healing process of survivors, and advocate on a macro level to decrease the rates of sexual abuse. I am dedicating my career to decrease sexual violence among womxn.

References

Relman, E. (2019, June 21). The 24 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12

Women of Color in Elective Office 2019. (2019, September 18). Retrieved from https://cawp.rutgers.edu/women-color-elective-office-2019.