Mujeres de la Tierra

Mexico is a beautiful yet extremely violent country, especially for women; an average of 11 femicides happen every day. COVID-19 only made things worse, forcing many to continue living with their abusers, with no income and an excess of domestic work, from homeschooling to housekeeping. This is an ongoing project that portrays five sisters, “Mujeres de la tierra”, a wordplay translated as women who come from and belong to the earth, who started a business using products harvested from their surroundings in Milpa Alta, a district located in the southeast of Mexico City. Selling tortillas and other blue corn dough products have helped the sisters survive. The perseverance and hope that emerged from the difficulties of a pandemic, that has affected many indigenous women disproportionately, is a big component of this story. Protecting their identity and through stills, audios, and video, their story, is also a revelation of how violence has affected them. Do they ever dare to dream? For the first time in their life, they acknowledge it. As children, they witnessed how their father physically abused their mother. Now their partners abuse them verbally and psychologically which they, in turn, reflect on their children. How to break the never-ending cycle of violence in a country where this has always been normalized? Their therapy: food, a moment of relaxation, and reflection.