The United Nations General Assembly has designated November 25 as
the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Nearly 60 years ago, three sisters were killed for speaking against their country’s dictator.
The Mirabal sisters—real, historical figures—were slain in 1960 by the regime of Rafael Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic, for their resistance to his repressive regime. They were traveling on a dangerous mountain path after visiting their imprisoned husbands when their car was hijacked by Trujillo’s secret police.
Mirabal sisters joined a resistance group, the 14th of June Movement, with the goal of assassinating the dictator. Minerva Mirabal, the most outspoken of the sisters, was the first of the sisters to join, and spearheaded the group with her husband. Maria Theresa joined second and Patria joined third. The fourth sister, Dedé, did not join the revolutionary movement. Minerva
and Maria Theresa endured imprisonment for their resistance, and eventually, they were killed along with Patria. Dedé survived to tell the story and commemorate her sisters.
Twenty-one years later, in 1981, at a conference in Bogota, a proposal was made to dedicate the day of the killing of the Mirabal sisters to a day prohibiting violence against women.
For far too long, impunity, silence and stigma have allowed violence against women to escalate to pandemic proportions—one in three women worldwide experience gender-based violence.
The international campaign originated from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991.
In 1995, close to 20 years ago, 189 governments came together in Beijing. They adopted a Platform for Action that spelled out key strategies to end violence against women, empower women, and achieve gender equality. … The promises from 20 years ago are still valid today.
The United Nations General Assembly has designated November 25 as
the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
For 2014, the official Theme framed by the UN Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women, is Orange your Neighbourhood. For 2018, the official theme is “Orange the World: #HearMeToo”.
