Today I want to tell you about the origin of November 25, the International Elimination Day for Women. First we must mention the reason for that day, November 25. Well, in 1960 the sisters Patria Mirabal, Minerva Mirabal and María Teresa Mirabal, political activists, were brutally murdered by the secret police on the orders of the dictator Rafeal Leónidas Trujillo, in the Dominican Republic. The sisters, nicknamed “Las Mariposas” became the greatest exponent of violence against women in Latin America. Then, November 25, 1981, was the date that was chosen to hold the First Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encounter, in Bogotá, to commemorate the lives of the Mirabal sisters and promote global recognition of gender violence.
What is gender violence? The UN defines it as harmful acts directed against a person by a group of people based on their gender. It has its origin in gender inequality, and the abuse of power and the existence of harmful norms.The main manifestations of violence against women are personal injury, homicide, rape, sexual abuse and harassment, human trafficking,
prostitution, kidnapping, torture and various forms of discrimination. Discrimination constitutes an attack on the right to equality that exists between women and men. An example of social violence is domestic violence in its different expressions such as physical, psychological, sexual or economic. Gender-based violence also affects girls: each year millions of them are genitally mutilated in parts of the Middle East and Asia, as well as being victims of sex selection, forced abortions and infanticides.This is just a part of all the gender-based violence that exists, and that unfortunately continues to increase throughout the world. This problem arises from the social structure and is reproduced from the family itself to institutional practices.
What can we do? Report any type of violence, do not remain silent. Educate our sons and daughters. Contribute as a society to a culture of gender equality, of a more just and equal society for all.
