International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
The assassination of the Mirabal sisters on November 25, 1960, is the origin of what we commemorate today. In 1999, the United Nations decided that this date would be the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. To overcome misguided simplifications, it is important to remember that the Mirabal sisters were not killed by their partners or ex-partners, but by military agents of the dictatorship they opposed.
Today is a crucial day to revive the meaning of this commemoration. It is about eliminating all forms of violence against women. There have even been legislations based on intentionally reductionist hoaxes that placed this violence solely within relationships with partners or ex-partners.
This error has been the source of other misconceptions that have increased and intensified violence against women in casual or sporadic relationships. Even in coeducation and sexual education, it has been common to claim that the danger lies in falling in love, with slogans like “romantic love kills,” thereby exposing girls and adolescents to harmful encounters promoted by the coercive discourse of predatory capitalism. Acts of casual dating have been called freedom, while equal, peaceful, and fulfilling relationships have been labeled as slavery.
International scientific evidence has demonstrated the harmful effects of these errors, which are now being eradicated in most contexts. Today and always, let us remember the Mirabal sisters, eliminate violence from partners and ex-partners, from casual encounters, and from abuses of power committed by men or women.
