November 25 is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

In 1999, in honor of the Mirabel sisters, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The Mirabal sisters (Spanish pronunciation: [eɾˈmanas miɾaˈβal], Las Hermanas Mirabal) were three sisters in the Dominican Republic, known commonly as Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dedé, who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo (El Jefe) and were involved in clandestine activities against his regime. Three of the four sisters (Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa) were assassinated on 25 November 1960. The last sister, Dedé, died of natural causes on 1 February 2014.

The assassinations turned the Mirabal sisters into “symbols of both popular and feminist resistance”