Summary of Conmemoración de Día Internacional de la Eliminación de la Violencia Contra la Mujer

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The 25th of November is International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This day was started in 1960 after the brutal murder of sisters Patria Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal. The day is meant to bring awareness to the violence against women. Guatemala has made many advances in terms of legal and public policy, but violence against women is still a social problem of great dimensions.

• 00:00:00 The 25th of November, International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women, is a date that has been celebrated for over 40 years. The origin of this day dates back to 1960, when sisters Patria Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal were brutally murdered in the Dominican Republic for their political activism. The sisters were known as the Mariposas, because Minerva used this name for herself when she was involved in political activities against the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. They became the foremost advocates of violence against women in Latin America, and the 25th of November was chosen as the date for the first Latin American feminist meeting. The conference was held in Bogotá in 1981 and it was proposed that this date be chosen for its symbolic value, but it wasn't until 1999 when the UN declared International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Up until that point, most governments considered violence against women to be a private issue, and did not see it as a problem that required the intervention of the government. Violence against women is a social problem of great dimensions, with roots in historical inequalities between women and men that are deeply rooted in society and that cross all economic and educational levels. Guatemala has made many advances in terms of legal and public policy