The United Nations has declared November 25th “International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women”. This date was chosen in commemoration of the brutal assassination of the three Marabal sisters under the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic in 1960.
Rashida Manjoo, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women, affirmed that “all women have the right to live free of violence” and called for the States to assume the responsibility to end violence in the lives of women. On the eve of the day, Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the UN, announced that “at some point in their lives 70 percent of the world’s women suffer from physical or sexual aggression on the part of a man, who in the majority of cases is the husband, partner, or someone the woman knows. This is unacceptable.”
Women from independent organizations, indigenous women, members of The Other Campaign, syndicates, and international women all marched in the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas to call attention to the violent situations from which women continue to suffer.
During a meeting in the city’s center one woman said, “Today we remember the heroic, dignified and rebellious fight; this is a day of reflection and of anger and denunciation of the different forms of violence that we suffer as women.”
The public declaration by the organizers of the march stated, “We call to the women and men of both country and city to resist in a civil and peaceful manner, and to build alternatives that are equal across gender, class, and ethnicity in terms of economy, nutrition, education, sanitary, and security.”
For more information (in Spanish):
Pronunciamiento politico organizaciones en Chiapas
Indymedia Chiapas (26 de noviembre de 2009)
Hacen recuento de los atropellos contra mujeres (La Jornada, 26 de noviembre)
Informe presentado a CIDH sobre la violencia institucional contra las mujeres en México (noviembre de 2009)
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