In 1960 the Mirabal sisters were brutally murdered after a long struggle against Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. The sisters grew up comfortably on the island, but once Trujillo rose to power the family lost everything, and this spurred the Mirabal to form a political group of opposition known as the “Agrupación política 14 de junio”; while working in this group the sisters became known as Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). Over the coming years they would be incarcerated, tortured. On November 15, 1960 the regime murdered three of the four sisters; the aftermath of this event created increase attention world wide for Trujillo’s rule, and in 1961 he too was assassinated.

The Mirabal’s story inspired the modern movement to stop violence against women. In 1981 the first “Encuentro Feminista Latinoamericano y del Caribe”, which took place in Bogotá, declared the date of their death as the day to eliminate violence against women. Later, in 1999 through resolution 54/134, the United Nation’s General Assemble declared the day International Day to Stop Violence Against Women.

The Mirabal sisters have also been commemorated 1994 by Julia Alvarez’ 1994 fictionalized account titled “In the Time of the Butterflies“, and the 2001 movie by the same name staring Salma Hayek.

You can read more about the Mirabal sisters from number of articles on the web. There is an article on Antillana.com, on Historia Patria Dominicana, and El Bohio Dominicano.

Image from El Bohio Dominicano.