Why the killing of 3 Dominican sisters now marks the day to oppose violence against women

The theme for this year is “Every 10 Minutes, a woman is killed. #NoExcuse. UNiTE to End Violence against Women” which “will draw attention to the alarming escalation of violence against women to revitalize commitments, call for accountability and action from decision-makers.” The day marks the beginning of 16 days of activism, which culminates with International Human Rights Day on December 10.

The date marks the brutal assassination in 1960 of the three Mirabal sisters who were political activists in the Dominican Republic.

The oppressive Trujillo regime

The Mirabal sisters were killed for protesting the oppressive regime of Rafael Trujillo, the despot who usurped the presidency in 1930, after serving as the country’s commander-in-chief. His 31-year-long rule, dubbed the Trujillo Era, was marked by a complete loss of civic and political liberties.

Trujillo ruled the country with an iron fist, engaging in state-sponsored terrorism to brutally crush his enemies. This included the formation of the Servicio de Inteligencia Militar (Military Intelligence Service, or SIM), the secret military force and death squad. SIM oversaw the torture, imprisonment and disappearance of thousands of Dominicans without a trace. The organisation operated with complete impunity, creating an atmosphere of terror throughout the country. Their methods included surveillance, intimidation, and extrajudicial killings of anyone perceived as a threat to Trujillo’s power.

He also established a monopoly over the country’s economy, channelling the profits from the production of goods like salt, meat, tobacco and rice to his own family.

Trujillo also maintained strict control over the press and education system, ensuring the dissemination of propaganda favourable to his rule. He demanded absolute loyalty from citizens and used a vast network of spies to monitor any signs of dissent.

Trujillo reportedly had a roving eye and his “appetite for young women was legendary. Families in the Dominican Republic used to hide their daughters when Trujillo was visiting their areas, for if one of these girls was seen and caught the eye of the dictator, there was no way of refusing the invitations that were later delivered by messenger.” (“Women’s Political Participation in the Dominican Republic: The Case of the Mirabal Sisters”, Nancy Robinson, Caribbean Quarterly, 2006)

Why were the Mirabal Sisters singled out?

The Mirabal sisters – Patria, Minerva and María Teresa – were part of a growing resistance movement against Trujillo’s dictatorship. They became known by the codename “Las Mariposas” (The Butterflies) and worked tirelessly to distribute pamphlets about Trujillo’s crimes and gather materials for armed resistance. The trio courted arrest on multiple occasions and faced relentless harassment from Trujillo’s forces. They most notably spearheaded the 14th of June Movement, named after the date of the failed insurrection attempt in 1959 by a group of Dominicans in exile, with the support of the Cuban government.

Minerva in particular was reportedly the object of Trujillo’s machinations, and her blatant disinterest may have spurred his personal enmity toward the Butterflies. He embarked on a personal vendetta against the Mirabel family, subjecting them to a relentless humiliation campaign and reducing them to financial ruin.

On November 25, 1960, while returning from visiting their imprisoned husbands, the sisters were stopped on a remote mountain road, where they were strangled and bludgeoned to death by Trujillo’s henchmen. The bodies of the sisters and their driver were loaded into the vehicle, which was then pushed off a cliff to simulate an accident.

The sisters’ murders proved to be the turning point in Trujillo’s regime. News of their deaths sparked widespread outrage among Dominicans and solidified the resistance to Trujillo both domestically and abroad. Trujillo, who had until then projected himself as a ‘champion of women and mothers’, saw his image take a hit. He was assassinated by a group of Dominican conspirators led by general Antonio Imbert Barrera.

The Butterflies were survived by the fourth sister, Belgica Adela Mirabal, or Dédé, who was politically uninvolved and thus evaded the assassination. “Dédé, the only sister to survive, became the surrogate mother to her many nieces and nephews. She faced the daunting task of raising them during the difficult period which followed Trujillo’s assassination in the Dominican Republic.” (“Women’s Political Participation in the Dominican Republic: The Case of the Mirabal Sisters”, Nancy Robinson, Caribbean Quarterly, 2006)