Guest Author - Sandy Mullins

On December 17, 1999, the General Assembly of the United Nations designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by resolution 54/134. Activists had marked November 25 as the day back on 1981 (the twentieth anniversary) of when the three Mirabal sisters and political activists in the Dominican Republic where assassinated on the order of the Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo.

The three sisters: Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria Mirabal became involved in the resistance movement and became known as “las Mariposas” (the butterflies). The government imprisoned the sister’s husbands and when the women returned home from visiting their husbands in prison. The sisters and their driver were strangled and clubbed to death and the bodies placed back in the jeep and rolled off a cliff.

Baha’is are guided to follow their rulers of the country they live in and do not oppose their leaders as the Mirabal sisters did. No one would argue that these women were unjustly killed.

Women undergo all kinds of violence all over the world. They are beat and killed by husbands and family members for what they feel is justified. Abuse and violence should never be condoned. Women are stoned and executed for adultery, even if they were rapped by a stranger. A woman’s genital are mutilated in some cultures because it is believed that they will stay pure for their husbands. Women are whipped or beaten for the slightest believed infraction against their spouses or family.

Violence against women must stop! On November 25, do something to stop the violence! If you know someone, which is being abused, step forward and do whatever you can to make a difference. You can save a woman’s life! In the least take a moment on November 25 and say a prayer for those out there undergoing violence, pray that they find the strength to survive and find help.

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