COUNTDOWN TO NOVEMBER 25TH

November 25th

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women — honoring the Mirabal sisters and opening 16 days of activism — plus Suriname's Independence Day.

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Next: Wednesday, November 25, 2026.

What Makes This Day Special

November 25th
Significance

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International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

November 25 was designated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women by the UN General Assembly in resolution 54/134, adopted on December 17, 1999. The date had already been marked by activists since 1981, when the Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encuentro chose it to honor the Mirabal sisters. Governments, UN agencies and civil-society groups use the day to raise awareness of violence against women and girls, and the UN's UNiTE campaign marks it by lighting buildings orange ("Orange the World").

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16 Days of Activism Begin

November 25 opens the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which run until December 10, Human Rights Day. The campaign was launched in 1991 by activists at the first Women's Global Leadership Institute, coordinated by the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University. Linking the two dates underlines that violence against women is a human-rights issue.

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Independence Day in Suriname

Suriname celebrates its Independence Day (Srefidensi) on November 25. On this date in 1975 the former Dutch colony became an independent republic, with Johan Ferrier as its first president and Henck Arron as prime minister. It is a national holiday in the South American country.

Historical Events

This Day
in History

1783

Evacuation Day in New York

The last British troops left New York City, nearly three months after the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War. General George Washington then led the Continental Army into the city. New Yorkers celebrated the anniversary as Evacuation Day for more than a century afterward.

1952

The Mousetrap Opens in London

Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End. It moved next door to St Martin's Theatre in 1974 without missing a performance, and it has become the longest continuously running play in history. Audiences are traditionally asked not to reveal the ending.

1960

Assassination of the Mirabal Sisters

Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal, three sisters who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, were murdered together with their driver, Rufino de la Cruz. Agents of the regime ambushed them on a mountain road and staged the scene to look like a car accident. Known by their underground name "Las Mariposas" (The Butterflies), the sisters became symbols of resistance, and their deaths fueled opposition to Trujillo, who was assassinated in May 1961.

1984

Band Aid Records "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, a group of leading British and Irish musicians gathered at SARM West Studios in Notting Hill, London, to record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Released in early December, the single became the UK's Christmas number one and its fastest-selling single to that date, and it led to the Live Aid concerts in July 1985.