Next: 25 Nov 2026
Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Orange lights on public buildings, for a future free of violence against women; in Latin America, marches in purple.
The colours of Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
The date remembers the Mirabal sisters, three political activists murdered in the Dominican Republic on 25 November 1960 on the orders of the dictator Trujillo. Latin American feminists marked the day from 1981, and the United Nations adopted it in 1999. It opens sixteen days of activism that end on Human Rights Day, 10 December. The United Nations campaign uses orange, under the slogan Orange the World, and asks cities to light buildings and monuments in that colour. Orange was chosen as a bright, hopeful colour that stands for a future without violence. In Spain and Latin America the marches of the day are mostly purple, the colour of the women's movement. In several countries men wear a white ribbon as a pledge.
#F58220UN orangeThe Orange the World campaign.#6B2D8BMarch purpleThe colour of the marches in Spain and Latin America.#FFFFFFRibbon whiteThe white ribbon worn by men as a pledge.Values are fair approximations, not official shades.
Read about the colours
Also part of it, and being written: Orange (The United Nations campaign colour.).
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.