Two days of healing ceremonies, music, dance, art and information offered at two locations in the Mission District, blessed by an official proclamation by Mayor Newsom

On Nov. 24 and 25, San Francisco will observe the United Nation's annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women with music, healing ceremonies, dance, art, and information … all with the blessing of a mayoral proclamation.

Healing ceremonies begin at 3 pm Saturday, Nov. 24, the Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission St. (between 24th and 25th Streets), San Francisco, followed by the screening of “El Camino que se Abre,” a short film that documents a community’s reaction to the murder of a young woman. Then at 7 pm, live music by some of the Bay Area’s finest world-vibe and folk voices – including Melissa Rivera, Meklit Hadero, Maria Loreto, Alfredo Gomez, Maria Medina, Steve Taylor-Ramírez and Juan Cuba y Los Nadies – will begin.

“This day is dedicated to those who have died of femicide in coherence with the ancient celebration of Day of the Dead in which our ancestors dedicated a special community ceremony at the end of November to those who departed violently,” said event curator MamaCoAtl (pronounced mama-coe-ah-tull). “The public is welcome to bring altar offerings.”

Mayor Gavin Newsom will proclaim the following day, Nov. 25, as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Toward Women and Girls, according to Alfredo Pedroza, Liaison to District 9 and the Latino Community, in the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services.

Then at 5 pm on Sunday, Nov. 25, ceremonies will continue at Dance Mission Theatre, 3316 24th Street (at Mission), San Francisco, with a repeat screening of “El Camino que se Abre,” aerial dance by the Dream Catchers ensemble of dancers and trapeze artists, music by troubadours Valery Orth and Anne Caroll, rhythms by Maria Medina and her speaking drum, and healing ceremony by Maria Conlon.

Both days’ events are open free to the public. Donations will be accepted to cover production costs.

About the UN’s Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

On December 17, 1999, the United Nations’ General Assembly designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and invited governments, international organizations and nongovernmental organizations to launch activities to raise public awareness of the problem on that day.

Women's activists have marked November 25 as a day against violence since 1981, in remembrance of the brutal assassination of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists, in the Dominican Republic on November 25, 1960, on orders from Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo. More information can be found at http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/violence.

In recent years, femicide has become disturbingly common in Northern Mexico and Guatemala, as the following statistics show.

“Since 1993, nearly 400 girls and women have been killed in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua City, Mexico. Most of the victims were young and poor, and many were sexually assaulted prior to their deaths. The authorities have done little to investigate or prosecute those responsible, and have on occasion used torture to extract confessions from scapegoats."
– Washington Office on Latin America

In Guatemala, over 2,500 women and girls have been murdered since 2001.
– Amnesty International

“Domestic and sexual violence is rampant in all of Latin America, affecting about 40 percent of women there.”
– Human Rights Watch

Femicide in Mexico and Guatemala has been addressed in the U.S. Congress with resolutions sponsored by Representatives Hilda L. Solis (D-CA) and Dan Burton (R-IN).

“Some of the victims in Ciudad Juarez are as young as 7 years old, and many were abducted in broad daylight in well-populated areas,” said Solis. “Over 90 of these murders show signs of being connected to one or more serial killers, although many victims have yet to be positively identified and to date the perpetrators of most of these heinous acts remain unknown.”