ABQ Times

District 3 City Councilor Klarissa Peña has called attention to the upcoming International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, observed on November 25, 2024. She encourages Albuquerque residents to visit the city's Women's Memorial Park to reflect on those who have lost their lives and others who live under the threat of violence.

"Women have been victims of various forms of violence for years, even centuries," said Councilor Peña. "One in three women have been victims of violence, domestic or otherwise. Let’s take this day to renew our commitment in Albuquerque to continue to hold perpetrators accountable and find ways to reduce attacks against women in all forms. Our own Women’s Memorial Park on the Westside is a perpetual memorial honoring eleven women, and a child who were victims of gender-based violence."

The Women's Memorial Park, located at 10780 Pipestone Road, SW, was established at the site where the remains of eleven women and an unborn child were found in 2009. Opened in 2020, it serves as a tribute to these women's lives and their roles as family members and friends. The park's design features shade structures inspired by natural elements like leaves and petals, symbolizing resilience. On November 25th each year, sunlight illuminates the center of the plaza as a moment of remembrance.

Families of the victims played a significant role in designing the memorial by choosing trees, shrubbery, benches, and other features. Each woman's name is inscribed along an oval path around the memorial with corresponding benches and trees selected by their families. The site remains sacred for these families while investigations into their cases continue.

Since 1981, organizations worldwide have marked November 25th as a day dedicated to ending gender-based violence. The United Nations General Assembly officially recognized this date on February 7, 2000. It commemorates the Mirabal sisters from the Dominican Republic who were murdered in 1961 due to their opposition to dictatorship.