Our University takes part in the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women established by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1999, which designated November 25 as the official date. For this commemoration, the UN have encouraged governments, international organisations and NGOs to organise activities aimed at raising public awareness of the issue of violence against women. Since the evening of November 24, the statue of Minerva and the Rectorate Building have been illuminated with orange and pink lights, respectively. On November 25 two special events take place: the final meeting of the course "Cultures against gender violence: a transdisciplinary approach" and the students' event "Sapienza in pink".

This date was chosen in memory of the brutal murder of the three Mirabal sisters, a symbol of women's struggle for freedom, who opposed the regime of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo (1930-1961), the dictator of the Dominican Republic for over 30 years.On November 25, 1960, while on their way to visit their husbands in prison, they were stopped on the road by soldiers. Brought to a hidden location, they were raped, tortured, clubbed and strangled and then thrown off a cliff in their car to simulate an accident.

The official international colour of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is orange. This is why in some countries the day is called "Orange Day". The colour red is another symbol of this day and the international campaign against gender-based violence since 2009 when Mexican artist Elina Chauvet represented the drama of femicide with the  participatory project "Zapatos Rojos", an art installation of red shoes that has had over 300 editions worldwide. 

This year the celebration takes on a special and even more important significance. The lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, for those women abused by family members, has coincided with an increase in violence from which it was impossible to escape even materially, not being able to leave the house.