In the Time of the Butterflies is based on the struggles of the Mirabal sisters. The sisters were political dissidents working to free their nation, the Dominican Republic, from the brutal dictatorship of General Rafael Trujillo from 1930 to 1961. General Trujillo Molina ruled the Dominican Republic for over three decades between 1930 to 1961 – twice as president from 1930-1938 and 1942-1952 – and as an unelected military despot thereafter. His era is known as the one of the 20th century’s bloodiest. Although violence against women occurs under all kinds of governments, this film highlights how much more vicious it is under the absolute and unaccountable power of military dictatorships.

The four Mirabal sisters were from an affluent family. They were all university educated and cultured. Their father was a successful farmer and merchant. But soon after the general’s rise to power, the family’s fortunes waned. It was the third sister, Minerva (played by Salma Hayek), who became particularly determined about ending his dictatorship. She studied law and became a lawyer. But the dictator threw obstacles in her path. Because Minerva rejected Trujillo’s romantic advances, he vengefully denied her a license to practice law.

Minerva Mirabal and two of her sisters came to be known as “The Butterflies” (Las Mariposas). Butterfly was the nickname Minerva gained when she became involved in the underground movement against Trujillo. Eventually her sisters joined the struggle. Their families were subjected to constant harassment and hardship: arrest, torture and persecution. Even their property and assets were stolen by Trujillo. Two of the sisters, Minerva and Maria Teresa, were jailed, beaten and raped on several occasions.

On November 25, 1960, three of the four sisters, Patria, Minerva and Maria, were returning home after visiting their imprisoned husbands when, allegedly, they were intercepted by Trujillo’s secret police. The unarmed sisters were led into a sugarcane field and brutally executed. Even though their deaths were made to look like a car accident, the nation was not fooled. The sisters’ untimely and mysterious death sparked public outrage against Trujillo. He never knew it was the beginning of the end of his reign. Six months later, he was assassinated. It was the second eldest sister, Dede Mirabal-Reyes, who lived to tell the tale.

On the 25th anniversary of the death, the Dominican government issued a commemorative stamp to honour the Mirabal sisters. And it was on December 17, 1999, that the United Nations General Assembly designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

In the Time of the Butterflies is a tragic yet inspirational story of courage and injustice, ideology and struggle. The Mirabal sisters were not just small part of a movement for democracy, they were an equal part of it. In fact, they were an even bigger part of a fight for equal rights.