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International Women's Day: events highlighting gender inequality take place around the world - live updates International Women's Day: events highlighting gender inequality take place around the world - live updates
(32 minutes later)
On International Women’s Day, we’ll be following the commemorative events all around the world.On International Women’s Day, we’ll be following the commemorative events all around the world.
Sydney, Australia
IWD demonstrations also took place in Sydney, Australia.
Lausanne, Switzerland
On the eve of IWD, women in Switzerland took part in a flashmob.
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Pakistan
Marches have taken place in Pakistani cities to call for gender equality. In some areas, women are still put to death under ancient ‘honour’ codes.
People all over the world are sharing photographs of themselves making an ‘equal’ sign with their arms, as part of the hashtag #EachforEqual, promoting gender inequality.
Here is an Amnesty International community group based in Durban, South Africa, who have been operating for 30 year with members of all ages, right up to 89 year old Coral.
Below is a Lean In circle in Penang, Malaysia. Lean In circles bring women from all backgrounds together and offer peer mentorship, skill development and a space to be “unapologetically ambitious”. There are 44,000 Lean in circles in more than 170 countries.
Manchester, England
A demonstration is taking place in Manchester with Sisters Not Strangers, a campaign led by refugee and asylum-seeking women, which aims to “build solidarity for women who have come to the UK to seek safety but have instead been made destitute”.
The group are singing in the city’s Piccadilly Gardens to mark IWD.
Paris, FranceParis, France
Women of General Confederation of Labour, a large labour union in France, have taken to the streets to demand equality, seemingly dressed like WWII feminist icon, Rosie the Riveter.Women of General Confederation of Labour, a large labour union in France, have taken to the streets to demand equality, seemingly dressed like WWII feminist icon, Rosie the Riveter.
Kiev, UkraineKiev, Ukraine
Demonstrations are also taking place in Kiev, Ukraine. Activists are calling for an end to violence against women, and wider gender equality.Demonstrations are also taking place in Kiev, Ukraine. Activists are calling for an end to violence against women, and wider gender equality.
Skopje, Republic of North MacedoniaSkopje, Republic of North Macedonia
A march is taking place in Skopje, organised The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of North Macedonia. The protest was created with the motto ‘You are not guilty’.A march is taking place in Skopje, organised The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of North Macedonia. The protest was created with the motto ‘You are not guilty’.
Moscow, RussiaMoscow, Russia
A running event has been held on IWD in Moscow. Hundreds of men run with tulips and gift them to women on the finish line.A running event has been held on IWD in Moscow. Hundreds of men run with tulips and gift them to women on the finish line.
Alongside the tulip races, a rally is taking place organised by the group of activists We Are Khachaturyan Sisters in Moscow’s Sokolniki Hyde Park.
ChileChile
Chile’s 8M comes at a politically tense time - amidst a social revolt and in the run up to a historic referendum vote in April to change the country’s Pinochet-era constitution. The country has been seized by mass demonstrations for for over 4 months.Chile’s 8M comes at a politically tense time - amidst a social revolt and in the run up to a historic referendum vote in April to change the country’s Pinochet-era constitution. The country has been seized by mass demonstrations for for over 4 months.
Chile’s women share the demands of their regional peers — legal abortion, against violence, against impunity for abusers, greater equality — on top of this we’ll be seeing demands for justice for women who have been assaulted by the state.Chile’s women share the demands of their regional peers — legal abortion, against violence, against impunity for abusers, greater equality — on top of this we’ll be seeing demands for justice for women who have been assaulted by the state.
Violence against women in Chile
Since October, when Chile’s uprising first broke out, the National Human Rights Organization (INDH) are investigating 433 cases against state officials to women: 247 for torture and cruelty, 112 for torture with sexual violence, 20 for unnecessary violence, 3 for frustrated homicide.Since October, when Chile’s uprising first broke out, the National Human Rights Organization (INDH) are investigating 433 cases against state officials to women: 247 for torture and cruelty, 112 for torture with sexual violence, 20 for unnecessary violence, 3 for frustrated homicide.
The two cases of frustrated homicide against women I know of are of 15-year-old Geraldine Alvarado, who was in Santiago’s main protest square Plaza Italia, 10 dec, when a tear gas canister was shot at her head. It left a wound so deep that her skull was exposed. She was left in a coma and was on the verge of death for 5 days.The two cases of frustrated homicide against women I know of are of 15-year-old Geraldine Alvarado, who was in Santiago’s main protest square Plaza Italia, 10 dec, when a tear gas canister was shot at her head. It left a wound so deep that her skull was exposed. She was left in a coma and was on the verge of death for 5 days.
Fabiola Campillai was waiting for a bus to work when police shot her directly in the face on 26 November. Her face was completely crushed by the impact, losing vision in both eyes and her sense of smell. She’s had one high-risk surgery, and soon she will need another. Still no police officer has been named or brought to trial for what they did, speaking recently Fabiola said “justice would be for them to give me back my eyes. There will never be justice for what they did to me”.Fabiola Campillai was waiting for a bus to work when police shot her directly in the face on 26 November. Her face was completely crushed by the impact, losing vision in both eyes and her sense of smell. She’s had one high-risk surgery, and soon she will need another. Still no police officer has been named or brought to trial for what they did, speaking recently Fabiola said “justice would be for them to give me back my eyes. There will never be justice for what they did to me”.
IWD march
Feminist groups have sent out guidelines and precautions to women about how to stay safe during the march. This includes bringing protective eye wear and tear gas masks. Bringing laurel water and sliced lemon for tear gas relief, Milk Of Magnesia for pepper spray.Feminist groups have sent out guidelines and precautions to women about how to stay safe during the march. This includes bringing protective eye wear and tear gas masks. Bringing laurel water and sliced lemon for tear gas relief, Milk Of Magnesia for pepper spray.
I went to four hard wear stores yesterday and all the gas masks were sold out. In one store, a mother was buying protective wear for her daughter’s first Women’s Day march. She said her friend “I can’t believe I have to buy this so my daughter can protest safely”.I went to four hard wear stores yesterday and all the gas masks were sold out. In one store, a mother was buying protective wear for her daughter’s first Women’s Day march. She said her friend “I can’t believe I have to buy this so my daughter can protest safely”.
The police are sending out women officers to guard the march, promising the event will be family friendly and safe. However protesters are highly distrustful of police. On Friday, a man died while protesting, caused by a tear gas canister impacting his head.The police are sending out women officers to guard the march, promising the event will be family friendly and safe. However protesters are highly distrustful of police. On Friday, a man died while protesting, caused by a tear gas canister impacting his head.
Toledo, Spain Women representing different causes will head today’s march. There are representatives for trans and lesbians rights, for those representing victims of police oppression since October, migrant voices fighting against racism, sex worker groups.
A march is underway in Toledo, central Spain, creating a sea of purple. All march for their own fights but unite against the violation of human rights inflicted by the state since October “we demand that they stop shooting at us mutilating us, raping us and commit to protecting humans rights”, says march organiser, coordinadora 8m Santiago.
Paris, France After the separatist segment of the march, all groups are welcome to join. Cis men, however, are discouraged from joining.
Demonstrations are underway in the French capital. A number of Mexican women are there protesting against femicide in Mexico.
Baghdad, Iraq
A demonstration is taking place in the capital of Baghdad to call for gender equality.
If you’re on the go, but still want to mark IWD, here’s some podcast suggestions from Miranda Sawyer.
This from Sam Jones, the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent:
Hundreds of rallies and demonstrations are kicking off across Spain, which has seen huge crowds gather to mark International Women’s Day over recent years.
Nationwide events are going ahead despite the coronavirus alert, although Spain’s health authorities have asked people showing symptoms consistent with the virus to stay at home.
Protests are due to be held in all the country’s big cities and towns including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Granada, Bilbao, Palma de Mallorca, Valladolid and Santander.
Fourteen women have been murdered by their partners in Spain so far this year, while 99 died at the hands of their partners in 2019. Since the government began recording gender-based violence deaths in 2003, a total of 1,047 women have been murdered.
Organisers and campaigners have urged women across Spain to take to the streets “to demand that the state, the Catholic hierarchy, the patriarchal powers - both economic and political - and the sexist culture (of our friends, fathers, brothers and neighbours) respect our autonomy and freedom to take decisions when it comes to our sexuality, our bodies and our life plans”.
Today’s manifesto also roundly rejects those who seek to use women’s rights as a means to justify violence against women.
“We reject the use people make of the rights of women, lesbians and trans people to favour and legitimise racist and reactionary policies and discourses,” it reads. “We want all of us to be free.”
Spain’s equality minister, Irene Montero, tweeted: “Today we are taking to the streets because they belong to us, too, and so that we can live free of sexist violence, so that we can share out time, riches and care provision, and so that we can love whoever we want and be whoever we want. We are doing it for those who came before and those who will coe in the future.”
Earlier on Sunday, Spain’s health minister, Salvador Illa, called on anyone who thought they may have the coronavirus to “avoid the demonstrations, stay home and self-isolate”.
London, UK
Demonstrators from climate activist group Extinction Rebellion have been protesting in London for IWD, arguing that the “climate is a women’s issue.”
Thirty one women formed a topless chain blocking Waterloo Bridge in London, with the words ‘Climate Rape’, ‘Climate Murder’, ‘Climate Abuse’, ‘Climate Inequality’ and ‘Climate Justice’ written on their bodies.
The group said the action was to highlight “the disproportionate impact of the climate and ecological emergency on women, and the resulting increase in hardship, violence and rape.”
“The UK action is in solidarity with everyone on the streets for International Women’s Day with the message that ‘climate is a women’s issue’ and calls on women in the UK to recognise this is happening to our sisters in the global south now and will be a reality faced by all women if decisive action is not taken,” a statement added.
They chose Waterloo Bridge because of its nickname of ‘The Ladies Bridge’, as many of the welders, stonemasons and labourers that built the bridge during the second world war were women.
The action in the UK is part of a wave of Extinction Rebellion IWD, spanning Colombia, Spain, Turkey, The Gambia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Uganda, DRC, Belgium, Israel, The Philippines, Switzerland, Argentina and the UK.
Sarah Mintram, former teacher and member of the Extinction Rebellion International Support Team, who took part in the action in London, said: “It’s mainly women in poorer countries in the global south that are experiencing the increase in violence but this will be the reality for all women if the climate and ecological crisis continues to go unaddressed.”
“We are here to raise the alarm about what is happening to our sisters around the world and to tell women in the UK the climate and ecological emergency is your issue – it will affect you as a woman if we do not persuade our government to take urgent action starting now.”
Baghdad, Iraq
Celebrations have been taking place in Tahrir Square in the capital of Baghdad to mark IWD.
Some were seen wearing face masks, seemingly in response to fears around coronavirus. Iraq currently has 47 confirmed cases, and four deaths from the virus.
Scandinavia, Finland, and Iceland
The Prime Ministers of Iceland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden have released a joint statement reaffirming their commitments to gender equality.
The statement also highlights their “grave concern over the current pushback against women’s and girls’ rights” and calls on other world leaders to reject this.
“We have witnessed a surge in regressive policies around the world, often undermining universal human rights,” it says.
You can read the full statement here.
Iceland has topped the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report for the past 11 years, with Nordic countries making up four of the top five gender equal countries.
London, UK
The March4Women is set to kick off in an hour’s time in the British capital. The march combines feminist and climate movements, and will be joined by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Musicians and actors including Emeli Sandé, who will perform, and the Kaiser Chief’s Ricky Wilson will be in attendance, as will activists including Sandi Toksvig, Bianca Jagger and Helen Pankhurst.
The March4Women aims to spotlight on the women on the front lines of the climate crisis, and call for action from world leaders.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “I’m proud to be marching alongside women and allies this International Women’s Day. The gender inequality we still see in our city, country and globally is unacceptable.
“As Mayor, and as a proud feminist, I’m determined that no woman or girl should be disadvantaged just because of their gender and want London to lead the way in changing that.”
It will begin with an opening rally at Royal Festival Hall, as part of the Women of the World festival, and will march over the river Thames, meet crowds at Whitehall place, before moving to Parliament Square for music and a final rally.
A new campaign to promote the National Domestic Abuse Helpline has been launched in the UK on IWD, with the support of celebrities including Olivia Coleman and Lorraine Kelly.
The helpline’s campaign has been launched by the charity Refuge, who provide specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence.
They want every woman to know the number of the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, 0808 2000 247, and the charity will be projecting it on to the largest advertising display in Europe, London’s Piccadilly lights, at midday.
TV presenter Lorraine Kelly said: “It is a disgrace that in 2020 we live in a world where so many women experience domestic abuse - the numbers are shocking. No woman should live in fear. That needs to change - today.”
Kelly and Coleman have both changed the pictures on their social media profiles to the helpline, to help promote it.
Chief executive of Refuge Sandra Horley said: “Refuge’s freephone 24 hour national domestic abuse helpline is at the heart of how this country responds to domestic abuse - it is a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of women across the country.
“0808 2000 247 is a number that every woman should know. Today, International Women’s Day, Refuge and an amazing band of high-profile women will work to make this a reality. Women’s lives depend on it.”
It is estimated that one in three women experience some form of domestic abuse in their lifetimes.