Women march again to protest against harassment, violence and Trump
23/1/18
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Protesters hold up placards during the Women's March in London on January 21, 2018 as part of a global day of protests, a year to the day since Donald Trump took office as US president. Hundreds of people gathered outside Downing Street in London to voice their frustration at sexual harassment, violence and discrimination against women. |
From London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid to Los Angeles, New York and Washington,
thousands march down the streets to protest against Trump and sexism.
Women's rights protesters took to the streets in European
cities on Sunday to voice their frustration at sexual harassment, violence and
discrimination against women.
Hundreds of people gathered in London chanting "Time's up! Time's
up!", as similar demonstrations took place across the continent.
"I am here today
to say time is up on violence against women and girls all across the
world," Kiyleigh, 29, told AFP at
the march outside Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing
Street office.
"I work with women who suffer from domestic abuse,
sexual abuse from male perpetrators and I don't want to see that anymore,"
she said.
Protesters also waved placards reading "Don't touch
my rights" and "Keep your rosaries off my ovaries".
Social campaigner Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter
of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, was among the speakers.
"'No' means 'no'. Sexual harassment is not OK. Abuse
is not OK. People have to respect what women say," said Liberty Folker,
27, who came with her dog Gwen and held a placard reading: "Even this dog
knows 'no' means 'no'".
"Every woman I
know has experienced some kind of harassment or abuse or rape. I myself have
and I don't want that for any woman anywhere, not just here but all across the
world," she told AFP.
'Grab 'em by the
midterms'
In Berlin, a few dozen people gathered by the U.S. embassy
at the Brandenburg Gate and waved slogans in English including
"Resist", "Stand, unite, fight" and "Time's up:
Impeach now", referring to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Others denounced Trump's remarks about women, one held a
placard reading: "Grab 'em by the patriarchy".
As protesters moved through Berlin’s government district, the crowd grew
to around 1,000, including expatriate Americans and a large male
minority.
Many parents brought their school-age children, who
carried signs with slogans including "Love trumps hate" and
"Equality for all".
Speakers encouraged Americans abroad to sign up for
absentee ballots for the U.S.
midterm congressional elections in November.
A popular poster read: "Grab 'em by the
midterms".
Meanwhile in Spain
about 200 people, mostly women, gathered in Plaza Isabel II in downtown Madrid.
They chanted slogans and held signs in Spanish and English
decrying Trump and encouraging a global feminist "revolution".
"We stand here united to find our way towards
equality and to demand our rights", said Cristina Rodriguez-Carretera, a
40-year-old university professor in the United
States on a visit to her native Spain.
"We are more united than we think," she added,
noting that women feel under attack by Trump's constant "misogyny".
In the United
States, protestors took to the streets en
masse on Saturday, hoisting anti-Trump placards, banging drums and donning pink
hats for a second Women's March opposing the president -- one year to the day
since his inauguration.
Hundreds of thousands of marchers assembled in Los
Angeles, New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, Boston and other cities
nationwide, many donning the famous pink knit "pussy hats" -- a
reference to Trump's audiotaped boast of his license to grope women without
repercussions.
They were joined by actresses including Whoopi Goldberg in
New York and Natalie Portman in Los Angeles.
Other demonstrations were held elsewhere in Europe
including Paris.
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