Thousands unite at Washington Women’s March in support of Women’s rights following Trump’s Inaugurat
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Washington DC on Saturday 21st January to support women’s rights and equality after Donald Trump’s Inauguration sparked fear that women’s rights could become oppressed by the new president.
An estimated 500,000 demonstrators showed up to the march, a crowd far larger than that of Donald Trump’s Inauguration.
Both men and women could be seen wearing knitted pink “pussy hats” in defiance of a recording that came forth during the election campaign in which Trump talked about groping women.
People of all ages, ethnicities, nationalities and sexual orientations were brandishing signs carrying assertive messages that they won’t let his agenda go unchallenged over his four-year rule.
Officials changed the route of the march to avoid the White House.
Actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd: “We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war.
"Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America and we are here to stay."
The Washington march led to over 600 rallies worldwide, with people protesting in solidarity with America.
Organisers said up to 100,000 people marched from the US Embassy in London to Trafalgar Square chanting: “Build Bridges not walls” as they made their way along Piccadilly.
Eleanor Hallam, 26, was among London’s demonstrators, saying she was there “out of solidarity for all the women and other groups marginalised by Trump’s politics”.
Demonstrations have taken place in 161 cities worldwide, and have taken place across Europe, reaching as far as Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Overall, up to 2 million people joined the international day of action in defiance of Trump and in support of gender equality worldwide.
