Women march as rights under threat across the globe
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Rallies marking International Women’s Day took place around the world on Wednesday after a year in which girls in Afghanistan were banned from education, mass women’s rights protests erupted in Iran and a landmark US abortion ruling was overturned.
In Manila, activists calling for equal rights and better wages scuffled with police blocking their protest. “Girls just want to have fun...damental rights”, read one poster. Demonstrators in Melbourne demanded equal pay and better safety for women. “Safe, respected, equal,” said one banner at the march. An Iranian contingent was also present.
Many protests included calls for solidarity with women in Iran and Afghanistan where their freedoms have faced especially hard blows in the past year.
In London, protesters marched to the Iranian embassy in costumes inspired by the novel and television series “The Handmaid’s Tale” in support of women in Iran.
The death last September of 23-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of morality police in Tehran unleashed the biggest anti-government protests in Iran in years.
In recent days, Iran’s clerical rulers have faced renewed pressure as public anger was compounded by a wave of poisoning attacks affecting schoolgirls in dozens of schools.
The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on two senior Iranian prison officials responsible for serious human rights abuses against women and girls.
Britain also announced a package of sanctions against what it described as “global violators of women’s rights”. The EU announced new sanctions on Tuesday.
Abortion and reproductive rights were on the agenda for international rallies on Wednesday, nine months after the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognised women’s constitutional right to abortion.
Protesters in several Spanish cities including Madrid and Barcelona were due to hold competing rallies for International Women’s Day, reflecting divisions within the feminist movement over trans rights and the prohibition of prostitution.
In Colombo there were scuffles as riot police tried to stop protesters at a women’s day rally organised by the opposition. Hundreds of people had gathered to call on the Sri Lankan government to protect women’s rights and protest against high living costs. Sri Lanka is suffering a major economic crisis that has caused inflation to soar.
Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2023
