Tens of thousands of women yesterday descended on Washington D.C and
London as part of the estimated 2.5million worldwide expected to march
against the new US President Donald Trump.
Their grouse with Trump was what they perceived as his anti-women
utterances and actions underlined by his fat-shaming a former beauty
queen, sex assault allegations and a controversial stance on abortion.
The women marchers wanted “a united proactive international stance on
women’s equality worldwide.”
Some 673 sister marches were planned worldwide, according to Women’s March
on Washington website.
The marches spanned all 50 U.S. states, several U.S. territories and at
least 60 countries across all seven continents.
“It was clear from week one this was going to be a global movement,” said
Evvie Harmon, co-founder and global coordinator of the Women’s March on
Washington.
“It’s like the women of the world were sitting on a powder keg and Donald
Trump lit the match.”
As women in pink “pussyhats” flooded into metro stations overflowed as
trains packed to bursting moved cheering, clapping marchers into the city
for a record-breaking inauguration-related protest.
“I want to protect our rights,” declared 72-year-old Trisha Norman, who
came all the way from North Carolina to show that “when people are
standing together, they will be strong.”
Women made up the overwhelming majority of the people who emerged whooping
and cheering from Washington’s Union Station, arriving on jam-packed
trains and buses.
Many carried homemade signs. “Keep your tiny hands off me,” said one.
“Rise, Love, Resist,” read another.
The incoming tide of women in knitted pink hats flushed through a city
that the day before had welcomed throngs of Trump supporters in red “Make
America Great Again!” caps for the Republican’s swearing-in to a four year
term.
Heavy traffic was also reported coming from Northern Virginia and Maryland
into Washington D.C. and multiple parking garages began to fill up as
people arrived from surrounding states for the march.
The march, which began as a movement on Facebook, quickly spawned more
than 600 “sister marches” in major U.S. cities outside of Washington D.C.
and international marches in Sydney, Hong Kong, London, Rome and Paris.
More than 25,000 people gathered in London carrying signs and donning pink
“pussy hats” to advocate rights for women, migrants and the LGBTQ
community and protest the nationalist ideas touted by Trump during his
campaign.
Nearly 200 protesters gathered outside of the U.S. embassy in Manila a
burned a U.S. flag with Trump’s face and shouted “Dump Trump”.
“This protest is in solidarity with the American people, because their
incoming president is a fascist and a racist who is against immigrants,”
Renato Reyes Jr. of militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said.
“Trump will uphold the interests of the businessmen, not the people.”
The London march began at the American Embassy at midday and ended at the
famous Trafalgar Square.
Several thousand people across all ages and genders descended on Grosvenor
Square in London before the rally at 2pm,holding a rainbow of placards
with slogans such as ‘dump Trump’, ‘reject hate, reclaim politics’ and ‘no
to racism, no to Trump’.
Mr Trump’s presidential campaign was plunged into crisis after a 2005 tape
recording came to light of him bragging to TV host Billy Bush about
groping women and that he can ‘grab them by the p***y’ because of his
celebrity status.
Holding a sign saying ‘my p****y is not up for grabs’, Kim McInally said
she had travelled from Brighton for the demonstration.
The 32-year-old said: ‘Yesterday was seen as the official start of fascism
coming back.’ She claimed ‘human rights and human equality is getting
pushed further and further down the list’.