Women’s Day rallies seek equality, focus on Iran, Afghanistan

Reuters-March 8th 2023

MANILA/MADRID, March 8 (Reuters) – 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 U.S. abortion ruling was overturned.

Demonstrations were held in Paris, Berlin, Beirut, Jakarta, and Singapore, with more rallies planned in other cities later in the day.

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.

“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights, and it has been distressing to witness their methodical, deliberate, and systematic efforts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere,” Roza Otunbayeva, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement marking the day.