Women across continents rally for equality on International Women’s Day

Protests in Turkey

In Turkey, hundreds of women gathered in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, where they listened to speeches, danced, and sang in protest. The demonstration took place under heavy police presence, including riot officers and a water cannon truck.

The Turkish government has declared 2025 the Year of the Family, a move that protesters pushed back against, arguing that it confines women to traditional roles of marriage and motherhood. According to AP, banners at the rally read, “Family will not bind us to life” and “We will not be sacrificed to the family.”

Women attend a protest marking International Women’s Day in Istanbul, Turkey. (AP photo)

Critics have accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration of restricting women’s rights and failing to adequately address violence against women. In 2021, Erdogan withdrew Turkey from the Istanbul Convention, a European treaty designed to protect women from domestic violence. The We Will Stop Femicides Platform reported that 394 women were killed by men in Turkey in 2024.

“There is bullying at work, pressure from husbands and fathers at home, and pressure from patriarchal society. We demand that this pressure be reduced even further,” said 52-year-old protester Yaz Gulgun, as per AP.

Critics have accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration of restricting women’s rights and failing to adequately address violence against women. (AP photo)

Women protest across Europe and Africa

In other European cities, women marched for equal pay, access to gender-specific healthcare, and stronger protections against violence, as per AP.

In Poland, activists opened a center near the parliament in Warsaw where women can obtain abortion pills, either alone or with others. The move directly challenged the country’s restrictive abortion laws, among the strictest in Europe.

Demonstrators rally during an International Women’s Day protest in Madrid, Spain. (AP photo)

From Athens to Madrid, Paris, Munich, Zurich, and Belgrade, protesters called for an end to the systemic inequalities that continue to affect women in politics, the workplace, and society at large. In Madrid, demonstrators displayed hand-drawn images of Gisele Pélicot, a French woman who was drugged and raped by multiple men over a decade.

In Lagos, Nigeria, thousands of women gathered at Mobolaji Johnson Stadium, celebrating womanhood with dancing and singing. Many wore purple, the traditional color of the women’s liberation movement.

Meanwhile, in Russia, International Women’s Day was marked with official celebrations, including honor guard soldiers presenting yellow tulips to women in St. Petersburg.

Protesters shout slogans during a rally marking International Women’s Day, in Athens. (AP photo)

Germany warns against reversing progress

In Berlin, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for continued efforts toward gender equality and warned against a backlash against progress. “Globally, we are seeing populist parties trying to create the impression that equality is something like a fixed idea of progressive forces,” Steinmeier said, as per AP.

He pointed to major tech companies that have shifted their stance on diversity and are now “raving about a new ‘masculine energy’ in companies and society.”

South American marches denounce femicides

In South America, protests focused on femicide, the killing of women due to their gender. Hundreds of women in Ecuador marched through Quito, holding signs denouncing violence and the “patriarchal system.”

“Justice for our daughters!” some demonstrators chanted, referring to women slain in recent years, reported AP.

In Bolivia, thousands of women took to the streets late Friday, with some spray-painting courthouse walls to demand accountability for femicide cases. Less than half of such cases in Bolivia result in sentencing, fueling anger over impunity for gender-based violence.

(With inputs from AP)