Auckland protesters, some chanting “Human rights are women’s rights”, marching up Queen Street to Myers Park in central Auckland yesterday. Video: Del Abcede/Pacific Media Centre
More than a million people have poured into the United States capital to march in opposition to President Donald Trump, a day after the Republican took office, as sister demonstrations took place in cities across Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe.
Women and men of all ages took to the streets of Washington, DC, rallying around issues like women’s rights, reproductive rights and immigration to mark International Women’s Day, reports Al Jazeera.
The march was supposed to be along the National Mall, the stretch of parkland that runs from Congress to the White House.
But it spilled onto Pennsylvania Avenue, the street where the new president and property tycoon now lives, and where his Washington-based hotel is.
The global protests began in Auckland as more than 2000 people turned out to march for global women’s rights in New Zealand’s largest city just hours after incoming President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington.
Many carried banners and placards as they marched from the US Consulate, near Britomart central railway station, up Queen Street to Myers Park in the heart of the city.
Some placards read “Women of the world unite”, “Our Planet Our Future”, “Girl Power”, “Human Rights are Women’s Rights”, “My Body, My Rights”, “Men of Quality Respect Women’s Equality” and “No Hate Mongering”.
Many marches took place in other cities across New Zealand.
In Auckland and many of the global marches, women protesters wore knitted pink cat-eared “pussy” hats, a reference to Trump’s admission to having committed sexual assault in a video that was made public weeks before the election, sparking outrage.
Video: Del Abcede
