“We believe that Women’s Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women’s Rights. We must create a society in which women – including Black women, Native women, poor women, immigrant women, disabled women, Muslim women, lesbian queer and trans women – are free and able to care for and nurture their families, however they are formed, in safe and healthy environments free from structural impediments.”–Women’s March on Washington
San Francisco: 100,000.
New York City: 200,000.
Chicago: 300,000.
These are some numbers from people who attended the Women’s March around the United States. Almost all of the numbers have gone up significantly since last year’s Women’s March. This alone shows how women’s rights are becoming more and more relevant and important in the United States and around the world.
The first official Women’s March was on January 21st, 2017, the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency. On this day, hundreds of thousands of people, men, women, and children, marched toward the United States capital for the Women’s March on Washington. This was a massive protest aimed largely at President Trump and his administration and the threat they posed to reproductive, civil, and human rights. This march did not only occur in Washington D.C, but all around the country. More than 3 million people in cities across the United States participated simultaneously in a global show of support for this movement.
One of the main reasons that the Women’s March occurred on the day that Trump took office was due to the recording of Trump in 2005 of him commenting in a very crude way about how he was able to force himself on women as well as his past sexual conduct towards women.
When Trump was confronted about the recordings, he dismissed it as “locker room talk.” He did not deny the claims but made them seem like it was acceptable for men to speak about women in that way. People were disgraced and angry at Trump for making these comments and when he elected as President of the United States, this made angered people even more. This made people strive to not forget about those comments and show that this crude ways of speaking to and about women and sexual misconduct would not stand.
The whole idea of the Women’s March began on the popular social network, Facebook, the day after the election by Teresa Shook. Shook shared her thoughts on the idea of having a pro-woman march in reaction to Trump’s victory. After thousands of women signed up to match, organizers began planning a large-scale event to march against Trump. One the day of the march, organizers expected about 200,000 people to attend. However, it was soon discovered that many more people supported the cause. On the day of the march, more than 500,000 people showed up to protest the capital. Many of the marchers wore pink clothing. One of the most popular items of clothing that became the unofficial uniform of the march were the pink knit hats with cat ears on top. This hats were named “pussy hats” which is an obvious nod to Trump’s words in the 2005 recording.
The march did not only take place in Washington, however. Once word spread about the idea of a pro-woman march, many sister marches were organized. Marches were held in all 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries, ranging from Antarctica to Zimbabwe. All together, about 4.1 million people took part in the Women’s Marches across the United States as well as 300,000 people worldwide.
Now, there is a Women’s March website and an organization that plans all of the marches and encourages women to vote and to be empowered by each other. The mission of the Women’s March is to “harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change…. Women’s March is committed to dismantling systems of oppression through nonviolent resistance and building inclusive structures guided by self-determination, dignity and respect.” The Women’s March also developed a diverse group of leaders to produce a platform known as the Unity Principles. These principles represent a new understanding of the struggles of women as well as the vision of the collective liberation of women. The principles did not only focus on women, but on every person that was experiencing discrimination. The main Unity Principles are:
- Ending Violence.
- Women deserve to live healthy lives without fear of any violence against their bodies. This principle also includes justice in police brutality, ending racial profiling, and dismantling the gender and racial inequities in the justice system.
- Reproductive Rights.
- This principle states that the government should not put cuts or restrictions on access to reproductive healthcare services, birth control, or HIV/AIDS care. With this, the principle states that everyone, no matter what their income, should have access to legal and affordable abortion and birth control.
- LGBTQIA Rights
- This principle firmly declares that LGBTQIA Rights are Human Rights and should not be hindered in anyway. The LGBTQIA should have all the rights and protections of every other citizen.
- The other Unity Principles include Worker’s Rights, Civil Rights, Disability Rights, Immigrant Rights, and Environmental Justice. This shows how extensive the Women’s March is and how they are focused on helping so many more people than just women.
The Women’s March is here to stay. Women will not stop fighting for their rights. We cannot stop here, we must continue to fight and stand together in solidarity to show how important this issue is. Women are equal to men and deserve all of the privileges that men have. No matter what gender, ethnicity, age, or sexuality, everyone deserves the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution because we are all created equal. We cannot let anymore discrimination slide. Women are here to stay because together we rise.
