Million Women Rise!!

Happy International Women's Day!! This is the only day set aside exclusively for women, ALL women. And for those of you who stayed up all night to watch the Oscars (or watched snippets of it this morning like I did) you'll know that it's a big day for women in Hollywood today, as Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win Best Director. Yay Kathryn!!

But this post will focus on the Million Women Rise March that took place on Saturday, March 6. Hundreds of women from across the UK converged at Marble Arch to begin a march against male violence against women. The White Ribbon Campaign obviously strongly supports the march. Million Women Rise consequently invited us to hand out white ribbons to interested men we passed along the route. Here are some photos of the march:

And we finally reached Trafalgar Square, where a post-march rally took place. 

Founder Sabrina Qureshi announced, "We will end violence against women in our lifetime!!"

Other speakers included Vivienne Hayes, the Director of Women's Resource Centre; Women and the Environment; Kat Elliot, a trade unionist and feminist from Unison; Care International; and women from northern Uganda and the DRC. It was a truly international rally, fitting for International Women's Day.

There will be events taking place today in London and across the UK, and the world, so I hope you all find something special to do today. I will be at the House of Lords for an event on equal representation in Parliament put on by WAFE (Women worldwide Advancing Freedom and Equality). 

Happy International Women's Day!!