Thousands take to streets in protests for women's rights

Survivors of sexual violence were among the tens of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets across the UK to march in solidarity with all oppressed women and girls around the world.

- TARA COBHAM

Around 5,000 demonstrators walked alongside loved ones and strangers in London on Saturday, shouting chants like “My body, my choice,” and “What do we want? Safety. When do we want it? Now,” while carrying intricate homemade signs reading “And still we rise” and “Women hold up half the sky”.

Organisers estimated up to 21,000 women turned out at 21 marches around the country, coming together in their fight for equality at a pivotal time two days ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Demi Reilly, 30, told The Independent she attended: “To represent the woman oppressed everywhere. Collectively we need to raise our voices. No woman is free until all women are free... we can’t let shit slide anymore.”

Anne-Marie Langeveldt, 42, who came from Watford to be there with her mother, pointed to the statistic that around one in three women and girls worldwide are subjected to physical or sexual violence during their lifetime, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). She described this as “all of society’s problem” and said she was protesting “for the next generation”.