Women worldwide skip work to protest pay gap, abortion laws and Donald Trump on International Women’s Day – Mirror.co.uk

Women around the world took to the streets on Wednesday to protest for equal rights and against President Donald Trump for International Women's Day .

Many women skipped work, boycotted stores or wore red to demand economic fairness as part of the 'A Day Without a Woman' demonstration.

Americans seized on the momentum of the Women's March on Washington DC on January 21, the day after Trump's inauguration , to once again denounce his policies on abortion and healthcare.

The nationwide events were modelled in part after pro-immigrant demonstrations on February 16, the latest in a series of anti-Trump protests since his election.

By having women flex their economic muscle, organisers hope to call attention to the gender pay gap, access to reproductive health services, and Trump's actions that have restricted abortion overseas.

Protesters calling for a repeal of Ireland's strict abortion laws brought traffic in Dublin's city centre to a standstill.

Rules on terminating a pregnancy in once stridently Catholic Ireland are among the world's most restrictive and thousands of Irish women travel abroad, mostly to England, for abortions each year.

A referendum on widening access could be held if a citizens' assembly set up by the government recommends it in a decision expected next month.

Some 2,000 activists seeking the abolition of the eighth amendment of the constitution, which enshrines an equal right to life of the mother and her unborn child, blocked Dublin's O'Connell bridge on the main thoroughfare of the capital.

Pictures on social media showed hundreds more marching in cities and university campuses around the country in protests timed to coincide with International Women's Day celebrations.

"I would like to have the right to autonomy over my own body," said Grainne O'Sullivan, a pregnant 38-year-old graphic designer who closed her studio to join the Strike 4 Repeal protest in Dublin.

"It's a disgrace in today's age that Ireland doesn't have that, that women still have to march, have to strike to let people know that they deserve to make choices. Women in pain shouldn't have to get on an airplane to go to a different country to solve the problems in Ireland."

Cat Little, a 38-year-old animator who also took the day off work, said she wanted to have a third child without the health risk she said the constitutional amendment places her under.

More protesters, some dressed in black like many in the main march in Dublin, also gathered outside the Irish Embassy in London, photographs on social media showed.

If a referendum is recommended by the citizens' assembly -- which consists of 99 randomly selected members of the public -- a vote would then be needed in parliament to set one up, potentially paving the way for a plebiscite in 2018.

Abortion has been a divisive issue for decades in Ireland.

At present, terminations are allowed only if a mother's life is in danger, after a complete ban was lifted in 2013 following large street protests by people on both sides of the debate.

Anti-abortion supporters demand no further changes to the law, to safeguard all life.

"The reality is that this is not a strike, this is a stunt," Niamh U Bhriain, a spokeswoman for the Life Institute, an anti-abortion group, said in a statement.

Debra Sands, 37, a middle school teacher, joined thousands of women at New York City's Central Park after her students convinced her to attend the rally.

"This past year's election made me realize that voting in November isn't enough," Sands said.

New York police reported 13 arrests at the protest in midtown Manhattan although details were not immediately available.

In San Francisco, where about 1,500 people gathered, Christine Bussenius, 37, said she and her female colleagues at Grey Advertising convinced their all-male managers to give them the day off and participate in the rally.

"We were nervous," she admitted. "But the men stepped up to fill in the void."

Rallies were held in numerous US cities, including Washington, where demonstrators gathered at the US Labor Department.

Female staffers at Fusion Media Group's Gizmodo declared they were striking for the day.

At least three US school districts, in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, closed because of staff shortages after teachers requested the day off.

Nearly 1,000 women converged outside Los Angeles City Hall, many of them critical of the Republican-backed healthcare bill that would strip women's health and abortion provider Planned Parenthood of funding.

"It's terrifying. It's anti-woman," said Kassia Krozsur, 53, a finance professional.

About 200 gathered in Atlanta, where signs read "We are sisters" and "Stop Trump."

"If we want to change what is going on, we need to turn anger into action. People need to run for local office," organiser Rebekah Joy said.

Events large and small were held in cities around the world.

Across the Texas border, women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, painted crosses on lamp posts in solemn remembrance of the hundreds of women who have gone missing or were murdered there in recent years.

In Tbilisi, Georgia, women performed "Glass Ceiling," simulating being trapped by the barely visible barrier that stands between women and workplace equality.

They banged drums in Kiev, Ukraine, and played soccer in Nairobi, Kenya.

In Sanaa, capital of war-torn Yemen, women dressed in niqabs, the all-black garments that cover the entire body except for an opening over their eyes, held up a sign reading, "You keep silent while our children die!"

Not all American women, however, were on board with the call for a women's strike, with some critics citing the vagueness of the movement's aims and the disruption of work stoppages.

Trump, whose 11-year-old comments about grabbing and kissing women against their will surfaced during the campaign, took to his Twitter account early on Wednesday to cite International Women's Day and the "critical role" of women around the world.

"I have tremendous respect for women and the many roles they serve that are vital to the fabric of our society and our economy," the Republican president tweeted.

International Women's Day protests spread globally

Read the original:

Women worldwide skip work to protest pay gap, abortion laws and Donald Trump on International Women's Day - Mirror.co.uk