Marching for Women's Rights

Last week I went to a march for Women's Rights on International Women's Day!  It was huge - way bigger than I expected.  For a while I marched with Amnesty International, who was supporting causes like the rights to abortion and other women's health issues.  Other groups were advocating for women's rights in the workplace or for more socialist policies in general.

Amnesty International

At marches, I love hearing all the different slogans. A couple of them were...

"Mis Cuerpos... Mis Derechos!" (call and response)

"Las mujeres,
que organizan,
jamas
planchan camisas!"

There were people of all ages, both men and women. I saw lots of costumes, some naked people with body paint, and several men dressed as women.  It was an exciting march, even before the chaos began!

Tanks showed up because people were throwing Molotov cocktails at the police.

The tanks were spraying water at protesters (you can see it in the distance)

It was definitely exciting to be in the middle of something I've only seen on the news!  For those of you who are worried about my safety while reading this, don't be worried! - I stayed on the fringes and didn't feel like I was in danger at any point.  Conversely, all the "violent" activity seemed very normal in the context of the city.  People on the sides of the street who weren't involved in the march (street vendors, people walking home from work) were completely unfazed by the seemingly dramatic scene.  I got the sense that this is very normal at any protest, and that the grand police presence was really no big deal.  However, when I saw a cop shooting rubber bullets, I decided to go home!