by Adele

On March 7, thousands of women marched through London, England, for the 19th annual Million Women Rise (MWR) march. The march is held on the Saturday closest to International Women’s Day. The march and rally are led and organized by Black and Global Majority women on behalf of all women worldwide although it is based in London. Men are welcome to watch from the sidewalks as allies. This year marchers expressed an especially strong sense of urgency. Some attended for the first time, and many brought their daughters and granddaughters.

WOMEN ARE NOT ALONE

Million Women Rise march in 2022. Photo: Garry Knight, public domain

MWR aims to show women affected by male violence that they are not alone. Their website states, “Although we may not all agree on everything, the one thing we are able to coalesce around is that male violence in all its forms must end. It must end in our lifetime. We believe that it is only together, and with true solidarity that we can bring an end to male violence against women and girls in all its forms.”

Organizers read the names of women killed by men in the UK during the past year. One organizer described the global nature of patriarchal violence in a speech: “We come together to connect the dots from Iran to Sudan, from Gaza to Goma, from Eritrea to Gambia, from Washington to London, from Whitehall to the White House. From Silicon Valley to those so-called private islands, to social media, there are men who believe we are disposable. We know that violent men are not willing to relinquish their sense of entitlement to our bodies, our minds, our lives. And this is the case whether they are politicians, princes, billionaires, businessmen, tech bosses, religious leaders, prison officers, teachers, filmmakers, police officers, doctors, lawyers, or just ordinary blokes.”

The MWR banner and signs read, “Together, We Can End Male Violence Against Women.” Just a few of marchers’ handmade signs read, “Release ALL the Epstein Files,” “Impeach the Orange” (with Trump’s face), “Believe Women,” “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Bleeding,” “Our Bodies are Not Battlefields,” “If You’re Not Angry, You’re Not Paying Attention,” “If You Want Obedience, Get a Dog,” “Girls Mobilize Your Rage,” “Make Misogyny a Hate Crime,” “Women of the World Unite,” and “When Women Come Together Patriarchy Falls.”

One read, “You Call it Tradition, We Call it Control, We Were Never Dependent, We Were Exploited, We Carried the World, You Took the Credit, You’re Lucky We Want Equality Not Revenge”.

‘OUR LIBERATION COMES FROM UNITY’

Women Against the Far Right (WAFR) was one of the feminist organizations marching. They protest right-wing leaders’ co-optation of feminist language for their racist, anti-immigrant agenda. Their banner read, “Refugees Are Welcome Here” and “Stand Up to Racism.” Over the past several years, the British media has reported on the scandal of “grooming gangs” made up of Muslim immigrant men luring white, working-class teenage girls into prostitution. Fascist, white-supremacist leaders claim politicians and police ignored the problem for decades due to fear of being labeled racist. In reality, they are equal opportunity sexists and also ignored white grooming gangs and rapists.

At the rally, spokesperson Rimaz Ahmed stated, “They do not care about women. They don’t care when refugee women are forced onto dangerous journeys because borders are closed to them. They don’t care when migrant women are exploited in low-paid work that keeps our economy running. Their politics was never about women’s liberation. It is about protecting a system that profits from division, exploitation and inequality. But our liberation cannot be separated from that of working-class women, of migrants, of refugees. Our liberation does not come from division. It comes from unity, and that’s why we must organize.”

WAFR and other feminist groups also attended the Together Alliance March in London on March 28. About 500 organizations—including trade unions, antiracist groups, Muslim groups, and climate activists—marched, joined by a separate, Palestine solidarity march. Police counted 50,000 people, but organizers counted 500,000, making it the largest anti-fascist march in British history. It was galvanized by concerns that the anti-immigrant Reform party is expected to win in upcoming elections. A far-right “Unite the Kingdom” march last September involved violent incidents, and another is planned for May.

The WAFR and MWR marches drew record numbers of people to protest increasing violence, misogyny, racism, and authoritarianism in the UK and worldwide. Attendees made connections between perpetrators in all countries and all racial and social classes. Signs against Trump and Reform Party leader Nigel Farage were prominent. As the world situation becomes more desperate, demonstrators respond with unity, determination, and contagious hope. An organizer for MWR made the closing statement, “As long as this violence persists, we will rise, we will resist. When we come together, we are unstoppable.”