Int’l Women’s Day: Protests, a strike, a Russian’s apology
A 24-hour strike by millions of Spanish women. A crackdown in France on companies violating gender-equal pay policies. In Russia, a candid apology from a powerful legislator to women he sexually harassed.
Many of the International Women’s Day events on Thursday powerfully echoed the #MeToo movement that has mobilized women against sexual violence and workplace harassment.
Demonstrators filled the streets in several Asian cities, including Manila, Seoul and New Delhi. Clad in pink and purple shirts, the activists in Manila lambasted Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, calling him among the worst violators of women’s rights in Asia. Human rights groups have condemned Duterte’s sexist remarks, including a suggestion that troops shoot female communist rebels in the genitals.
In Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, a throng of activists was joined by a victim of one of the acid attacks frequently perpetrated in the country by embittered men. Black glasses covered part of her badly burned face.