Advertisement

International Women’s Day: What’s happening around the world

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

It’s International Women’s Day. The event, born of the socialist movement in the United States the early 1900s, has spread across the world in the century since.

But the day looks very different across the globe, much like the differences in the lives of women worldwide. Here’s how the event is being celebrated across in different parts of the world:

Advertisement

Pakistan: Female family members of missing Pakistanis are using the day to reiterate demands to know where their loved ones are. ‘For years, human rights activists have claimed that Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, and other security agencies in Pakistan routinely abduct men without legal justification,’ The Times recently reported.

Venezuela: Backers of President Hugo Chavez marched for the women’s event. Chavez, in power for 13 years, faces a challenge from candidate Henrique Capriles this fall, as frustration rises over surging homicide rates and the stagnant economy.

Turkey: Women splattered with artificial blood protested domestic violence, while the Turkish parliament passed laws that will try to protect women and children from abuse. ‘The discriminative implementations against women and domestic violence should be stopped,’ President Abdullah Gul said, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.

Sudan: The day meant freedom for about 4,000 prisoners in Sudan who are being released to mark the day, the Associated Press reported. The prisoners included hundreds of women and children.

Peru: Feminist groups are reportedly calling on President Ollanta Humala to follow through on his campaign promises to ensure that the rights of Peruvian women are respected.

Egypt: Hundreds of women marched to demand the right to help draft the new constitution. ‘Women have yet to gain any significant influence in the new Egypt, revealing the complexities of defining gender rights in a nation colored by Islam, inundated by Western media permissiveness and ruled by military men operating in a cloistered realm of gold stars and salutes,’ The Times recently reported.

Advertisement

Somalia: Women held a parade, the first one of its kind since the Shabab, an Islamic militant group, was ejected from the capital, Mogadishu, the Associated Press reported.

United States: It didn’t happen today, but last week the United Nations fund for gender equality announced in New York City that it would give out $10.5 million in grants to groups working to empower women in Asia, Africa, the Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia.

Know of another interesting event marking International Women’s Day around the world? Please tweet it to us @latimesworld.

ALSO:

Lone American appears in court in Egyptian NGO trial

Many Ugandans frustrated, suspicious of Kony 2012 [Video]

Advertisement

UNESCO panel does not remove Syria from human rights committee

-- Emily Alpert in Los Angeles

Advertisement