Successful Turnout for Third Annual Women’s March

by The Cowl Editor on January 24, 2019


National and Global News


Women protest for equality throughout the U.S.

by Malena Aylwin ’22

News Staff

Women and their allies turned out in cities across the country this past Saturday, January 19, marking the third consecutive year of the Women’s March. 

Although there were controversies present, many demonstrators said they recognized that the movement was bigger than a few individual leaders, and focused their attention towards championing progressive policies and making certain their work was inclusive and represented all people. 

The mission of the Women’s March is “to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change.“ 

The Women’s March is a female-driven movement giving intersectional instruction on an assorted scope of issues, focused on disassembling frameworks of abuse through peaceful opposition. It also looks to  build inclusive structures guided by self-determination, nobility, and respect. 

The Women’s Agenda included proposals addressing issues like violence against women, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigrant rights, civil rights and liberties, environmental justice, abortion rights, and domestic violence cases, among others. 

These priorities were compiled by more than 50 experts from organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Indigenous Environmental Network, Planned Parenthood, and the National Council of Jewish Women, to name a few.

Various causes were attached to the march, which was largely billed as a demonstration in support of women’s rights and civil rights, but for many, the first march had clear political undertones connected to the inauguration of Donald Trump. 

Though the controversy was new for this year’s march, the women gathered for many of the same reasons Americans have been protesting Trump for the last two years. 

It was not just limited to women’s rights; it also included political,  social, and human injustices. For others, it was threats to Americans’ civil liberties, climate change, or the “wall“ and immigrants’ rights. The Washington rally alone in 2017 attracted over 100,000 people, according to city officials. The inaugural march was easily one of the biggest demonstrations in the city’s history, and as night fell, not a single arrest was reported. 

More than one million people rallied at Women’s Marches in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country on the Saturday after President Donald Trump’s first full day in office. 

“Welcome to your first day. We will not go away,“ marchers in Washington chanted. 

Women’s marches are not limited to the U.S. Activists rallied in Berlin for the Women’s March 2019, too. That march was organized by activists abroad and was scheduled to coincide with the Women’s March taking place on Jan. 19 across the U.S. 

Likewise, a Women’s March was also held here in Providence, and a few PC students had the chance to go.