In observance of International Women’s Day, March 8, women went on strike, marched or wore red in support of emphasizing the importance of women in the workforce and the U.S. economy
The outcome of the women’s force brought crowds in hundreds, a small account in my many places. Inspired by last month’s A Day Without An Immigrant protest, the same organizers who rallied the big march the day after Trump’s inauguration, which gathered more than one million people, initiated A Day Without A Woman protest.
The march organizers encouraged women to take their work day off whether paid or not paid, avoid shopping or to wear red. For the women who weren’t able to skip work still made their voices heard by wearing red as a symbol of their solidarity; women wanted to demonstrate their importance in the U.S economy and their will to act on their rights.
In 2010, women made up 47 percent of the U.S. labor force where the largest percentage of 40.6 women are in employed in management, professional, and related occupations, according to the United States Department of Labor. The unemployment rate during that year was at 8.6 percent less than the 10.5 percent for men.
One of the rally locations women gather to have their voices heard was in Washington. More than 20 Democratic women lawmakers stepped out of the Capitol to greet the crowds where they were able to engage in conversation. These lawmakers are resisting the efforts of appealing the Affordable Care Act and the elimination of Federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
While in New York, thirteen women were arrested during the demonstration outside of Trump’s International Hotel and Tower for misconduct. Despite the arrests, the most luring attraction was the statue of a young girl facing the Wall Street’s famous bull, a power symbol of the return of Wall Street after the stock market crash.
A Day Without A Woman not only limited to the United States but was also a protest carried out in similar ways in other countries such as Poland, Italy, Turkey, just to name a few on the U.N. designated International Women’s Day in efforts to fight for equal rights, higher pay, or their birth control rights.