Washington march sparks global ‘sister’ events

PARIS — Legions of women flooded parks, streets and city squares from Sydney to Paris on Saturday, marching in solidarity as a show of empowerment and a stand against Donald Trump.

More than 600 “sister marches” were planned across the country and abroad in conjunction with the Women’s March on Washington, which drew hundreds of thousands to the nation’s capital a day after Trump became president of the United States.

Here’s a look at some of the other rallies around the world:

Paris

Several thousand people, including many American workers and students living in France, gathered in Paris for the Women’s March.

Protesters marched in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading: “We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump,” “With our sisters in Washington,” “Women’s rights are human rights.”

Anne Tiracchia, from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, was on vacation in France where her son lives. She wrote in French “Let us resist the catastrophe” on a U.S. flag.

“It’s important because Trump wants to destroy 50 years of progress, he wants to go back to smoke coming out of factories and women staying home and having babies,” she said. “He won’t change. He doesn’t care. But we have to show we don’t agree with him.”

But for Marie Allibert, one of the organizers, the march’s mission was not entirely to condemn Trump’s words and actions. “It’s more about women’s rights, human rights,” she said. “During the campaign there were lots of misogynist, racist and hateful messages, and that’s what we’re standing up against.”

Sydney

Demonstrators flooded a popular central Sydney park carrying placards with slogans including “Women of the world resist,” “Feminism is my trump card” and “Fight like a girl.”

Organizer Mindy Freiband told the crowd hatred, bigotry and racism are not only America’s problems.

“This is the beginning of something, not the end,” she said.

Protester Alyssa Smith, who came with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, said she worried about the future after Trump’s election. She said she didn’t want her daughter growing up in the world “where hatred is commonplace, where people think it’s OK to persecute minorities.”

Canada

In Canada, events were planned in about 34 cities or towns, including Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, where locals marched in minus6-degree temperatures.

“It was really cold,” resident Anthony Doyle said. But he bundled up and went anyway, because “as a father, I want my son to have positive male role models in the world, and I worry about the impact of a man like Trump, who’s said the things he has about women, on young men growing up.”

Prague

Hundreds gathered in freezing weather in a busy city square in the Czech capital, waving portraits of Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin and holding banners that read “This is just the beginning,” “Kindness” and “Love.”

“We are worried about the way some politicians talk, especially during the American elections,” organizer Johanna Nejedlova said.