Solidarity with women worldwide

IWWD rally, March 17

The International Working Women’s Day Coalition held its annual rally, march and forum here on March 17 to reinforce its decades-long theme that every issue is a woman’s issue. The rally gathered in front of busy Penn Station, where various women and gender-oppressed activists spoke on the plight of nurses in New York, who have voted to go out on strike; the massacre of Muslim worshippers in New Zealand; the fight for decriminalization of sex workers; the war on transwomen of color; and more.  

Following the rally, the group marched and chanted inside Penn Station to show solidarity with low-wage women workers at Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, KFC and other shops.

The march ended with an indoor forum, where a panel of representatives from Migrante — a Filipino women-led im/migrants rights group — Domestic Workers United and Picture the Homeless led a discussion on strategies and tactics their groups are currently exploring. They stressed that having strong alliances with others is key to building a global movement to defeat capitalism and imperialism.

The issues of human trafficking and sexual violence were discussed in the case of Cyntoia Brown, a 31-year-old African-American woman who has been imprisoned since the age of 16 for killing her abuser.  International support has won her an impending clemency release from prison on Aug. 7.