January 2019
Women's March
Women in
Canada
and the U.S. Speak Out in Their Own Name in Defence of the Rights
of All
Toronto, January 19, 2019.
International Women's Day is being celebrated in
North
America with the issue of women's rights having been put front
and
centre of the agenda since the beginning of the year when
thousands of
women in Canada and the U.S. took to the streets on January 19 to
reject the broad anti-social offensive against their rights and
the
rights of all.
The marches, marking the second anniversary of
the
Women's March on Washington held in 2017 on the occasion of
President
Donald Trump's Inauguration Day, affirmed the front-rank position
of
women against the escalation of the retrogressive anti-social
offensive
which Trump's presidency represents.
In Canada, an end to the violence
against Indigenous women and girls and justice for those who have
been
murdered or gone missing emerged as a predominant demand. A
number of
the marches took up the call "We Will Not Go Back!" expressing
women's
determination that those rights which they have won through their
century and more of struggle will not be taken away. A joint
Windsor-Detroit action honoured all missing and murdered women,
demanding an end to gender-based violence.
The U.S. marches expressed the determination of
women to
have a say and control over their human persons and their refusal
to
have what they can do or say dictated by the state. The 2019
march was
especially vigorous as it came on the heels of the 2018 mid-term
elections, where a record number of women, including young women
and
women from various walks of life, were elected in the 116th
Congress --
127, up from 110 in the previous Congress. This is a positive
development.
A key demand this year was for an end to the
imprisonment of migrant children and their separation from their
parents and to stop the construction of the border wall.
Expressions of
solidarity with the public sector workers affected by the U.S.
government shutdown were features of marches in different local
areas.
A number of the U.S. marches also put forward the demand for an
end to
the
murders and disappearances of Indigenous women. Other local
questions,
such as the teachers' strike in Los Angeles, found expression
through
the speakers at various events. The marches are a vigorous
expression
of the demands of the movement for rights in the U.S. in which
women
stand in the front ranks.
Canada
Saint John, NB
 
Montreal, QC
  
Ottawa, ON
  
Toronto, ON
  
Kitchener, ON
Windsor, ON
 
Sudbury, ON
 
Owen Sound, ON
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
 
Regina, SK
  
Edmonton, AB
 
Calgary, AB
  
Nelson, BC
 
Vancouver, BC
Powell River, BC
 
Victoria, BC
United States
Washington, DC
New York City
 
Portland, ME
Montpelier, VT
Jacksonville, FL
Phoenix, AZ
West River, SD
Oklahoma City, OK
Dallas, TX
 
Albuquerque, NM
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
  
Homer, AK
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 8 - March 9, 2019
Article Link:
January 2019
Women's March: Women in
Canada
and the U.S. Speak Out in Their Own Name in Defence of the Rights
of All
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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