A selection of images from events and protests across the globe to mark International Women’s Day, which has been held every year on 8 March since 1977, when the UN invited member states to declare a day for women’s rights and world peace

  • Madrid, Spain

    Demonstrators shout as they hold placards during a protest in the Spanish capital

    Photograph: Javier Barbancho/Reuters

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    Demonstrators shout as they hold placards during a protest in the Spanish capital

  • Santiago, Chile

    Aerial view showing the march on International Women’s Day in Santiago

    Photograph: Javier Torres/AFP via Getty Images

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    Santiago, ChileAerial view showing the march on International Women’s Day in Santiago

  • Al-Qahtaniyah, Syria

    Women celebrate in the Kurdish-run province of Hasakeh

    Photograph: Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images

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    Syrian Kurds gather to celebrate International Women’s Day in the Kurdish-run province of Hasakeh

  • Santiago, Chile

    A woman applies face paint to look like a hand over her mouth before a rally

    Photograph: Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images

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    A woman applies face paint to look like a hand over her mouth before a rally

  • Minsk, Belarus

    Five thousand participants took part in an event for International Women’s Day, which is an official holiday in the country

    Photograph: Sergei Grits/AP

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    Five thousands participants took part in the beauty run event on International Women’s Day, which is an official holiday in Belarus

  • London, UK

    Demonstrators attend the March4Women. Many groups held online campaigns instead of street marches, using hashtags such as #FemaleStrike, #PowerUp and #38InternationalWomensDay

    Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

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    Demonstrators attend the March4Women in London, UK

  • Moscow, Russia

    Women attend a solidarity and women’s rights rally organised by the activist group We Are Khachaturyan Sisters

    Photograph: Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

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    A rally for women’s solidarity and women’s rights, organized by the group of activists We Are Khachaturyan Sisters in Sokolniki Hyde Park

  • Brasilia, Brazil

    A member of the Landless Workers Movement calls for gender equality

    Photograph: Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images

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    A member of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) calling for gender equality in Brasilia, Brazil

  • Paris, France

    Female members of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) demand equality

    Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

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    Women of General Confederation of Labour (CGT) dressed in work overalls demanding equality in Paris, France

  • Isalamabad, Pakistan

    Women gather to mark International Women’s Day

    Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images

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    Activists of the Aurat (Woman) March hold placards during a rally to mark International Women’s Day in an ultra-conservative society

  • Baghdad, Iraq

    Women celebrate in Tahrir Square

    Photograph: Sabah Arar/AFP via Getty Images

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    Women celebrate International Women’s Day at Tahrir Square in the Iraqi capital

  • Yogyakarta, Indonesia

    A rally held under the 2020 theme ‘each for equality’

    Photograph: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

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    A rally during International Women’s Day in Yokgyakarta, Indonesia - the 2020 there is “each for equality”

  • Pazarkule, Turkey

    Migrants at the Turkish border show their respect

    Photograph: Anadolu Agency/via Getty Images

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    Asylum-seekers, waiting at Turkey’s Pazarkule border crossing to reach Europe, stage a demonstration at the buffer zone demanding to open the gate

  • Saver, Bangladesh

    Male and female paraplegic basketball players play a friendly match jointly organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross and local NGO

    Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images

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    Wheelchair basketball players including men and women play during a friendly match jointly organised by the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed and the International Committee of the Red Cross

  • Manila, Philippines

    Women march to call for an end to Rodrigo Duterte’s government

    Photograph: Jes Aznar/Getty Images

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    Protesters march the streets calling for an end to imperialism and to the Duterte regime

  • Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

    Police detain activists from the FEMEN women’s movement in Victory Square

    Photograph: Igor Kovalenko/EPA

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    Police detain activists of the FEMEN women’s movement on Victory Square, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

  • Kabul, Afghanistan

    A woman holds a rose during an event to mark International Women’s Day

    Photograph: Rahmat Gul/AP

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    A woman holds a rose during an event marking International Women’s Day in Kabul, Afghanistan

  • Mexico City, Mexico

    Spectators at a concert by female performers join in the singing of Song Without Fear, written to condemn femicide in the country

    Photograph: Rebecca Blackwell/AP

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    Spectators chant Justice in Spanish after Chilean singer Mon Laferte was joined by Mexico’s Vivir Quintana and a chorus of dozens to perform an anti-femicide song titled Song without fear, during a concert by female performers on the eve of International Women’s Day

  • Lima, Peru

    Women take part in a march

    Photograph: Reuters

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    Women take part in a march

  • Lima, Peru

    Women take part in a march

    Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/AP

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    Women take part in a march

  • Lausanne, Switzerland

    Women hug after a flashmob celebration

    Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

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    Women react after performing the song Un violador en tu camino (a rapist in your path) during a flashmob celebration in Lausanne, Switzerland

  • Sydney, Australia

    Women take part in a march

    Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

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    Women take part in a march