Protesters rally across world to mark International Women's Day

International Women's Day is marked across the globe each year on March 8 to demand equal rights and protest against gendered violence.

A woman in a gas mask attends a protest demanding equality on International Women's Day in Paris, France, March 8, 2020. The placard reads "Patriarchy virus. We are the antidote."
Reuters

A woman in a gas mask attends a protest demanding equality on International Women's Day in Paris, France, March 8, 2020. The placard reads "Patriarchy virus. We are the antidote."

Demonstrators and activists across the world staged protests demanding equality on International Women's Day.

But equality remains a long way off, with millions of girls' and women's lives still scarred by discrimination, poverty and violence.

March 8th has been sponsored by the United Nations since 1975 as International Women's Day, celebrating women's achievements and aiming to further their rights. 

As the world marks International Women's Day, here is a snapshot of progress since the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, the most progressive blueprint for advancing women's rights.

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International Women's Day is marked in Antalya, Turkey, March 8, 2020.

Twenty-five percent of seats in national parliaments are held by women — more than double the 11 percent share in 1995.

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Women occupy a street on International Women's Day in Manila, Philippines, March 8, 2020.

In the last decade, 131 countries have enacted legal and regulatory reforms in support of gender equality.

In Afghanistan, frequently rated one of the world's worst places to be a woman, a handful of people took to the streets to mark Women's Day.

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Civil society activists gathered the less fortunate to mark International Women's Day in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 8, 2020.

Women on average do three times more unpaid care and domestic work than men, limiting access to other opportunities.

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Mexican women protest against femicide in Mexico, during a protest demanding equality on International Women's Day in Paris, France, March 8, 2020.

The number of girls out of primary school has halved from 65 million to 32 million.

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Women supporters of the political and religious party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) clad in burkas, hold a placard as they head to an Aurat March, or Women's March, in Peshawar, Pakistan, March 8, 2020.

Women are paid 16 percent less than men on average, rising to 35 percent in some countries.

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Women wearing protective face masks, following an outbreak of coronavirus, chant slogans as they protest on International Women's Day in Baghdad, Iraq, March 8, 2020.

Nearly one in five women has faced violence from an intimate partner in the last year.

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Women protest during the International Women's Day in Skopje, North Macedonia, March 8, 2020.

Nearly one in four girls aged 15–19 is neither employed, in education or training, compared to one in 10 boys.

Such events spark controversy in patriarchal Pakistan, and at one point in the capital, counter-protesters hurled sticks and stones at women's rights demonstrators, causing some injuries and forcing a crowd of people to seek cover before the police intervened.

Reuters

Women supporters of the religious and political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) hold signs as they take part in an Aurat March, or Women's March, in Karachi, Pakistan, March 8, 2020.

Two-thirds of secondary school age girls are enrolled in school, up from half — although not all finish.

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Women attend the "Beauty Run" race to mark International Women's Day in Minsk, Belarus, March 8, 2020.

About 50 countries have liberalised their abortion laws in the last 25 years, with 18 lifting outright bans.

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Police officers detain an activist during a rally held to support women's rights and to protest against violence towards women on International Women's Day in Baku, Azerbaijan, March 8, 2020.

Child marriage affects one in five girls today, down from one in four in 1995.

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Women take part in a Women's March to mark International Women's Day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 8, 2020.

Police in Kyrgyzstan detained dozens of women's rights activists on Sunday shortly after journalists witnessed the protesters being attacked by masked men.

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Masked Kyrgyz nationalists attack women's rights activists during the celebration of International Women's Day at Victory Square in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, March 8, 2020.

Globally, 62 percent of women aged 25 to 54 are in the labour force compared to 93 percent of men — broadly unchanged since 1995.

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Escorted by riot police, women take part in a protest march to mark International Women's Day, in Lima, Peru, March 7, 2020.

At least 60 percent of countries still discriminate against daughters' rights to inherit land and other assets in either law or practice.

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Activists take part in a rally for gender equality and against violence towards women on International Women's Day in Kiev, Ukraine, March 8, 2020.

Girls born today can expect to live nearly eight more years than girls born in 1995 (an average of 75.2 years).

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Members of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) call for gender equality as they march on International Women's Day in Brasilia, Brazil on March 8, 2020.

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