Photo Essay: International Women’s Day Celebrations and Protests Around the World
This year's events come at a moment where many activists worry that the current political environment may result in a backsliding on many of the rights they’ve long fought for.
Demonstrators rally during an International Women's Day protest in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Women across the world called for equal pay, reproductive rights, education, justice and decision-making jobs and celebrate progress toward female empowerment during events and demonstrations marking International Women’s Day on Sunday.
Officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, International Women’s Day is commemorated in different ways and to varying degrees in places around the world. Protests are often political — and at times violent — rooted in women’s efforts to improve their rights as workers.
While the idea behind a women’s day originated in the U.S. with the American Socialist Party in 1909, it was a German feminist who pushed for a global commemoration during an international conference of socialist women held in 1910 in Copenhagen.
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The following year, events across Europe marked the day, and during World War I, women used it to protest the armed conflict, which lasted from 1914 to 1918.
Some say commemorating International Women’s Day is now more important than ever, as women have lost gains made in the last century, among them the 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a nationwide right to abortion, which ended constitutional protections that had been in place nearly 50 years.
Women chant slogans and hold signs in Turkish that read “Not fate, but resistance” and “End policies of impunity” during a protest marking International Women’s Day in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A girl wearing wings that read in Spanish, “I don’t want to grow up scared” looks at protest signs during a rally marking International Women’s Day, at the Zocalo in Mexico City, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)Women perform during a march marking International Women’s Day on Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)South Korean activists march a day ahead of International Women’s Day in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)A woman holds a banner reading in Spanish, “Kast and machismo are the same thing; he doesn’t represent us” referring to Chilean President-elect Jose Antonio Kast, during an International Women’s Day protest in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)People march to mark International Women’s Day in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Indigenous women march marking International Women’s Day in Puyo, Ecuador, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa).A woman holds a placard reading “We are the voice of those who no longer have one” as she takes part in a march to mark International Women’s Day in Paris, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)Women perform a good luck ceremony before a march marking International Women’s Day, in Lima, Peru, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)People rally for International Women’s Day in Guatemala City, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)Women’s right activists take part in a rally to mark International Women’s Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)Demonstrators rally on International Women’s Day in downtown Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)People march for International Women’s Day in Asuncion, Paraguay, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)Women hold photos of people who they accuse of being victimizers of women during a march marking the upcoming International Women’s Day, in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)Local workers take part in International Women’s Day celebrations in Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh Cambodia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)Demonstrators chant slogans as they march marking International Women’s Day in Lima, Peru, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)Women march marking International Women’s Day in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)Women listen to a performance of the song “Ave Maria” during the flash mob “Beautiful secular outing” performance at a concert hall celebrating upcoming International Women’s Day, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)Demonstrators rally during an International Women’s Day protest in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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