There were mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, husbands, fathers, brothers and sons; their ages ranged from those in strollers to people with walkers and they were united in a message of solidarity with women around the world.
On Saturday, thousands demonstrated in London, marching from the US embassy on Grosvenor Square to Trafalgar Square, to send a message to the incoming administration that “women’s rights are human rights,” according to organizers.
Speakers told crowds at Trafalgar Square that at least 100,000 people had turned out. London’s Metropolitan Police do not provide crowd estimates, but aerial footage showed large numbers of people in the square.
The protest — a “sister march” to demonstrations in the US — attracted a diverse crowd with a variety of concerns.
Here are some of their voices:
Tanya Jahnke-Baxter
Flight attendant Tanya Jahnke-Baxter, 59, from California told CNN she was marching in London because of women’s reproductive rights.
“I was 13 years old when they legalized abortion in our country. I’m 59. It’s still a subject that we’re debating, which I just find abhorrent.”
“For me it’s been depressing,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine that my fellow countrymen wouldn’t come out to vote and we would end up with someone like Donald Trump as the president of our country.”
Mariam Khan
Khan, 23, a publicist from Birmingham, told CNN she was marching because she wants people regardless of where they are from to be heard and appreciated.
Women should “have the right to be in this world without fear,” she said.
When asked about Trump’s statements about Muslims, Khan described them as “aged, and old, and ridiculous.”
“To have such an ignorant point of view he must not have ever appreciated a woman who is more than just what she wears,” she said.
“It makes him less of a man.”
Natalie Le Brun
Author Natalie Le Brun, 34, from West Yorkshire told CNN she decided to march because she’s concerned “as a disabled person and an LGBT person.”
“Things are genuinely scaring me at the moment and things need to change across the board (on) both sides of the pond,” Le Brun, whose girlfriend lives in Alabama, told CNN.
“The government doesn’t seem to understand the disability issue, it doesn’t seem to understand that it’s not giving disabled people enough help…we’re being classed as lazy.”
Anna Webber
Nurse and mother-of-three Anna Webber told CNN she was marching with her seven-year-old daughter Freya because she wanted to “protest against the racism” that Trump “stands up for.”
“I want to demonstrate and say that we’re against that…for our children and future generations.”
Webber said that after Brexit she’s worried “that we’re becoming really inward looking.”
“That’s not what we want,” she added.
Natalie Tellwright
Natalie Tellwright, 26, a sustainable fisheries and marine conservation officer told CNN she was at the march with her girlfriend because they believe very strongly in “the environmental movement” and “LGBTQ rights.”
“Hopefully people will listen and our rights are not taken away,” said Tellwright.
Girlfriend Ruthie Musker, 28, originally from California, said she wanted to be at the march to “unite with the rest of the world.”
Rachel Callender
Rachel Callender a lawyer born in Trinidad and Tobago, raised in Venezuela and educated in the US told CNN she was marching because there’s a “patriarchy that needs to be smashed.”
“Inclusion is really important in these women’s issues,” she said.
“Everyone is looking at America but it’s a global problem and by standing in solidarity with Washington today, I think that message will be sent.”
Ben Dickson
“Women’s rights are everyone’s rights,” said 38-year-old Ben Dickson a commodity trader living in London.
“We’re not happy that somebody like Trump can be elected. We can understand that democracy is what we have, but democracy also allows you to express your displeasure”
Dickson said he felt lucky to be able to protest.
“This is not a right that everyone has,” he said.
