More than 3,000 women marched in Madrid to mark the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Many of the demonstrators felt galvanized by a court decision on Friday that cleared two men of rape because their victim did not fight back. Because she had told the attackers to stop, but not physically resisted, the judges opted for the lesser crime of sexual abuse.
Marches took place across Europe, but in Spain, where more than 40 women were killed in gender-based violence this year, demonstrators spoke of a need for a cultural shift to encourage women to speak out against abuse and they know there is still a long way to go. Protesters in cities across Europe and elsewhere marked the U.N. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Sunday, with tens of thousands turning out in Madrid and demonstrators in Istanbul greeted by tear gas. Tens of thousands of protesters, many wearing purple, marched through Madrid and other Spanish cities on Sunday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Protesters chanted slogans and carried signs reading “For Those Who Aren’t With Us” and “Justice”. In Madrid, the protest ended with a reading of the names of the 44 women killed in Spain last year in incidents of domestic violence.
Earlier this year, women across Spain went on strike and held hundreds of rallies to protest against gender inequality. The two largest unions said around 6 million women took part in the strike, the first of its kind to be held in Spain on International Women’s Day.
Spanish courts received more than 166,000 gender violence complaints in 2017, up 16 percent on the previous year, according to the General Council of the Judiciary.
Thousands march in Spanish cities to protest violence against women
