March 8: Tens of thousands of protesters expected this Sunday in France to defend women's rights

More than a hundred organizations, including feminist associations and unions, are calling for participation in demonstrations organized in 150 locations across France, including Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, and Saint-Malo. "Stop the violence," "Work to live, not just survive," "Our bodies belong to us": tens of thousands of people are preparing to demonstrate this Sunday, March 8, throughout France to defend women's rights, threatened by the rise of conservatism, according to the associations. March 8 will be an opportunity to defend "values that are fundamental to us," such as "the fight for women's emancipation" and "against the far right, which sows the seeds of discord." "Racism, misogyny, and homophobia," stressed Myriam Lebkiri of the CGT during a press conference on the day's events. In Bordeaux, Lille, Marseille, and smaller cities like Saint-Malo and Annemasse, more than a hundred organizations, including feminist associations and unions, are calling for participation in demonstrations organized in 150 locations across France to mark International Women's Day. In Paris, the march will depart at 2 p.m. from Stalingrad in the northeast, heading towards Place de la République. United States, a laboratory"

For its part, the far-right collective Nemesis will organize its own rally in the west of the capital. Some of the organizers had requested that her presence be banned from the demonstration, accusing her of "instrumentalizing" feminism "for racist ends."

In a symbolic move, the altered motto "liberty, equality*, fraternity" will be projected onto the Eiffel Tower in the evening, the asterisk symbolizing equality "under non-consensual conditions" for women.

The associations belonging to the Feminist Strike collective, which is organizing Sunday's mobilization, are seeking to raise awareness of the "danger" that the far right represents for women's rights, as the municipal elections approach, scheduled for March 15 and 22.

Since his return to the White House last year, the American president has notably taken a series of measures against abortion and dismantled anti-discrimination policies.

Concerns about sexual rights

In France, the associations They are concerned about sexual rights (contraception, abortion): "We are on alert," stated Sarah Durocher of the Family Planning Association, who observes "difficulties accessing abortion on the ground," linked to a "lack of resources" and the "closure of local facilities." The Pelicot trial, the scandal of assaults in after-school programs in Paris, the Epstein affair... Demonstrators will also protest on Sunday against the persistent sexist and sexual violence in society. To combat this phenomenon, associations are demanding an annual budget of three billion euros as well as a comprehensive framework law that includes measures for prevention, education, protection, support for victims, and punishment of perpetrators. A 3.6% pay gap for "comparable jobs" Minister Aurore Bergé unveiled the outlines of a project in November. a framework law to combat violence, comprising 53 measures, may not be enacted due to a particularly tight parliamentary agenda. Demonstrators will also advocate for the economic empowerment of women, who hold lower-paying jobs and are more likely to work part-time. For example, the average salary for women in the private sector was still 21.8% lower than that of men in 2024, according to a recent report by INSEE (the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies). The net full-time equivalent pay gap for comparable jobs remains estimated by the institute at 3.6%, just months before the deadline for transposing the European directive on pay transparency. Last year, the organizing collective, Feminist Strike, claimed 120,000 participants in the Paris march and a total of 250,000 across France. The Paris police prefecture counted 47,000 demonstrators in Paris, almost double the number from the previous year.