‘Trump has been amazing for feminism’: Thousands join Women’s March in London against austerity and violence

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of central London to show their opposition to violence against women and the gendered impact of austerity measures.

Women in around 30 countries have assembled to protest against female oppression on the second anniversary of the first Women’s March in 2017.

The inaugural demonstration saw 6 million people across the world united in anger over the election of Donald Trump – who has a record of making demeaning comments about women – as US president.

Demonstrators gathered at 11am in Portland Place before heading towards Regent Street and along Haymarket, ending with a rally and speeches in Trafalgar Square.

The theme for the London event was “bread and roses”, commemorating the Polish-born American suffragette and worker’s rights campaigner Rose Schneiderman. After the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 where 146 mainly female garment-industry workers died, Schneiderman said: “The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too.”

Women of all ages along with a smattering of men clutched bouquets of roses and brandished pithily sombre placards as they marched through the capital.

“I will never understand why it is more shameful to be raped than be a rapist,” read one sign. “I’ve seen better cabinets in Ikea,” said another. “Anything you can do, I can do bleeding,” chimed in one more.

Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, a Women’s March organiser, told The Independent she was marching because she was worried about the impact Brexit will have on women.

“I was at the first Women’s March – walking at the front next to Bonnie Greer and Sadiq Khan,” the lawyer says.

“I am here because we need to disrupt the status quo. Austerity has hit women hardest. Reports from the Fawcett Society show women are bearing the brunt of economic oppression.”

Placards reflected this sentiment across the colourful crowd of protesters who were wrapped in scarves and hats for warmth. Some wore cat-eared pink “pussy hats” as a sartorial rebuke of Mr Trump’s notorious leaked comments about grabbing women by the genitals.

“I am fast and furious like my name,” said Anna Quick, who founded women’s rights charity Verve.

“I am here with my mother and daughter. There are three generations of us. And then there is Rocky the chihuahua. He is a male ally. He even has a Verve badge on,” the 49-year-old added, gesturing to a small dog poking out of her bag.

The campaigner explained her 81-year-old mother knitted the three anatomical hats worn by the family.

“I told her to also knit tan and black ones because not all pussies are pink,” she added. “My passion is women and girls in the developing world. The biggest issues facing women in 2019 are clean water, access to education, and ending child marriage.

“I want my daughter to get equal pay but the other stuff is more important to me. Sorry, kiddo,” she said, making her daughter chuckle.

Ms Quick, who says she has been a feminist for as long as she remembers, said the election of Mr Trump has helped the feminist cause.

“Trump has been amazing for feminism,” she said. “My generation have been pissed for a long time but he has woken up younger women. They now say they are feminists but that wasn’t the case five years ago. If he were to vanish now I’d be glad he came. He can go now.

“I was born a feminist. My mother was a single mother and teacher and I grew up seeing inequities and struggles around me.”

Elsewhere in the crowd, toddlers could be seen sitting on demonstrators’ shoulders and wrapped up inside prams. The mood was one of sunny and cheerful determination – with no talk of the recent controversy that has seen Women’s March leaders in the US accused of antisemitism.

Both Tamika Mallory and Carmen Perez, co-chairs of the Women’s March in America, have been linked to Louis Farrakhan. He is the leader of the Nation of Islam and has a history of making antisemitic and homophobic remarks.

The Nation of Islam is deemed to be an antisemitic hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre. In November Women’s March organisers issued a statement saying the movement existed “to fight bigotry and discrimination in all their forms – including homophobia and antisemitism – and to lift up the voices of women who are too often left out”.

Organisers of the global Women’s March have sought to distance themselves from the controversy, saying they were an associated but separate movement from the Women’s March in America, with separate funding and leadership.

“I love the atmosphere. It is a bunch of women and men supporting equal rights,” said Caitlin Cooper, a 19-year-old student who is studying paediatric nursing Southbank university.

“I love the amazing variety of people,” added Frances Friend, who is studying history at Kings College London.

“Some people of our age don’t think there is a cause – even though I’m sometimes scared to walk home at night. They think there are equal rights for men and women but I think there is still a fight.”

Ms Cooper said: “People normalise women feeling scared to walk home alone. Sometimes it takes something awful to happen to someone for them to have an opinion.”

As buoyant protesters marched towards Trafalgar Square, bemused tourists could be seen standing by the side of the road filming the hubbub.

“I am here because I believe women should have equal rights and equal pay. I can’t believe we have to be here today but there you go,” Louisa Enock, 54, said.

Mathew Bain, her 25-year-old son, added: “This is my first march and I’m here for the same reason. If you do the same job, you deserve the same amount of money. Also, there has been a shift to the far right with leaders across the world and this is bad for women, and bad for immigrants, and bad for poor people.”

“I don’t think the Conservative party cares about equal rights for women,” Ms Enock added. “The party is based on keeping the top dogs at the top and face it, they are mostly men. It is not in the party’s interests or on their radar to be aware of gender inequality.”

Elsewhere in the throng of people, Sara, a 24-year-old who works in publishing but did not want to give her full name, said: “I’m a feminist. But I don’t think just saying that is enough. You have to be politically active and you have to march. Protests like today actually make a difference – the upskirting bill started with protests.

“I am not sure how much the #MeToo movement has changed the day to day lived reality of women’s lives but it has definitely opened up conversations and raised awareness. It is now treated as an issue. It is important we look at all three issues of class, race and gender when understanding women’s situation.”