Women's March 2018 as it happened: Hundreds of thousands join nationwide protests against Trump
Hundreds of thousands of women around America and the world took to the streets for the 2018 Women's March, a year after the first such event was held in opposition to newly elected US President Donald Trump.
Demonstrators surged into the streets in protests in American cities across the country, with parallel rallies in Europe, Asia and Africa turning the event into a global affair. Authorities estimated that well over 100,000 people attended the New York rally and that some 300,000 showed up in Los Angeles.
And while the inaugural 2017 marches functioned as a primal cry against Mr Trump's election victory, the 2018 iteration served in part as a nationwide political rally. Democratic elected officials and liberal celebrities urged attendees to channel their energy and frustration with Mr Trump's policies into November's midterm elections, where Democrats hope to wrest back control of Congress, governorships and state legislatures.
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After last year's event, a wave of women decided to run for elected office and the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct became a cultural phenomenon.
“We made a lot of noise,” said Elaine Wynn, an organiser. “But now how do we translate that noise into something concrete or fulfilling?”
Speakers this year made reference to the rolling backlash against sexual harassment and assault, with New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy relaying her experience with sexual violence and encouraging other women to tell their stories.
The marches occurred amid the battle over a US government shutdown, which has disrupted Mr Trump's celebrations of the anniversary of his inauguration. Protesters and supportive politicians linked the two, decrying Republican policies that helped lead to the shutdown — particularly Mr Trump's decision to nix an Obama-era program shielding young immigrants from deportation — and urging attendees to vote for a different agenda in the fall.
Linda Sarsour, one of the four organisers of last year's Washington march, told the Associated Press that Las Vegas was set to hold a major rally on Sunday because it's a strategic swing state that gave Hillary Clinton a narrow win in the presidential election and will have one of the most competitive Senate races in 2018.
Democrats believe they have a good chance of winning the seat held by embattled Republican Senator Dean Heller and weakening the Republicans' hold on the chamber, where they have a 51-49 seat advantage.
Organisers say Nevada is also a microcosm of larger national issues such as immigration and gun control after Las Vegas became the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern history.
Agencies contributed to this report
