Million Women Rise (MWR) is a women-only march and rally against violence against women, held annually in London on a Saturday close to International Women's Day, 8 March. The march starts in Hyde Park and moves through Oxford Street in the famous West End shopping district, stopping traffic. It is followed by a rally in Trafalgar Square, with survivors of violence speaking to the crowd.[1][2]

The Million Women Rise rally at London on Saturday 8 March 2014

MWR has no corporate sponsors, and the organisers are grassroots activists without ties to large charities or NGOs.[3] It was founded in 2007 by campaigner and former outreach worker Sabrina Qureshi. She was motivated in part by her childhood experiences growing up on a multicultural London housing estate, where violence against women was often treated as normal and unremarkable. She was also inspired by women's movements around the world, including women she met during a visit to Palestine and the DRC who continued their activism even amid danger and violence.[3]

Million Women Rise (MWR) believes that male violence against women and children is a global pandemic that devastates lives and threatens to undermine efforts to bring about sustainable development.

References

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  1. ^ "Nina Kelly: Making a Stand: Million Women Rise Against Domestic Violence". Huffingtonpost.co.uk. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  2. ^ Qureshi, Sabrina (13 February 2015). "The police won't attend our Million Women Rise rally – we will march on | Sabrina Qureshi". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b "MILLION WOMEN RISE". MILLION WOMEN RISE. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
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