Marches for women's empowerment rolled across the globe for a second day Sunday with rallies from Australia to Zambia and in the United States from New York to Vancouver, Wash.
The events took place against a backdrop of political dysfunction in Washington as the federal government shutdown stumbled into its own second day Sunday.
In the U.S., a power-to-the-polls theme focused on registering voters and encouraging women to run for office in November's midterm elections. Rally leaders here were launching a drive aimed at registering 1 million voters nationwide, and volunteers flanked the edges of the crowd entering Sam Boyd Stadium offering to register voters.
Lisa Paz, 36, showed up in support of her mother, Alexis Jimenez, who is running for a seat in New Mexico's state Legislature. Paz, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, attended the national march last year in Washington, D.C.
"There's always room to grow," she said. "And as native people in general, we're always kind of left out."
Local resident Emaan Khawaja, 17, said the event is "monumental" for the city.
"As a girl who goes to school and also is a minority that wears a headscarf, I feel like it's really important to be at a place like this," she said.
Sex workers carried red umbrellas, symbols of safety for the profession, said Lux Lives, 26. The name is the moniker she goes by as a sex worker.
"Our work is valid and deserves to be represented," she said.
In Phoenix, local rally organizer Eva Burch said last year's march was a protest, this year's is a "movement."
"This year, we have an opportunity to make a meaningful impact in 2018 elections," Burch said. "Last year, we discovered how much energy was waiting and willing to be harnessed in the community, and I felt like this year we had an obligation to tap into that and give people something to do."
In New York City’s Union Square, about 200 women and men gathered at a Feminism & Faith in Unity rally and march that added a religious twist to the many marches around the nation.
Women from the Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Islamic, Buddhist, Unitarian, Lakota Sioux traditions and others offered blessings for rally participants who carried signs that proclaimed “She Lifts Up, We Rise Up” and “There’s Something About Mary.”
“Thanks for this opportunity to bring our faith to our feminism, and our feminism to our faith,” said Lizzie Berne DeGear, an event organizer and member of The Women Who Stayed, a parish organization at the Church of St. Francis Xavier.
About 200 people also gathered in tiny Lewes, Del., population about 3,000.
“The real power is at the polls,” said Paulette Rappa, executive director of The Way Home, a non-profit that helps formerly incarcerated citizens transition back into their communities. “The real march is on Election Day.”
Rallies took place in more than 30 countries. In London, thousands rallied from Downing Street, home of Prime Minister Theresa May, to a memorial to women in World War II. The crowd, undaunted by the cold, rainy day, chanted "Time's up" and "We want justice, not revenge."
"Amazing atmosphere at #TimesUp london" tweeted activist Helen Pankhurst.
In Australia, more than 1,500 people linked arms around Sydney's Hyde Park in a chain of solidarity, chanting "We are unbroken." They waved signs with slogans such as "Fight like a girl" and "Don't mansplain my rights to me."
The "Look Back, March Forward," which began Saturday, pay homage to the 2017 Women's March that took place exactly one year ago Sunday.
Speakers across the nation criticized President Trump and vowed to protect women’s rights, the environment and American ideals of free speech, religious freedom and tolerance.
Trump had a different take, tweeting: "Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!"
Empowerment took on an added urgency this year after revelations of sexual misconduct by men in the media, politics, sports and other careers. And in New Jersey, first lady Tammy Murphy shared her #MeToo story with thousands of people who attended Saturday's Women’s March in Morristown, saying she wanted to "add my voice to this growing chorus.”
Murphy said she was a sophomore at the University of Virginia when she was dragged into bushes by an assailant who slammed her on her back, climbed on top of her and pulled up her shirt and skirt.
"I started screaming," she said. She finally bit the man "as hard as I could" and escaped, fleeing into a nearby fraternity house. The man escaped but eventually was nabbed for another crime and sent to prison.
"I know the feeling of helplessness," she said. "I know the disappointment of justice denied. By speaking out we can find our strength and ensure our lives are not defined by our experience.”
In Las Vegas, even Cher showed up, telling the crowd, "It's time to step up to the plate, and to deserve it [the vote] is to own it."
Recalling that her grandmother gave birth to her mother when she was 14 years old, the entertainer said her mother "thought you had to have a man to take care of you."
"I lost a lot of my power to marriage," she said. "It was my fault."
She added, "This is one of the worst times in our history and that's why I honestly believe women are going to fix it."
Diana Titus, who represents Nevada's first congressional district, made an appearance at the rally via video alongside Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.
“I wish I could be there, but I’m Washington trying to reopen the government for the good for the American people,” Titus said.
Tamika Mallory, co-president of the Women’s March organization, made a more specific call to action: "Don’t come to this rally today and sit here with your pink hat on, saying that you’re with us, and you’re nowhere to be found when black people ask you to show up in the streets to defend our lives," Mallory said.
"Our job in 2018 is to make good on all the times you left us out here in the cold," she continued. "Stand up for me, white women, come to my aid. You say you want to be my friend, I don’t want to hear it from your mouth, I want to see it in your votes when you go to the midterm elections ... We must build an inclusive movement in this country. We haven’t done it because we are all here today."
Bacon reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY; Kaila White, The Arizona Republic; Catherine Carrera, The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record; Taylor Goebel, The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times
