Thousands of women march in borderland for their rights

More than 2,000 El Paso women and supporters marched Saturday morning from Armijo Park to San Jacinto Plaza

“We’re all here today, say it with me, to stand with women!” yelled out one of the organizers as marchers cheered in the park.

The group included women of all ages, from grandmothers to girls holding “Nasty woman in training” signs.

Once at San Jacinto Plaza everyone danced and cheered as speakers explained why they took to the streets

“I’m an immigrant myself, and I’m also the mother of a 13-year-old beautiful girl. I marched today because I don’t want her to grow up in a society where women are objectified, a society that tells us we must look and act a certain way in order to be accepted,” said one speaker.

While there are some who may automatically think of abortion when it comes to women’s rights, marchers said the situation is more complex. They’re still fighting to simply be able to breastfeed in public, to equal opportunities and pay.

“People always talk about equal pay being 78 cents to the dollar, but that’s really for white women. So when you’re here at the border, where most of our women are not white, we’re talking about 45 cents to the dollar,” said Sandra Paola Lopez, an organizer.

In the end their message was simple: asking the new administration to not forget women.

“There can’t be justice and there can’t be peace in a community that doesn’t have equal rights,” Lopez said.

“You know, we’re like half of the world. We matter,” said Karin Gaudet-Asmus.

According to womensmarch.com there were 673 marches around the world, with an estimated 3 million 447 thousand people.