A host of celebrities led the way as thousands marched through the capital today in a bid to highlight the plight of refugees and condemn President Donald Trump.
Singers Annie Lennox, Emeli Sande, Melanie C, Natasha Bedingfield and Kate Nash joined ardent campaigner Bianca Jagger on the impassioned march ahead of International Women’s Day on Wednesday.
As Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told the crowd, ‘This is what a feminist looks like’, Annie Lennox suggested US President Donald Trump had been ‘helpful’ in drumming up support for women’s rights.
The stars proudly chanted, held aloft banners and placards and stood in solidarity with activists campaigning for women’s rights across the world as they made their way through the city.
Scroll down for adult video
Annie Lennox stood in solidarity with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and campaigner Bianca Jagger on Tower Bridge
Singers Kate Nash, Emelie Sande and Natasha Bedingfield all showed their support at the March4Women event in London
Natasha Bedingfield proudly held a sign aloft while Kate Nash wore a long fur coat emblazoned with stars at the CARE International rally and march
Girl power: Spice Girls star Melanie C (pictured next to Annie Lennox), was among the women and campaigners in London on Sunday afternoon
Eurythmics star Annie Lennox, 62, said Trump’s ‘locker room talk’ acted as a ‘catalyst’ for many women, as she took part in the event in London.
Thousands of people took part in the march from City Hall across Tower Bridge, with the famous London landmark closed to traffic for the event.
Lennox led the crowd alongside other well known figures including Labour MP Emily Thornberry.
Placards and banners were emblazoned with messages such as ‘#march4women’, ‘py power’ and ‘I’m a woman phenomenally, phenomenal woman that’s me’.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told crowds: ‘This is what a feminist looks like.’
RELATED ARTICLES
Previous
1
Next
From maids to mechanics: Incredible pictures of the women… ‘I don’t know what my ts have to do with feminism’: Emma… Fashion Forward: International Women’s Day #beboldforchange
Share this article
Share
Comments made by Mr Trump in a 2005 leaked video in which he bragged about grabbing women ‘by the py’ made global headlines during the US presidential campaign.
Lennox said: ‘In a weird kind of way that kind of event that happened actually catalysed the issue for a lot of girls and women in a particular way that became very strong.
‘It actually became very real for them, because when someone says ‘It’s just locker room talk’, actually don’t we think it’s time that we should address that particularly if they’re the leading representative of one of the biggest most influential countries in the world?
‘So that made women very angry, that made the issue very clear for them.’
Bianca Jagger – the former wife of Rolling Stones star Mick Jagger and now a human rights campaigner – said she was calling for people ‘to think about what we are facing with a President in the US who wants to belittle women, who wants to reduce all rights’.
The CARE International March 4 Women rally aimed to shine a light on the inequality faced by women and girls around the world
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan last week led a protest in the capital ahead of the Oscars ceremony and President Trump’s travel ban
The celebrities showed their support for women around the world as they held banners and placards and marched along the bridge
Annie Lennox said: ‘There’s so much more to address. We’ve been banging this drum for a long, long time. I welcome anybody that comes here, men and women’
Thousands of people came together and joined the march through the capital, along Tower Bridge
Campaigners held up handmade signs with messages including: ‘Feminism – the radical idea that all girls and women deserve to be safe from violence’
Lennox added: ‘But actually what we’re saying is that the issue is huge, looking at the developing world, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
‘So there’s so much more to address. We’ve been banging this drum for a long, long time. I welcome anybody that comes here, men and women.
‘So in a funny way, the Donald Trump statement is almost helpful as a catalyst.’
Lennox was among a host of campaigners at the CARE International rally and march which aimed to shine a light on the inequality faced by women and girls around the world.
Jagger, 71, also said she had been ‘shocked and revolted’ at Theresa May for inviting Donald Trump to Britain at a state visit.
She said: ‘I’m deeply disappointed, not only disappointed in her as a politician, but I’m disappointed in her as a woman.’
Dr Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter of suffragette Emmeline, said having someone like Mr Trump in power is a ‘major problem’.
But she said the problem is not just the man himself – but also the people who voted for him and ‘therefore the wider social attitudes’.
Members of the public and women’s rights groups held signs bearing slogans such as, ‘Girls just wanna have fun-damental rights’
People in the crowd displayed their signs calling for women to be treated with respect – and calling for an end to discrimination
Thousands sat and listened to the speeches near Tower Bridge, and were addressed by celebrities and the Mayor
Singer Emile Sande beamed as she stood alongside women in the crowd – before she led a singalong on London’s Southbank
The Mayor of London stood beside MP Emily Thornberry and Bianca Jagger. He later tweeted: ‘Gender equality is not just a women’s issue – when women succeed, everyone benefits. Great to join thousands of Londoners at #March4women’
Sadiq Khan wrote on Twitter: Brilliant to be part of today’s #March4Women. Proud to join so many Londoners & march for gender equality’
Dr Pankhurst said: ‘I feel right now the world is so much more polarised between those who believe in going backwards and those who believe in going forwards.
‘I just hope, on balance and on reflection, as we continue to explain why we still need to have change, that the world will continue to progress.
‘I absolutely feel that what we are seeing at the moment through this polarisation is more boots on the ground in terms of people expressing their views.’
Asked what her great-grandmother would make of today’s world, she said the famous campaigner would say ‘let’s celebrate your successes’ – but would also warn not to take anything for granted.
‘The type of misogyny that she experienced – that the suffragettes experienced – still presents itself today.
‘It presents itself through things like social media, so it’s changing, it’s morphing, but it’s still very much there.
‘And she’d be saying ‘Get out there, get out there on the streets, use modern technology’, so use those same methods of social media that can be used against you, use them in terms of getting that voice of change and keep doing what’s needed so that we can get to equality,’ she said.
Asked if she thinks her great-grandmother would have been surprised at comments like Mr Trump’s being made in today’s era, she said: ‘No I don’t think she would have been surprised, because there’s a theme running through these ideas of a male-dominated society.
‘It’s the same today as it was 100 years ago. I mean, she’d be sad. We all are. We all are slightly in disbelief at what’s happened.’
Sadiq KhanLondonDonald Trump
