International Women’s Day 2026 emerged worldwide as a powerful expression of the global movement of women and workers. The genocide against the Palestinian people, the brutal destruction of the achievements of Rojava, mass killings and expulsions such as those in Sudan or the Congo, the cold-blooded murder, among other examples, of pregnant refugee women, such as off the coast of Chios, Greece, or the U.S. attack on Venezuela and intensified aggression against Cuba, reveal the brutal, misogynistic, and anti-human face of imperialism. This year’s March 8 demonstrated that humanity refuses to succumb to imperialist barbarism! An anti-imperialist, anti-fascist movement is growing worldwide, and the working class is beginning to assume its leading role within it.

Workers, women, and LGBTI+ people are taking to the streets with determination to oppose sexual violence, social injustice, exploitation, imperialist wars, and the threat of a third world war. In many countries, people honored the socialist origins of International Women’s Day and called for revolutionary perspectives. The following report aims to provide an overview of the actions surrounding International Women’s Day and to demonstrate: On March 8, women and workers worldwide are united in their struggle on the streets. The report does not claim to be exhaustive, but aims to highlight political trends as well as international commonalities among women, LGBTI+ individuals, and male allies.

Turkey

Thousands of women and LGBTI+ people gathered in many cities across Turkey, including Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Amed, Dersim, Van, Urfa, Ağrı, and Kars. In Istanbul’s Kadıköy district, protests were held, organized by the March 8 Women’s Platform. Letters from imprisoned socialist women—who were detained on February 3 as part of the fascist Turkish state’s campaign of arrest terror—were read aloud. Among the prisoners were Tanya Kara of the Socialist Women’s Council (SKM), Hivda Selen of the Free Young Women (ÖGK), and Beycan Taşkıran of the Limter-İş union.

In their letters, the prisoners emphasized that despite their detention, they were present on the streets in spirit and consciousness. They condemned hate campaigns against LGBTI+ people, murderous violence against women stemming from male aggression, the exploitation of female labor and unpaid reproductive work, as well as imperialist wars. The organization Yeni Kadın Dünyası also participated in the demonstration in Kadıköy, where they marched under the slogan “Women’s liberation requires revolution! Everything else is an illusion!”

Slogans such as “Down with the patriarchal-capitalist system!”, “Equal pay for equal work!”, “Socialism or barbarism!” and “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi!” echoed through the streets, while speeches demanded justice for women like the student Rojin Kabaiş, whose body was found in Van 18 days after her disappearance. Striking teachers, Kurdish peace mothers, and representatives of the LGBTI+ community also voiced their demands for recognition of their existence, safety, and solidarity.

Source: News Platform ETHA

Source: News Platform ETHA

Kurdistan

In Kurdistan, particularly in Amed, Dersim, Van, Urfa, Ağrı, and Kars, women celebrated March 8 as a day of resistance and freedom. In Dersim, they gathered on Sanat Street, marched to Seyit Rıza Square, and demonstrated against poverty, inequality, violence, and war. Despite police attempts to remove LGBTQ+ symbols, politician Ayten Kordu emphasized the rights of all marginalized people.

In Amed, the Özgür Kadın Hareketi and the Dicle Amed Women’s Platform organized a demonstration under the slogan “We become free through resistance; we are building a democratic society.” Women wore colorful traditional dresses and danced the halay. Messages from imprisoned women were also read aloud there.

Argentina

In Argentina, on March 8 and 9, thousands took to the streets to protest against precarious working conditions, layoffs, and slave-like labor reforms that particularly affect women and LGBTI+ people. Under the slogan “Let’s unite our struggles to defeat the slave-like labor reforms of Milei, the IMF, and their accomplices,” the Revolutionary Communist Party of Argentina (PCR) and unions such as the CGT, CTA A, CTA T, and UTEP, among others, organized demonstrations and rallies.

In Pacheco on March 6, workers at the Mondelez factory staged a one-hour shift strike to underscore the significance of March 8 as Working Women’s Day and to draw attention to the tradition of the women’s strike.

Source: pcr.org

Source: pcr.org

Chile

In Santiago de Chile, an estimated 500,000 people gathered for the annual Women’s March, organized in collaboration with grassroots abortion rights network “Con las Amigas y En La Casa,” to protest President José Antonio Kast’s efforts to block women’s rights.

Mexico

Tens of thousands of women marched through Mexico City and across the country on Sunday to celebrate International Women’s Day. This has become the largest political protest rally in a country where, according to human rights activists, sexual violence is often ignored or goes unpunished.

One of Mexico City’s main streets turned into a sea of purple and green—colors that symbolize justice, reproductive rights, and physical self-determination—as thousands of women marched, demanding an end to sexual oppression and violence. In particular, the fight against femicide has been a central issue for women in Mexico for years, where statistically ten women are killed every day.

Europe

In European countries as well, the demonstrations were large-scale and diverse.

France

In France, a total of around 200,000 people took part; in Paris alone, 130,000 were on the streets. The CGT trade union and numerous migrant women’s organizations, including Kurdish and Alevi groups, mobilized against violence, discrimination, for equal pay, and against the far right. In cities such as Bordeaux, Lille, Marseille, Lyon, and Strasbourg, tens of thousands took to the streets to raise awareness of women’s labor, show solidarity with women worldwide, and fight against fascism.

Netherlands

From the Netherlands, the ICOR organization Rode Morgen reported on a lively demonstration in Amsterdam with around 20,000 participants. The militant bloc of the March 8 Committee carried an ICOR banner and brought slogans such as “A different future, a better life, down with war, women to the front!” and “Imperialists, hands off Iran and the Middle East!” to the streets of Amsterdam.

Source: Report Rode Morgen

Germany

In Germany, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities such as Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Hamburg, and Stuttgart. The demonstrations were loud, militant, and focused on internationalism. It was particularly remarkable that young participants dominated the demonstrations. Key issues included violence against women, femicide, the role of patriarchal structures, and the struggle for social justice.

Unions such as the DGB organized their own contingents and demanded better working conditions in healthcare, social services, and education, as well as the protection of the 8-hour workday. Particularly noteworthy, however, was the anti-imperialist character of the protests. In their speeches, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) and its youth wing REBELL highlighted the danger of a world war and the acute fascist threat, presenting a vibrant vision of a socialist society.

Source: Rote Fahne News

The Federation of Class-Struggle Organizations (FKO), the socialist youth organization Young Struggle, and Zora chose Wedding in Berlin as the site for their demonstration, where a weapons factory is being built that is scheduled to start production in July. The slogan was “Against War – For the Women’s Revolution.” Around 500 people, mostly young women, took part.

The protests focused on military expansion and wars in the Middle East. Speakers emphasized that wars do not benefit women or the people, and took a clear stand against military expansion and conscription. Banners for Rojava were displayed, YPJ flags flew, photos of immortal women fighters were held aloft, and the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” echoed repeatedly through the streets of Berlin.

Solidarity with women in Rojava, Palestine, and Iran was evident everywhere. In addition, at many demonstrations, signs and speeches called for the release of German journalist Eva Michelmann, who had been abducted by HTS.

Source: News Platform ETHA

Greece

In Athens, female workers protested against workplace accidents, poor working conditions, and poverty among women. Palestinian women performed traditional dances, accompanied by speeches from trade unions and workers’ initiatives. The actions were supported by local feminist groups and trade unions.

Nepal

In Nepal, speakers in Kupondol, Lalitpur, emphasized that March 8 must be defended as a historic achievement of the revolutionary struggle. Representatives of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Nepal and the Scientific Socialist Communist Party called for the linking of women’s liberation and class struggle, as well as cooperation between women and men for a transformed society.

Philippines

The demonstrations in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, were clearly directed against current U.S. interventions in the Middle East. More than 100 activists gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy and burned pictures of President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

As part of the protests marking International Women’s Day, demonstrators from the militant women’s organization Gabriela gathered in Manila on Sunday. During their march through Liwasang Bonifacio, they destroyed a statue to draw attention to their demands. The group called for the abolition of the value-added tax and for the criminal prosecution of corrupt government officials. They emphasized that rising prices, stagnant wages, and landlessness hit Filipino women particularly hard.

They also condemned the ongoing proxy wars in the Middle East and what they termed U.S. aggression, stressing that these conflicts continue to affect working women and families worldwide.

Source: Fotos by Edd Gumban/The Philippine STAR

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the Communist Party (Maoist) of Afghanistan and the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women (SMAW) highlighted the massive oppression of women's rights and freedoms under the political-IslamicTaliban regime.

The statement by the Communist Party of Afghanistan reads: “The Afghan woman—half the sky, a storm against tyranny! March 8 is not a day for flowers and decorative messages; it is a day to expose the roots of oppression and declare historical steadfastness. In Afghanistan, under the heel of reaction, women were not only deprived of their rights, they were deliberately put in chains.”

The SMAW, which secretly organizes protests, underground schools, and safe houses for women to ensure education, organization, and resistance against the Taliban, declared its deep solidarity with all women suffering under the catastrophes of war. They emphasize their shared pain with the women in Iran, the women in Ukraine, the women in Gaza, and all oppressed and struggling women worldwide.

Palestine

We also received a statement from Palestine, issued by the Union of Women’s Committees of Palestine of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), marking International Working Women’s Day on March 8.

The statement noted that 28,000 women have lost their lives in the attacks by the occupying state and that 58 women are currently imprisoned in the jails of the Zionist occupying state. On the occasion of March 8, they reaffirm their commitment that Palestinian women will continue to lead the national and social development process and inspire everyone with values such as resistance, determination, dignity, and freedom.

They emphasize that Palestinian women are the heart of society’s resistance—the measure of progress and the sincerity of the commitment to human rights. In addition, special attention was drawn to the dire situation of female and male prisoners in the Zionist State of Israel, and their immediate release was demanded, along with a remembrance of the martyrs of the liberation struggle.

Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the Frontline Socialist Party and its women’s organization, Free Women, organized a militant demonstration in Colombo that addressed the impact of imperialist wars, the double burden women face in both work and domestic chores, and sexual violence. Dance theater performances and speeches vividly portrayed violence against women and highlighted the role of historical pioneers such as Clara Zetkin and Alexandra Kollontai.

Source: Free Women Sri Lanka

South Korea

In South Korea, numerous unions participated in the women’s strike, including the Gumi Branch and KEC Branch of the Metal Workers’ Union, the Seoul Branch 1366 and Seoul Center Branch of the Public Transport Workers’ Union, the Tollgate Branch of the Democratic Labor Union, and the National Union of the Learning Support Industry. Women, LGBTI+ organizations, and unorganized workers laid down their work to take to the streets together and fight for true gender equality.

Whether in Europe, Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East—the demonstrations represented a determined, internationally connected movement. This year’s March 8, in particular, was marked globally by anti-imperialism: women, LGBTI+ individuals, and male allies stood up against the imperialist-Zionist attacks on Iran, the Zionist aggression in Gaza, and the looming threat of a Third World War.

Furthermore, the participation of workers and trade unions, accompanied by strikes and laying down of work, highlighted the class-struggle dimension of International Women’s Day. The clear message was unmistakable: the struggle for women’s liberation is inseparable, revolutionary, and international.