MARCHES and rallies were held across the globe on Sunday to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Under the slogan “Rights. Justice. Action. For all women and girls,” demonstrators called for efforts to dismantle all barriers to equal justice, such as violence, harassment, discriminatory laws and weak legal protections.

The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war is on the increase in places such as Sudan.

Women and girls have also been hit hard during the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. An estimated two-thirds of the more than 70,000 dead are women and girls, according to figures from the territory’s Health Ministry.

Across the world, women and girls have only 64 per cent of the legal rights of men. The UN points out that if progress continues at its current pace, it will take 286 years to close legal protection gaps.

In many countries, the law allows for early and child marriage, which erodes the full potential of about 12 million girls a year.

In the Ecuadorean capital Quito, the capital of Ecuador, International Women’s Day was transformed into a day of struggle and protest. A huge march to Santo Domingo Square in the centre of the city condemned the worsening inequalities for women under far-right President Daniel Naboa.

Mr Naboa deployed the military to confront the demonstration as protesters chanted: “Out Noboa, out.” 

Violence against women and girls continues to increase in Ecuador.

According to a report by the Feminist Alliance for the Monitoring of Femicides, 2025 was the most violent year for women in Ecuador, with a total of 411 femicides.

In Swaziland, the day was linked to the wider struggle for democracy.

The Communist Party of Swaziland said: “The struggle for democracy in Swaziland is about political rights, economic and social justice, in which women are as important as everyone in society.

“A democratic Swaziland is essential for the realisation of women’s rights.”

The South African Communist Party said International Women’s Day was “an outcome of women’s struggles and not an act of charity by those in power, including the patriarchal structures that dominate society.”

The party added that “the struggle for socialism is integral to the struggle for the destruction of patriarchal society and subjugation of women within it.”

The Communist Party of India–Marxist said it was important to remember that the origin of International Women’s Day “lies in the struggles of women workers against their exploitative working conditions and to assert their rights, and this struggle continues to this day.”