2020 Women's March
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The 2020 Women's March was a double protest that was held on January 18 and October 17, 2020, in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, and across the United States. Many people in countries around the world also participated in the women's global march. The demonstration follows similar protests in
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, and
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Overview

In 2020, the annual Women's March was held on January 18, and on October 17 a second march was held due to the death of
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...
. The first Women's March 2020 may not have had as much attention and was focused around grassroot campaigns, whereas the second Women's March 2020 had more attention and greater focus towards the 2020 presidential election and the opposition towards the Supreme Court Nomination process of
Amy Coney Barrett Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2020 as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth wom ...
.


First Women's March of 2020 (January 18, 2020)

The first Women's March 2020 on January 18, 2020, was held based on three themes:
reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to human reproduction, reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights: Reproductive rights ...
,
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...
, and
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. While these were the three themes for the 2020 Women's March, it was followed by the slogan “Women Rising." The Washington, D.C., march had about 10,000 attendees, which was a lower turnout in comparison to marches held in previous years. The DC march culminated with a moment of silence along with chanting a performance of a Chilean feminist anthem,
A Rapist in your Path "A Rapist in Your Path" (), also known as "The Rapist Is You" (), is a Chilean feminism, feminist performance art, performance piece that originated in 2019 to protest violence against women. The performance has garnered international attention a ...
, which sends a message of denouncing violence against women and a patriarchal state. Martin Luther King III introduced his wife, Andrea Waters King to speak to those gathered. King reminded the protestors that 2020 marked 100 years since women were given the right to vote. There were also about 180 cities that participated in the event as well by planning their own protests. In Chicago, marchers completed the route from Grant Park to Federal Plaza. Then, some of marchers made their way downtown to Trump Tower, where numbers dropped into the hundreds. In comparison to previous marches, the focus of the first march was more on grassroot campaigns and less on celebrities and prominent figures. Board members wanted the march to be more issue-driven for the activists, and decided to hold small-scale events throughout the week leading up to the march in January 2020. Besides the March's main themes, there was also a strong focus on protesting against President Trump. The women in Washington D.C., marched to the White House to protest Trump where he lived.


Second Women's March of 2020 (October 17, 2020)


Events that led up to the Second Women's March of 2020

The second Women's March 2020 was held on October 17, 2020, due to the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, 2020, less than eight weeks away from the presidential election. Even as the Women's March organization held a vigil in Washington, D.C., to honor the late justice, President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
intended to fill Ginsburg's seat before the 2020 election with the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett. There would be a conservative advantage on the Supreme Court with Amy Coney Barrett on the court. The Women's March Organization, in partnership with the We Demand More Coalition, organized this march with the intent to send a clear message to the Trump administration about his agenda with regard to judicial appointments, especially with the possibility of Roe V Wade being overturned if Amy Coney Barrett were to pass the GOP-controlled senate and officially join the Supreme Court. Some of the many rights at stake under a Justice Barrett would include abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and voting rights.


Goals of the Second Women's March

A lot of the focus of this march was towards the 2020 election, especially with opposition towards Donald Trump and the support of his Democratic opponent
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
. At the time of Ginsburg's death, early voting both by mail and in person had already started in several states like Virginia and Minnesota. Along with voter outreach for the 2020 election, the organizers not only wanted to register voters for the upcoming election, but also inform voters about the Women's rights and Feminist agenda for the 2020 election and the impacts of what was at stake thereof. The organizers of this march also wanted to show the power a women's vote can have along with the push towards progressive agendas and candidates. As before earlier in 2020, once again there were about 10,000 people that attended the march in Washington DC; that same day, the number of planned events across the country (in all 50 states) rose to 400, with an anticipated 70,000 participants. At the end of the march, a text-a-thon was held to encourage voters, especially in swing states, to go out and vote prior to and during the November 3rd election, with the goal of uniting women for the same purpose. The Women's March was highly encouraged women to vote, that they also partnered with voter registration organizations. Even though a lot of the marchers were white women, the organizers' goal was to build an activism movement and have a better focus towards multiracial women. A greater effort was made to bring all women, not just white women, together to become a powerful force of votes.


COVID-19 implications

Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, lower turnouts were expected due to the older demographics of those who had become regular participants of Women's Marches. Precautions were put in place with the organizers asking everyone to social distance and wear face coverings when attending these marches. Organizers of the Second Women's March advised against people with COVID-19 symptoms from attending in person; they also advised people to, if possible, stick with local marches instead of traveling to Washington DC. The Women's March Organization also held virtual events on the same day as the march along with car caravans for those who couldn't attend the march, with the focus towards voting rights and opposition against the Supreme Court confirmation process of Amy Coney Barrett.


Locations


United States

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Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
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Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...
(January 25) *
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
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Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...
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Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census estimate, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010 United States census, 2010. Murfreesboro i ...
* Philadelphia *
Seneca Falls, New York Seneca Falls is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 9,027 at the 2020 census. The Town of Seneca Falls contains the former village also called Seneca Falls. The town is east of Geneva, New York, in the north ...
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Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...
* Washington, D.C.


California

* Alameda * Los Angeles * Oakland * Pasadena * San Francisco * San Jose * Walnut Creek


Canada

Several communities in Canada held Women's March events on January 18, 2020. * Calgary AB * Muskoka ON * Regina SK


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Women's March, 2020 2020 in American politics 2020 in North America 2020 protests History of women's rights Human rights-related lists January 2020 in the United States October 2020 in the United States Women's March, 2020 Protest marches Protests in the United States 2020 Women's March Women's marches in the United States