The Women's March organization held a rally for women's rights on Saturday, four days after the Republican candidate's victory.
The signs go up near the Washington station, Saturday, November 9, to the sound of I’m Every Woman by Shaka Khan. The same message is read from one row to the next: “Protect and defend each other.” In the front row of the demonstration, a little girl holds a poster “Girls can do anything”. Beside him, a sign insulting the president-elect, Donald Trump. The faces are certainly rather smiling, but also combative, despite the fear and anger that runs through the gathering.
Four days after the American presidential election, a few hundred women and men gathered in the capital of the United States for a new demonstration of the Women's March, the first since the victory of Donald Trump against to Democrat Kamala Harris. This feminist movement was launched after the Republican's first victory, bringing together hundreds of thousands of people in Washington, following his inauguration in January 2017.
On Saturday, demonstrators wanted to make their voices heard in front of The Heritage Foundation, a think tank behind “Project 2025” for a new Trump presidency. A 900-page road map towards authoritarianism and ultraconservatism, which provides for new obstacles to the right to abortion across the Atlantic.
The emotion is palpable in front of the foundation's headquarters, despite the festive music. “I know you feel a little angry, frustrated,” lance au micro Tamika Middleton, directrice de l’organisation Women’s March. “Oui”, replies the demonstrators in chorus. “You probably feel a little fear,” supports the activist, receiving the same response. “I feel disbelief, anger, fear and sadness,” says Helen, a 50-year-old teacher.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to women’s rights.”
Helen, protesterat franceinfo
At the forefront of the rally, Maria Gwinn, 24, drove from Ohio to attend. The student was in Washington a week earlier, for a women's march of several thousand people in the run-up to the vote. “I was with my mother and we felt so strong. I thought we would have the first woman president. I cried all night from Tuesday to Wednesday,” the one that saw Donald Trump win the election. Voters who elected the Republican “voted against my rights”, she moves forward.
Donald Trump is no stranger to sexist rhetoric, has been convicted of sexual assault, and recently pledged to “protect women, whether they like it or not”. His appointments to the Supreme Court during his first term tilted the institution in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, who had guaranteed constitutional protection for abortion for 49 years.
Maria Gwinn arrived from Ohio with a friend and her grandmother, Sapphira and Bev Pack. While a small concert continues, the American and her granddaughter dance and hug. Bev Pack, 66, oscillates between chanting slogans and a few tears. “We fought so hard to get here, and we’re going backwards,” delivers the retiree with short hair, carrying a sign “My body, my choice”. This gathering is the first of his life. On Tuesday, her husband voted for Donald Trump.
“I'm really hurting. I'm afraid for my granddaughter, for her right to make decisions about her body.”
Bev Pack, rally attendeeat franceinfo
The American is convinced: there will be a federal ban on abortion by 2028. The president-elect makes ambiguous, even contradictory, remarks on the subject. He has already supported a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy (with exceptions), before defending a choice left to the States, recalls NBC News. The billionaire also bragged about enabling the end of Roe v. Wade.
“Project 2025”, for its part, proposes the ban on medical abortion and the monitoring of the sending and transport of abortifacient drugs. Donald Trump repeats that he “knows nothing” of this roadmap, but at least 140 former members of his administration contributed to it, directly or indirectly. “We anticipate that this will be the agenda of the next administration,” souligne Tamika Middleton, of Women's March.
Alongside Bev Pack, her fast-flowing granddaughter Sapphira feels “hopeless”. She shares her grandmother's fears and fears gender-based and sexual violence. “We've always had sexism in our country. Having Donald Trump in the White House will only make that worse.” The elected candidate made a point of attracting the male electorate during his campaign, willingly playing on hypermasculinity. At least twenty women accuse him of harassment or sexual violence, which he continues to deny.
Near the small concert stage, Ally Martyn continues to hold up a sign with the following message: “Keep your prohibitions away from my body.” At 18, the psychology student has just voted for the first time. “I don’t understand how autonomy over our bodies is not something that everyone considers a fundamental right,” points out the young American, stunned by the outcome of the vote.
She fears tragedies in the event of further attacks on the right to abortion. In Georgia, a woman died due to lack of access to necessary care due to local laws restricting abortion. She needed the procedure after rare complications from an abortion pill, but the procedure was now considered a crime, with few exceptions.
Under Donald Trump, Tamika Middleton imagines that such obstacles will multiply. “I think a long and difficult fight awaits us, but we are equipped to fight it.” The rally on Saturday only brought together a few hundred people, but another demonstration is being prepared. It will take place on January 18, two days before Donald Trump returns to power.
