Thousands of Women Protest Poverty, Mistreatment
Thousands of chanting women marched Sunday through downtown past the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in a protest against world poverty and the mistreatment of women.
Marchers, whose route began at the White House, chanted in a cacophony of languages their support for equal rights for women and their opposition to domestic violence.
Demonstrators shouted “Shame!” as they passed the buildings of the IMF and the World Bank, the main lending institutions for poor countries. Some contend their lending policies unfairly discriminate against the poor.
Some women got into a shouting match with four men protesting the event with antigay and antilesbian placards. “Submit to your husbands, you rebels,” yelled Ruben Israel, 36, of Los Angeles.
The Washington rally, which brought women from around the world, was a culminating event of the World March of Women 2000, which began in March in Geneva.
Some men joined in. Dan Nooter, 23, of Washington said, “Violence is something that men have a responsibility for ending. But I’m not coming out here as a man. I’m coming out here as someone who is concerned about ending violence and poverty.”
Today, Washington will be the scene of the Million Family March, sponsored by the Nation of Islam and the Unification Church.
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