Women's March 2018 as it happened: Hundreds of thousands join nationwide protests against Trump

Marches are happening all over the world, including this one in Zurich, Switzerland (EPA)

Hundreds of thousands of women around America and the world took to the streets for the 2018 Women's March, a year after the first such event was held in opposition to newly elected US President Donald Trump.

Demonstrators surged into the streets in protests in American cities across the country, with parallel rallies in Europe, Asia and Africa turning the event into a global affair. Authorities estimated that well over 100,000 people attended the New York rally and that some 300,000 showed up in Los Angeles.

And while the inaugural 2017 marches functioned as a primal cry against Mr Trump's election victory, the 2018 iteration served in part as a nationwide political rally. Democratic elected officials and liberal celebrities urged attendees to channel their energy and frustration with Mr Trump's policies into November's midterm elections, where Democrats hope to wrest back control of Congress, governorships and state legislatures.

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After last year's event, a wave of women decided to run for elected office and the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct became a cultural phenomenon.

“We made a lot of noise,” said Elaine Wynn, an organiser. “But now how do we translate that noise into something concrete or fulfilling?”

Speakers this year made reference to the rolling backlash against sexual harassment and assault, with New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy relaying her experience with sexual violence and encouraging other women to tell their stories.

The marches occurred amid the battle over a US government shutdown, which has disrupted Mr Trump's celebrations of the anniversary of his inauguration. Protesters and supportive politicians linked the two, decrying Republican policies that helped lead to the shutdown — particularly Mr Trump's decision to nix an Obama-era program shielding young immigrants from deportation — and urging attendees to vote for a different agenda in the fall.

Linda Sarsour, one of the four organisers of last year's Washington march, told the Associated Press that Las Vegas was set to hold a major rally on Sunday because it's a strategic swing state that gave Hillary Clinton a narrow win in the presidential election and will have one of the most competitive Senate races in 2018.

Democrats believe they have a good chance of winning the seat held by embattled Republican Senator Dean Heller and weakening the Republicans' hold on the chamber, where they have a 51-49 seat advantage.

Organisers say Nevada is also a microcosm of larger national issues such as immigration and gun control after Las Vegas became the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern history.

Agencies contributed to this report

Key Points

• Marches take place amid a US government shutdown
• New marches are part of a campaign to help Democrats re-take control of Congress and eventually impeach President Donald Trump
• Millions were involved in the global protests last year

[20 January 2018 18:07 · Kristin Hugo]

  ↵Some coordinated protest at the NYC iteration:

[20 January 2018 18:24 · Kristin Hugo]

The 2017 Women's March set the political tone for the Trump presidency in more ways than one. It has prompted a surge of women to seek political office, a dynamic emphasised here by a California organisation devoting to getting more women elected:

[20 January 2018 18:42 · Kristin Hugo]

It's not restricted to the coastal urban centres. Women are also marching in Little Rock, Arkansas — the state capital where Bill Clinton's career began — and they're hoping the energy propelling these marches will help them to build on Democratic gains in southern states like Virginia and Alabama.

[20 January 2018 18:52 · Kristin Hugo]

Donald Trump has weighed in and is trying to portray the march as a credit to his administration, despite a clear thread of opposition among most protesters:

[20 January 2018 19:11 · Kristin Hugo]

Protesters are also massing in Palm Beach, Florida, home to Mr Trump's opulent Mar-a-Lago resort. The AP reports that hundreds of people are preparing to rally there even as a planned evening fundraiser was scheduled to proceed.

Proceeds from the high-dollar affair — a couple's ticket starts at $100,000 — will go to the Trump Victory Fund.

[20 January 2018 19:30 · Kristin Hugo]

The Women's March is affording participants a chance to organise around a variety of issues important to Democrats' base. Among them is the fate of so-called Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the country as children and are here illegally — Trump ended a program that protected them from deportation, and their fate is now a central factor in the government shutting down.

[20 January 2018 19:54 · Kristin Hugo]

Seattle's first female mayor in nearly a century is at a march in her Pacific Northwest City, issuing a call to combat sexism — including if it comes from the White House.

[20 January 2018 20:11 · Kristin Hugo]

People are marching in Alaska, too:

[20 January 2018 20:22 · Kristin Hugo]

Ace Indy reporter Andrew Buncombe's dispatch from the main Washington, DC march here: 

[20 January 2018 20:38 · Kristin Hugo]

A chant reportedly echoing through multiple marches, in at least Cincinnati and Oklahoma City:

“We need a leader, not a creepy tweeter!”