The Unique Importance of This Year’s International Women’s Day

While Washington squabbles over the right to control female bodies, women around the globe have long been fighting back, speaking up, and creating change.

By Hatty Lee Mar 08, 2012

Women have become a hot topic in Washington lately. From Rush Limbaugh’s horrific verbal attack on Sandra Fluke to the GOP’s obsession with controlling female bodies, women have suddenly become one of the country’s most controversial talking points. Despite and because of all this, women have long been fighting back and speaking up. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re taking a look at how women around the globe fight from places of fury, and love.

Members of the Afghan Women’s Olympic basketball team (in red) compete with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and US embassy representatives during a game to mark International Women’s Day at ISAF headquarters in Kabul on March 7, 2012. (Photo SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)

Members of a Filipino women’s group clench their fists as they display slogans during a rally near the Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

International Women’s Day march in Toronto, Canada. (Photo: Creative Commons/Kam’s Photographs)

Pakistani NGO activists chant slogans during a rally in Lahore. (Photo: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)