International Women’s Day marked around the world

Associated Press

Egyptian women demanding equal rights on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day were shoved by men who said they should go home where they belong. Congolese women asked their government to protect them from systematic rapes, and women in Croatia who lost their jobs accused the government of corruption.

But the centennial anniversary of the day established by socialist women to promote better working conditions, the right to vote and hold public office, and equality with men, also was marked Tuesday by festivities including dancing in the street in South Korea’s capital and a 10-kilometer run by 8,000 women in Mexico City.

Speaking at U.N. headquarters in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recalled that 100 years ago “gender equality was a largely radical idea.”

Though progress since then should be celebrated, he said, “We must also remember that — in too many countries and in too many societies — women remain second-class citizens, denied their fundamental rights, deprived of legitimate opportunity.”

Their second-class status was evident in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Hundreds of women who marched to the square to celebrate the anniversary and demand equality and an end to sexual harassment soon were outnumbered by men who chased them out.