Tens of thousands of women take over Rome and Munich in show of strength against male violence

Tens of thousands of women have taken to the streets of Europe to protest against male violence against women. 

Huge crowds of protestors were seen in Munich and Rome on Saturday as marchers held up signs reading: ‘Be free from violence’ and ‘Love has no bruises.’ 

The marches were planned to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which occurred on Thursday. 

The day is celebrated on November 25 each year after it was first made official by the United Nations (UN) in 1999. 

In Munich, Germany, signs declared: ‘A woman’s place is in the revolution’, while another said: ‘Stop violence against women.’ 

Meanwhile, the house of the far-right nationalist fraternity Sudetia was attacked with paint as ‘Nazis and sexists! ‘ was scribbled on the wall. 

In the Italian capital, the huge march, attended by tens of thousands of supporters, was organised by the Non una di meno (Not one more) feminist movement.

One placard read: ‘Violence is structural, the root is cultural, the problem is patriarchal.’ 

Flares were set off in both cities while drummers and music spurred the marchers on. 

Some 736 million women worldwide – almost one in three – have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life, according to statistics from the UN.  

Women hold their hands and fists up during huge march in Rome on Saturday 

Women hold banner as they march through the Italian capital against male violence 

Women hold their almost bare breasts as they take part in a demonstration during a march in Rome 

Tens of thousands of women joined the march in Rome on Saturday

A woman raises her hands as she marches with thousands of others through the streets of Rome

Flares were set off as women began dancing during the march in Rome on Saturday

A protester wears a protective mask reading ‘Patriarchy makes massacres’ during a demonstration against male violence on women in Rome

A protester wearing a protective mask reading ‘Patriarchy makes massacres’ and holding a sign reading ‘Violent male is not sick, he is patriarchy’s healthy child, attends a demonstration against male violence on women in Rome

Woman holds up sign saying ‘Don’t rape’ – a reference to how women are often told to change their behaviour to avoid being attacked 

‘No more violence against women’: Says the writing on one woman’s hand in Rome

‘Educate your son’: One protestor’s plea during march against male violence in Rome 

‘Rage against the machism’: One protestor’s sign during women’s march in Rome

A protester holds a sign reading ‘Violence is structural, the root is cultural, the problem is patriarchal’ during a demonstration against male violence on women in Rome, Italy

Protestors in Rome donned masks while holding a banner reading: ‘Be free from violence’

Protesters attend a demonstration against male violence on women in Rome, Italy

‘Weak men fear strong women’: Reads one sign in Rome, while another says: ‘I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change… I’m changing the things I cannot accept!’

Thousands of women gather at the beginning of the anti-violence march in Rome on Saturday

Protestors in Munich march through the city while flares go off in the background

Two days after the international day for elimination of violence against women hundreds protested in Munich

The house of the far-right nationalist fraternity Sudetia was attacked with paint and ‘ Nazis and sexists! ‘ was written on the wall.

Women call for revolution while marching through Munich on Saturday  

‘Stop violence against women’: One sign in Munich read during a march on Saturday

It came as hundreds of women also filled the streets of London Saturday – also in protest against rape and male violence against women. 

Demonstrators held up placards and chanted slogans as they marched from near Marble Arch to Golden Square in Piccadilly Circus on Saturday night.

Anneliese Dodds, Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, joined the protestors, as she urged them to ‘shut down’ the capital in a rousing speech via a megaphone.

The women-only march was part of the annual Reclaim The Night event, which first began in 1977, at the height of the Yorkshire Ripper killings. 

The event has taken on a new meaning this year following a spate of attacks on women after dark. 

These include Sarah Everard, who was abducted and killed by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, as she walked home in Clapham earlier this year. 

And in September Sabina Nessa, 28, was attacked and murdered as she walked through Cator Park in Kidbrooke, in another crime which shocked the nation. 

Women marching on Saturday night held up signs reading: ‘When will I be able to walk myself home?’

One said: ‘We will not be silenced’, while another read: ‘Blame the system not the victim.’