Hundreds march in London for equality on International Women's Day

Hundreds of women have marched in London to demand equality on International Women’s Day.
Celebrities leading the march included singers Annie Lennox, Paloma Faith and Made In Dagenham actress Gemma Arterton.
They were also joined by Dr Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter of Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst, and her 20-year-old daughter Laura.
Organisers said that at least 600 people had taken part.
Members of the crowd marched from near City Hall towards the Royal Festival Hall, with some dressed in the style of the Suffragettes.
Protesters carried banners with slogans calling for equal representation of men and women in parliament.
Faith told the crowd gathered outside the Royal Festival Hall that her mother considered being at the march more of an achievement than her recent gong for best British female solo artist at the Brit awards.
The 33-year-old later told reporters: “It goes to show how important it is that women stand together and fight for each other’s rights.
“Any one of the women over here could be any one of the women in a far-off land suffering from injustices.
“My mum was a child of the sixties and was one of the people who burned their bra and made a pact to herself never to be oppressed by a man in her life, and so wasn’t.
“She has brought me up with those beliefs, so this is way more important to her than anything.”
The singer added that she would have liked to see more men on the march.
“I think we have to acknowledge that women’s rights are human rights and it would be really good to see men and women go hand in hand on these things, because we’re all human,” she said.
Helen Pankhurst said that the most important issues facing women are gender violence and the lack of females in power.
The 50-year-old said: “The statistics on sexism through to violence of the most appalling type are still just awful.
“The other side of that is women in power – we need women on the boards, we need women in parliament, in all spheres of life to map and to show the world that a leadership with women involved in equal amounts will make a better world.”