On Friday from 5 p.m., thousands of people fill Marienplatz – most of them are women, almost all of them young. The “Munich Action Alliance March 8th” has called for this rally on “International Women’s Fight Day”. The asterisk on the poster is intended to signal that this demonstration is of course about the concerns of all women.
Silvia Schwarz from the International Women’s League for Peace and Freedom gives the first speech – albeit a few minutes late. “We forgot the town hall carillon during the planning,” she says and laughs.
In her speech, Schwarz emphasized the suffering of girls and women in war zones: “We strongly condemn the attack by the terrorist organization Hamas.” Sexual violence against women is used specifically to humiliate the enemy during war, and this was particularly evident on October 7th. Schwarz then criticizes the actions of the Israeli government, whose counterattacks in the Gaza Strip primarily killed women and children. With regard to wars and conflicts, one thing is particularly important: “We women demand peace!”
Black’s open solidarity with the victims of Hamas was met with loud boos from a pro-Palestinian group next to the fish fountain. Monika Seiler, also a member of the women’s league, takes this as an opportunity to highlight a banner from the crowd when introducing the next speech on stage. “Stop, listen!” is written there under a rainbow. “If a woman is on stage here, I want you to listen to her,” says Seiler. That’s exactly what this day is about.
In addition to calling for peace, the focus of this year’s rally is on care work. “Our aim is to ensure that education, training and care are paid better – or paid at all,” says Sigrid Daus, works councilor at the Munich Clinic. “There is a fundamental lack of appreciation,” especially for many activities that would traditionally be attributed to women. Daus is on stage today as a Verdi member – trade unions also belong to the action alliance. Shortly after Daus’ speech, the beat of drums echoed across Marienplatz and several thousand people set out to march through the Isarvorstadt. The organizers estimate that there were around 6,000 at the peak. The police speak of 4,500 participants.