Thousands of women march on London against. Emma Watson and Cher join

Thousands of women march on London against.  Emma Watson and Cher join



Wearing pink, pointy-eared 'p****hats' to mock the new US president, throngs of protesters descended on the US capital and other cities around the globe today to show Donald Trump they won't be silent over the next four years.

In more than 600 marches held all over the globe, they carried signs with messages such as 'Women won't back down' and 'Less fear more love' and decried Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, diversity and climate change.

There were early signs that crowds in Washington could top those that gathered for Trump's inauguration on Friday. City officials said organisers of the Women's March on Washington had more than doubled their turnout estimate to 500,000 as crowds began swelling and subways into the city became clogged with participants.





Celebrities including Katy Perry, Scarlett Johansson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emma Watson, Ashley Judd, Cher, America Ferrera, Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Charlotte Church, Yoko Ono and Amy Schumer are among those taking part in rallies across the world.

Some 2.2 million people are believed to have marched to promote women's and human rights, with an estimated 100,000 out on the streets in London.

Huge demonstrations have also been held in cities including Paris, Berlin, Edinburgh, Rome, Prague, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Athens, Copenhagen, New Delhi, Brussels, Mexico City, Barcelona, Manila, Toronto, Madrid, Geneva, Cardiff and Sydney today in opposition to the 45th President of the USA.



Organisers of London's Women's March have hailed a huge turnout, which saw an estimated 100,000 people pack into Trafalgar Square for a rally at 2pm.

They came holding a rainbow of placards with slogans such as 'dump Trump', 'reject hate, reclaim politics' and 'no to racism, no to Trump'.



Mr Trump's presidential campaign was plunged into crisis after a 2005 tape recording came to light of him bragging to TV host Billy Bush about groping women and that he can 'grab them by the p***y' because of his celebrity status.

Actress Gillian Anderson, star of The X Files and The Fall, who took part in the London march, tweeted: 'Proud to be one of many today.'

Holding a sign saying 'my p****y is not up for grabs', Kim McInally said she had travelled from Brighton to London for the demonstration.

The 32-year-old said: 'Yesterday was seen as the official start of fascism coming back.'

Iron Man 3 actress Rebecca Hall were spotted among the throngs of people. Hall said she joined the march because she is half American and half English, and said if she had been on the other side of her pond she would have joined the Washington DC demonstration.

She added: 'Yesterday was a confusing day and a sad day - I was sad to see Obama leave ... We do not know what the Government is going to be like.'

Labour MP Harriet Harman was joined on the march by friend and American-British playwright Bonnie Greer.

Referring to outgoing US president Barack Obama, Ms Harman said: 'It's just a shame they have a two-term limit, isn't it?'



Photos show women wearing the hats and donning Hillary Clinton and 'Nasty Woman' shirts.

The 'P***yhat project' started as a campaign to outfit people marching in the Women's March on Washington.

Groups of women wearing the hats are doing so in order to show solidarity, as well as reclaim the loaded term used by Trump in the now infamous Access Hollywood recording.

Mr Trump's presidential campaign was plunged into crisis after a 2005 tape recording came to light of him bragging to TV host Billy Bush about groping women and that he can 'grab them by the p***y' because of his celebrity status.

A city official in Washington says the turnout estimate for the Women's March on the National Mall now stands at 500,000 people. That's more than double the initial predictions.



There were early signs across Washington that Saturday's crowds could top those that gathered on Friday to watch President Donald Trump's inauguration.

Metro subway stations and train cars are full in many locations, while ridership on Friday was well off the numbers from Barack Obama's first inaugural.

The march's National Park Service permit estimated a turnout of 200,000, but the District of Columbia's homeland security chief had previously predicted turnout would be higher.



Ms Greer warned that Mr Trump's presidency was 'not a joke', adding: 'This is for real and I think this march demonstrates that London understands that.'

Spectators lining the London route cheered as the protest made its away towards Trafalgar Square.

She claimed 'human rights and human equality is getting pushed further and further down the list'.

Ten-year-old Lily, an American youngster living in Britain said: 'I don't like him at all.' She added that it's important for 'women and girls to have their rights'.



In Cardiff former classical singer Charlotte Church joined around 1,000 protesters on the women's march.

Mum-of-two Charlotte, 30, joined in chants and was holding a cardboard sign adorned with the feminist phrase: 'I didn't come from your rib, you came from my vagina.'

She was dressed in a light brown anorak and wore rounded sunglasses and was wearing a black rucksack.



In Bristol, more than 1,000 people marched from Queen Square to College Green - just 72 hours after the event was organised.

The group chanted and held placards as they took part in the Sister March in solidarity with the Women's March On Washington.

Blogger Carly Wilkinson, 32, began organising the march from her kitchen table in the city on Wednesday.

'I didn't expect to cry but I have just experienced every emotion,' she said.

'I wanted to make the world know that Bristol feels the same as many, that our voices could be heard together.'



Signs at the march in Bristol included the slogans 'We Reject The Comb-Over Con', 'Dump Trump' and 'Feminism is Pro-Human'.

The movement states on its website that the US election 'proved a catalyst for a grassroots movement of women to assert the positive values that the politics of fear denies'.

Marchers say they want to vent against an incoming administration they fear will roll back women's rights.



Rallies have been held in cities across Europe, with hundreds gathering in the Czech capital Prague in support of the international protest.

In Wenceslas Square in freezing conditions, they waved the portraits of President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, as well banners that read: 'This is just the beginning'.

Organizer Johanna Nejedlova said: 'We are worried about the way some politicians talk, especially during the American elections.'

In Copenhagen, Denmark, protesters in the march's trademark pink woolen hats met outside the US Embassy. Participant Sherin Khankan said: 'An alternative to the growing hatred must be created.'

At a rally in Stockholm, Sweden, organizer Lotta Kuylenstjerna said 'we do not have to accept his message', in a reference to Trump.



A Facebook event set up to advertise the event said: 'We will march, wherever we march, for the protection of our fundamental rights and for the safeguarding of freedoms threatened by recent political events.

'We unite and stand together for the dignity and equality of all peoples, for the safety and health of our planet and for the strength of our vibrant and diverse communities.'

Hours before the women's event in Washington began, people were streaming into the city, many wearing bright pink hats and wielding signs with messages such as 'The future is female' and 'Less fear more love.'

Rena Wilson, of Charlotte, North Carolina, said she hopes the women can send Trump a message that they're 'not going anywhere.'

Joy Rodriguez, of Miami, arrived with her husband, William, and their two daughters, ages 12 and 10.

'I want to make sure their rights are not infringed on in these years coming up,' Joy Rodriguez said.

March organizers said women are 'hurting and scared' as the new president takes office and want a greater voice for women in political life.

'In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore,' their mission statement says.

Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when 'many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes.'

'It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were,' she said.

Rose Wurm, 64, a retired medical secretary from Bedford, Pennsylvania, boarded a Washington-bound bus in Hagerstown, Maryland, at 7 a.m. carrying two signs: one asking Trump to stop tweeting, and one asking him to fix, not trash, the Obamacare health law.

'There are parts of it that do need change. It's something new, something unique that's not going to be perfect right out of the gate,' she said.



Many arrived wearing hand-knit pink 'p***yhats' -a message of female empowerment aimed squarely at Trump's demeaning comments about women.

Some women carried signs saying 'nasty woman' as they tried to reclaim the name that Trump gave Hillary Clinton during the final presidential debate in October.

The march attracted significant support from celebrities. America Ferrara led the artists' contingent, and those scheduled to speak in Washington included Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd, Melissa Harris-Perry and Michael Moore. The promised performance lineup included Janelle Monae, Maxwell, Samantha Ronson, the Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Women and other groups were demonstrating across the nation and as far abroad as Myanmar and Australia.

In Sydney, thousands of Australians marched in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organizer said hatred, bigotry and racism are not only America's problems.

Friday's unrest during the inauguration led police to use pepper spray and stun grenades to prevent the chaos from spilling into Trump's formal procession and the evening balls.