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The women’s marches taking place around the world to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump have now reached the furthest corner of the earth: Antarctica.
To be slightly more precise, the women will be holding their event on a ship harbored just off the coast of the world’s coldest and least-populated continent. That means protests taking place in solidarity with the massive one planned for Washington Saturday will now be occurring in 60 countries across all seven continents. Women will take to the streets in nations ranging from Peru to Kenya, from Georgia to Israel. In the US, an estimated 200,000 women have descended on Washington from states far and near. And all 50 states will hold at least one march or rally of their own.
The event in Antarctica will be different. Because of the environmental sensitivity of the region they live and work in, these Antarctica-based protesters will actually march on their ship, in harbor, rather than on land.
BREAKING: Antarctica announces #womensmarch, expanding the movement to 7 continents! #womensmarchglobal https://t.co/lYORtUSGYP via @grist pic.twitter.com/3YrEMd0a9n
— Womens March Global (@WM_Global) January 20, 2017
The website for the so-called “Penguins for Peace” sister rally details what they’re doing, and why:
We are an international group of eco-minded visitors on an expedition ship to Antarctica.
We will be "marching" on our ship, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula on January 21, location still unknown (the harbor location above is generic). Unfortunately due to this constraint, we can't invite the public, but welcome all ship-board guests and staff to join us.
We welcome signs and hats. Ideas:
"Penguins for Peace"
"Cormorants for Climate"
"Seals for Science"
"Women for Earth"
Due to the environmental sensitivity of the area, we can't leave any marks, trampled messages, etc.
The march was confirmed by a press representative of the Women’s March, Tina Cassidy. An email to organizer Linda Zunas came back with the auto-response of “I am traveling to the 7th continent and will have limited internet access.”
Global phenomenon
Women around the world — American expatriates and locals alike — are planning marches Friday and Saturday and tomorrow in response to the misogyny, sexism, racially-charged and anti-immigrant rhetoric of the American election.
Some countries are hosting multiple marches. The United Kingdom has at least 14 marches planned, and organizers of the London event are expecting sizable numbers of numbers of protesters. The Facebook page for the London event had 31,000 “going” and 71,000 “invited.”
In India, the hashtag #IWillGoOut has been used by organizers across the country. There some of the protests, while in solidarity with the women’s march in DC, are also protesting an alleged mass assault on women that took place on New Year's Eve.
Antarctica is facing the most dire immediate consequences from climate change. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, it has seen increases in temperature of 3 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit), which is, the organization says, five times the “mean rate of global warming.”
According to the Antarctic and Southern Coalition, a which calls itself the “only nongovernmental organization working full time to preserve the Antarctic continent and its surrounding Southern Ocean,” the “the western Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming areas on Earth.”
Donald Trump, America’s new president, has memorably called climate change a “hoax” created by the Chinese.
