People will die and we will live free like other people. And finally a shake up at the top of german politics why one of the countrys most recognized politicians wont be part of the next government. Whether calling for a quality freedom respect or an end to gender violence women around the world have been using International Womens day to make their voices heard crowds of demonstrators filled the streets of cities including manila seoul new delhi and look for on thursday this International Womens day comes in the wake of the need to movement and well be having a deeper look at what has changed since it began half a year ago but first we begin in spain where women staged a full day night nationwide strike and heres a look at the days events. And the hours and passionate schools to change this was in the trees Central Square at midnight. De night came dozens more protests. And scenes like this. Workplaces left deserted as millions of spanish women walked off the job that message a simple one. We have to fight to make us situation not enough as much out of social sphere as in the workplace in the home that for what were doing today is stopping work to show that if women stop the wealth stops. But up but. Across the welsh they march to the same b. S. About how. These women in new delhi demonstrating against discrimination and Sexual Violence. The. Philippine president marjorie go to ten table with a bunch of protests in manila activists that branding him a much a fascist for his treatment of women. To have a leader of the country behave in this manner that so that somehow clearly im by women sexist they call it my shes proud not my business and its not how we remember would see it when were not people i mean that discrimination against women you know so we can deal with that right thats the only way there is to. Not have so taken up in pakistan to violence against women the focus here will be mob did i said they all resistance to all that you know see what is happening in pakistan. Against women the violence that we see it we did against women against little children the line is that we see from the state and we want to make say that me are not going to allow this to happen any more you re are going to stand up no. Standing up from pristina. Im kyra. From kiev. Just so where hundreds gathered behind the knee to movement. Truly a female one thousand saying. Now is the time for change. So all of around the world there and as we saw south korean women using the need to hash tag to protest against sexual assaults but other gender equality issues too we have all heard of me too since it triggered a social media tsunami back in october but it was not the first time that women have used social media to draw attention to Sexual Harassment hashtags have been springing up since twitter began one of the first was here in germany lets have a look because back in twenty thirteen a politician made lewd comments about a female journalist and the result was this hash tag try or outcry it went viral the lawmakers party didnt make it into the next parliament as it turned out meantime in finland and twenty fifteen sexual assaults was nonexistent in the opinion of a male police chief women reacted with stories proving the opposite under the hash tag. Meaning groper across the world in argentina we saw knee or not minutes not one less honored the tens of thousands of women killed each year by Domestic Violence in france meantime back in twenty sixteen we saw a lot to get to the period after the french finance minister apparently grabbed a journalist underwear her underwear when she bent down to retrieve a pen and later we saw. Bombs or out your pig it pointed the finger right back at the harassers and in summer of twenty seventeen in india a woman was chased on her way home a politician said it was her own fault she was roaming the streets late at night the result the hash tag no cinderella and months later of course women came forward with tales of decades of abuse at the hands of hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein me too went viral after Actress Alyssa Milano asked women to help highlight the magnitude of the problem and it has of course been followed up by times up used to tell the world things have got to change. Now one of the first women to come forward and accuse Harvey Weinstein was asia argento an italian actor model activist and director in an article in new York Magazine argento said that she had been sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein in the one nine hundred ninety s. But that had been followed by a consensual sexual relationship over the next five years her account garnered criticism in the italian media and argento moved to germany to escape what she described as a culture of victim blaming this is what she told you about what the need to in the times of movement have come to stand for in her view. The truth is that weve been abused by powerful men that there is a power imbalance in the world and thats why this men were able to abuse us and we were too scared to denounce so what is happening now is that finally women for the first them are being believed and were speaking the truth and this is now become you know much broader. Matter its not anymore and it is of course about sexual abuse and harassment but its also about power imbalance and we men and women have to find their their spot in society where we are finally equal. And for more on the me too movement lets bring in Christina Luntz editor of. The cofounder of the center for feminist Foreign Policy welcome to you christina and were also joined from france we are joined to this evening by Gloria Freedman a sculptor who signs the controversial letter from actress Catherine Deneuve criticizing the me to movement welcome to both of you we appreciate you both being on the program with us this evening and christina id like to turn to you first the me too movement of course a prominent Movement Getting getting a lot of press a lot of attention is it fair to say that this has been a sea change not only when it comes to the fight against Sexual Harassment but also the fight for greater gender parity definitely and i think its. It has positive implications as well negative for so the fact that more people are listening now and more people are speaking out is definitely something incredible powerful and important but at the same time it just shows that for so many years indicates women have tried to speak out but the mechanisms of oppression of silencing women are so effective that until now women went to her and they were not believed to extend so they didnt have a voice they didnt have a platform. Gloria you i have also referred to that you in fact in you signed this letter saying that the movement has simply gone too far can you explain that rationale and what do you think the risk is well and first of all i mean now it took on an international basis i signed a letter which came from the friends situation in france is it me to movement was called launched you look big and i just couldnt i mean yes it was horrible i mean it means that you mean you a pig is is that all men are not peace and. Is well i mean im against the sort of the war in between women and men or whatever six it means i mean we should be careful not to condemn everybody and not to victimize too much radicalize im ok with the movement its ok i mean no problem and its a well done seeing but as an artist is well i have some problems for i mean nowadays i mean you couldnt show a painting of call be the origin of the world anymore you could i mean now you kick taking down a museums a painting of but but now and. Then i leave that i had a host of other issues but if we could just stick to the the one specifically of Sexual Harassment and i think what im hearing from what youre saying is you know youre highlighting the fact that people are accused perhaps without due process and christine id like to get your thought on that. How can you have a system where women can can voice concerns ken ken as. Horrible things that have happened to them in many cases while also having the stoop rosters because what were seeing now here is you know many men have have been dismissed from their jobs simply because they have been accused. So first of all running the. Problem that people keep saying that we have a problem with false accusations that is one of those tactics to. To. To stop the focus on the real issue here because those are false accusations on this topic that just as low as high as we have with other crimes and this is the statistics so i guess im kind of tired of these conversations because were having a system we have we have a problem of powa structures and we have to understand how it works and how it Impacts Society we have to look at how society has been built and who has filled to the end with what mechanisms and for example the Justice System is part of germany we paint a lot and we did lots of activists with all the law and Sexual Violence in germany and rape was changed two years ago but theres still so many flaws and so many parts of society and the fact that if you look at the figures only a very tiny sing addicted to rape has actually get prosecuted in germany and thats not acceptable so theres still so much work to be done as youre highlighting there and gloria id like to ask you you know you highlighted what you think are some of the problems specifically with with the French Movement and im wondering what you think should be done to improve power and balance generally speaking on the basis of gender. Well first of all i mean im against rape and all violence against women thats true i mean ones issues be good persecuted by the Political Institutions and the law thats for clear but i mean remember simone de beauvoir she told us i mean like in america where all started i mean its sure there is a more public and white. Impression of men and women being against one of its has a i mean theres a graze on some you know which i mean when you when you go into sexual relationships its very complicated you know it what time something starts against the woman or floor woman and then women are as well sometimes aggressive. Trying to get the men i mean so you know i mean that some saying we should always take care of and not try to be to get on to in warp i mean what i want to is i think we should try to be have a friendship with men be kind to each other and this is a its because i mean its a problem of education right right so you say its a problem education some people would say that there has heretofore been very little recourse for women who feel that that has crossed the line in fact and i want to thank you so much to both of you this evening for sharing these views its important to have these conversations as much as we might disagree Laurie Friedman a sculptor who signed this controversial letter as we mentioned from actress Catherine Deneuve criticizing the me to movement and also joining us here on the set we had christina lets fact cofounder of the center for feminist Foreign Policy we appreciate it. Now which country can dance away with the prize for womens equality could it be perhaps germany we have a quiz that might make you think twice keep it here. To syria now where an aid convoy bound for the besieged rebel held on klav of eastern has been postponed as fighting in the area intensifies Syrian Government forces have seized half of the territory held by rebels in the damascus suburb the last opposition stronghold close to the capital around four hundred thousand people are believed to be trapped in the area the u. N. Has urged all parties to abide by a cease fire in order to deliver aid and evacuate the wounded. But just as one convoy is blocked a different kind of convoy has reached its destination in the region a convoy of women from all over the world has rallied in the city of a tie on the turkey syria border to raise awareness of the plight of syria and women the international convoy has converged on that city after a two day journey from istanbul they are calling for the release of more than six and a half thousand women being held in prison after seven years of civil war. And for more were joined now by seward dermis human rights lawyer and a spokesperson for the convoy of conscious that is known there in turkey thank you so much for joining us to tell us a little bit more about this initiative if you can just fill us in on what youre hoping to achieve here. Thanks for having me on your program well as the convoy of conscience got a group of women thousands of women across the world from all walks of life and we want to highlight the plight of syrian woman who have been raped tortured and socially brutalized in regime prisons or fishel prisons and secret prisons along across syria so after day after its relays journey starting from istanbul and anding in International Womens day we are urging International Community to take effective measures and to protect human. Everywhere in the world and in syria we would love to hear some of their stories and why you think they might have been in prison. Well first of all you know that this is a human issue and human have been the biggest victims of the war throughout history they have in prison because they have women because right now assads regime is using this woman as a vehicle. The assad regime is using the rape as a weapon of war against this woman and we have seen this in was nia in europe and i was inspired by a woman by shes a hoss by from bosnia she is sixty two years old and she has come all this way from bosnia to join this three days convoy to show that she is in solidarity with her sisters in syria because she knows whats happening right now in syria whats happening with over seven thousand human in syria and in fact we know that the group the mothers from seventy eights have also traveled on this convoy to to show solidarity i imagine from what youre saying there that she was part of that group it was all host of women in fact in your view do we hear and off about the plight of women in the syrian conflict and if not why do you think that is excuse me can you repeat the question please do you think that there is enough awareness about what is happening to women within syria at the moment and if there isnt enough awareness why do you think that is. There is the fact that since the Syrian Civil War began in two thousand and eleven human have been imprisoned humans have been tortured six chill weiland have been has been used against them and they have been executed they have been made refugees and i seen you believe that the time is now stop this happening in syria the time is not take this room and it is international rumors day and the time is not raise a notice stop this happening show our solidarity with the seven thousand human in syrian prisons so adamas arabic now the chance that. We thank you so much for telling us a little bit more as we mentioned you are the Spokes Person for the convoy of the conscious we appreciate it. Now to a political shake up here in germany the country is to get a new foreign minister after one of germanys most recognized politicians and popular ones said he would not be part of chancellor Angela Merkels new Coalition Government and foreign minister gabriele is leaving amid rumors of a bitter brow with the leaders of his own social democratic party. And for more lets bring in our Political Correspondent kate brady who joins us from our parliamentary studios to put all of this into perspective for us because kate i mean this is a pretty big deal in german politics is it isnt it what will that mean for poor Foreign Policy do you think. Well of course any personnel changes always going to have an effect on how people deal with with the fit with the foreign minister and of course remember sigma gabriele always had a very direct approach and so be interesting to see how his successor works with his counterparts abroad and but of course germany has some challenging times ahead when it comes to the Foreign Ministry and in Foreign Policy in germany of course is growing pressure in europe for germany to take the lead with france with these projected e. U. Or fames but also outside of europe theres also mounting pressure for belen to take a stronger stands for example on the syria conflict or in dealing with donald trump so that other countries really know web billon stems so lets talk a little bit about what you know how that policy could potentially shift because who is his likely successor i mean its International Womens day for example are we going to get a woman. Well if youd asked me a few hours ago so id have said that that would have still been a possibility but what weve heard the latest here is that it will in fact be high kumar who is currently the German Justice minister now hes been the Justice Minister for the last four years during this last Merkel Grand Coalition so of course he doesnt have any experience in the Foreign Ministry so be interesting to see what personality what traits and what style he can bring to this job but of course he is one of the big hopes in the s. P. D. So well have to see over this next term if first of all if this is confirmed tomorrow in the s. P. D. Ministry list and then of course how he then acts as a German Foreign minister just generally speaking do the s. P. D. Have its house in order because i mean you know they are going to be the Coalition Partners here this Incoming Coalition its been quite a road to get a German Government are things finally settled is the wrangling over well it does seem at least that they have quite a clear agenda at the moment so the s. P. D. In that grand Coalition Deal was allocated six ministerial positions and we already know that three of them will be given to women so this process of renewal is already starting with younger and more feminine faces kate brady in our parliamentary studios thank you. And finally before we go the theme of International Womens day this year has been hash tag press for progress so what do you think about womens rights well here at g. W. We went out to conduct a little quiz about womens rights here in germany and here is what we found. Sebastian john by the fall and i should have listed in households a field. In the am i not allowed. To. 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Oh no the day is nearly done but as ever the conversation continues online you can find us on twitter either active news or etc kelly t v dont forget you can use the hash tag the day and thats all from us for now we thank you so much for watching we have to say youre going to. Go. To our summer. Look at the world cup in sight in argentina all eyes are on one man leading the missing messiah. Will we see him in the classic between germany and argentina. And missy clinch the title searching the move in argentina to own. The current. European stars deliver a rousing performance or. Catchy melodies. And poetic lyrics. By mail policy will slowly start. Your of the day in concert forty five minutes. After the fine for the face taking seriously in the world oh boy heres whats coming up womens tour. For your women smart talks smart state the legend frank recently dangerous time coming. For my. Focus to the stars he made a point of still. Representing. Delish me architect of east germanys place. Explained if i had my way. East germany would still be here felix me mr. Bush you know. Starting march thirteenth d. W. Soon. I think. Everyones get