【The Pursuit of Lust】

Women in more than 50 countries worldwide are The Pursuit of Lustparticipating in the Women's Strike on International Women's Day to loudly shout about the issues that matter to them.

SEE ALSO: How to participate in the Women's Strike if you can't skip work

As part of the International Women's Strike -- also called A Day Without a Woman -- women around the world are skipping paid and unpaid work on March 8 to call for gender equality, labour rights, reproductive health access and an end to domestic violence.

Women from Australia to Guatemala are taking part in the strike, and the reasons for striking vary from country to country.

Mashableinterviewed women around the world to find out why the strike is important to women of their country.

UK

Screen on the Green cinema in Islington displays a message for International Women's Day, London. Credit: Jeff Blackler/REX/Shutterstock

Women across the UK skipped work as part of the strike and many showed their support for the strike through individual actions.

The organisers of the UK Women's Strike stated in a blog post that the strike aimed to show solidarity with women across the globe, to stand up for economic justice.

Mothers and children gathered in Parliament Square in London to call for a living wage for mothers and carers.

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UK-based Krzysia Balinska said she's striking because she feels uncomfortable going back to Poland, her home country, due to its strict anti-abortion laws. But she's also striking to raise awareness of issues faced by women in Britain.

"I'm striking because the British government has drastically cut the funding to domestic violence services, and justified it by the 'necessary austerity measures'," says Balinska.

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"I'm striking because there is no quality sexual education in Poland, and access to contraception is being limited.

"I'm hoping to draw attention to the reproductive justice -- or the lack of it -- in many countries which sadly includes my native Poland. I'm hoping that one day starting a family in my country could be an option, because it isn't for now," Balinska said.

IRELAND

Women in Ireland are striking to urge the government to repeal the Eighth Amendment, a constitutional ban on abortion which only permits women whose pregnancies put their lives at risk to have access to safe, legal abortion services. This constitutional ban means that abortion isn't permitted in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities.

"Since 1983, access to abortion has been unavailable here in Ireland due to the Eighth Amendment. Consequently, Ireland is one of only two countries in the world -- alongside Chile -- where abortion is dealt with in a nation's constitution," says Eoin, one of the organisers of Ireland's "Strike4Repeal".

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"People in Ireland are tired of the issue being sidelined by successive governments. Strike 4 Repeal exists to demonstrate the palpable anger a huge number of people here feel towards being denied bodily autonomy in 2017," Eoin continues.

FRANCE

Women in France are striking for equality in the workplace. In a blogpost, the organisers of France's strike "8 Mars" stated that "women today still don't have the same access as men to jobs, to professional training, to different industry and senior jobs."

French feminists and their supporters hold posters and placards during their rally for gender equality on the occasion of International Women's Day on Place de la République in Paris. Credit: LANGSDON/EPA/REX/Shutterstock

"The situation is changing, but slowly, and businesses are resisting change," Romy Duhem-Verdière -- one of the organisers of 8 Mars -- explains.

"I can't speak on behalf of the women of France. But I think the pay gap is reason enough," Duhem-Verdière continues.

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Reproductive rights are also high on the agenda in France. In Marseille, an artist staged an abortion rights demo outside the city's regional courthouse to protest the council's plans to cut funding to a family planning organisation.

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ITALY

In Italy, activists have formed a collective called Non Una Di Meno and drafted a manifesto for Italy's "Lotto Marzo" strike.

"We strike for fighting violence of the system in any form: The patriarchal violence on women and on LGBTQI+, the violence of state control on our bodies, the violence of the borders on the migrants. The violence of state cuts in welfare and rights," explains a spokesperson from Non Una Di Meno.

Laura de Bonfils -- one of the strikers in Italy -- explained her personal reasons for striking.

"Personally I’m also striking for LGBTI+ rights because this summer I will get married to my partner in Finland and our marriage will not be recognised in Italy," says de Bonfils.

BELGIUM

A protestor holds a sign during a demonstration for International Women's Day outside EU headquarters in Brussels , Credit: AP/REX/Shutterstock

Strikers in Belgium gathered in front of the European Parliament to call for international access to abortion and pay equality.

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One of the strikers in Belgium, writer Hilary Seriously, explained that she was striking in solidarity with women in Ireland, where she's from.

"I am from Ireland and I live in Belgium. The reason I am striking is to support the fight for women's reproductive rights in Ireland. Abortion is illegal there unless the mother's life is in danger," she explained.

USA

Women across America are striking today and those who are unable to skip work are showing support by wearing items of red clothing and turning their profile photos red.

Winnie Wong, from New York City, says she's striking in resistance to Donald Trump's presidency.

"I'm striking quite simply because it's the women leading the resistance against Trump's authoritarian garbage fire of a government," says Wong.

"We have the most to lose, and we will NOT be silenced. We must fight systemic patriarchy by practicing powerful solidarity," Wong continues.

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Sama Dizayee -- a journalist from Washington D.C. -- says she's striking to call for equal pay for female journalists.

"Journalists are not supposed to be advocates, how can I not be today as a woman journalist? Many women in the media/journalism industry don't get equal pay," says Dizayee.

"And that's only one industry, many industries around the world do unjust to women in unequal pay," she continues.

Dizayee is also using the strike to protest Trump's presidency. "In America, President Trump says he respects women and then goes and calls women 'nasty', 'ugly', 'grab them by the p***y.'"

"Should we just sit down and let a president make sexist comments and not be offended? Absolutely not," says Dizayee.

Leslie Z. Hollingsworth in San Francisco is closing her business -- the San Francisco Massage Supply Co. -- for the day.

"I am striking to make a point that women are a large portion of the workforce, and may be overlooked as we do more of the 'behind the scenes' work, so we don’t always get credit. And we work HARD!" says Hollingsworth.

"With our new administration in place, the blatant undermining and dismissing of many women’s rights and programs has become a huge issue. Everything from basic healthcare to cancer screenings is under fire," she says.

AUSTRALIA

Educators and childcare workers in Australia went on strike to demand fairer wages and equal pay, and many took to the streets in major cities to participate in demonstrations.

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GUATEMALA

A spokesperson for ParoINTdeMujeres explained that women in Guatemala are striking to call for an end to violence against women and girls and femicide.

"Femicide -- the violent death of a woman, killed by someone close to her, usually her husband, boyfriend or ex-boyfriend -- is our main reason to strike," the spokesperson said.

And photos from around the world show even more women marching and protesting.

PAKISTAN

Pakistani women workers rally in Karachi. Credit: AP/REX/Shutterstock

INDONESIA

In Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Credit: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

PHILIPPINES

Activists and residents of urban communities from Manila hold posters and setup a barricade as they occupy a government housing project in Bulacan, Philippines. Credit: Jes Aznar/Getty Images

ECUADOR

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RUSSIA

An activist holds a poster reading 'A woman for president!' during a protest inside the Kremlin with The Troitskaya Tower in the background in Moscow. Credit: AP/REX/Shutterstock

Happy International Women's Day! Additional reporting by Sasha Lekach.

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