LONDON: Topless activists from Extinction Rebellion blocked Waterloo Bridge in London on International Women’s Day, foreign media reported.
On Sunday, a group of 31 women formed a human chain across Waterloo Bridge to “highlight the disproportionate impact of the climate and ecological emergency on women”. The activists said they chose the location – otherwise known as The Ladies’ Bridge – because many of the welders, stonemasons and labourers that built it during the Second World War were women. The women taking part in the protest were topless to symbolise the vulnerability of women around the world in the face of climate breakdown, and had the words “climate rape”, “climate murder”, “climate abuse”, “climate inequality” and “climate justice” written on their bodies. The organisation stated it believes it will be women who disproportionately suffer from the effects of the climate crisis. A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said: “A January 2020 report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature found that climate breakdown and environmental degradation are driving an increase in violence against women. “The report found that deforestation and the degradation of land mean women have to travel further to collect the things they need, like firewood, and are exposed to violence, rape and abduction when they make these journeys. UN figures indicate that 80 per cent of people displaced by climate change are women.” The activists at Waterloo Bridge called on women in the UK to recognise the climate crisis will soon be “a reality faced by all women if decisive action is not taken”.
