Around the world, 2018 has been an intense year for mass mobilization and social change.
Iranian protesters in dozens of cities rang in the New Year by gathering to challenge their government’s economic policies and speak out against political suppression. Less than a month later, feminists across the globe took part in the second annual Women’s March, and since then demonstrations have sprung up in Honduras, Tunisia, Romania, Italy, the United States, Venezuela, and countless other countries demanding everything from political reform to gun control.
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In many places, protesting is risky business. It can mean jail time, political and economic blacklisting, or worse. But citizens all over the world, especially young people, are taking to the streets to demand change. Here are just eight of the many movements that are changing the world right now.
1. India
A participant has the words "not in my name" painted on face during a protest against two recently reported rape cases as protestors gather near the Parliament in New Delhi, India, April 15, 2018.
A participant has the words "not in my name" painted on face during a protest against two recently reported rape cases as protestors gather near the Parliament in New Delhi, India, April 15, 2018. Violent crimes against women have been on the rise in India despite tough laws enacted in 2013.
Thousands have taken to the streets across India this month to protest against an ongoing sexual assault epidemic.
The most recent wave of protests occurred in reaction to the alleged gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl by eight Hindu men and the rape of a 16-year-old girl. Despite increasingly tough laws, child rapes in India increased by 82% in 2016.
Read More: Protests Erupt in India After Two Girls Are Raped
2. Palestine
A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, April 20, 2018.
A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, April 20, 2018. Thousands of Palestinians joined the fourth weekly protest on Gaza's border with Israel on Friday and two Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops firing from across the border fence, health officials said.
Israeli snipers have killed 40 Palestinians, and 1,700 more have been injured by gunfire, rubber bullets, and tear gas during the recent protests in the Gaza strip.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have gathered along the Israel-Gaza border to participate in the “March of Return” — a six week-long protest to signify the aspiration of Palestinian return to occupied lands.
Though the protests have signaled a renewed interest in mass non-militarized political action among Gazans, Israeli government officials have sought to justify the use of live ammunition that has killed teenagers and journalists and has left countless Palestinians with crippling injuries.
3. Armenia
Demonstrations are continuing in Armenia a week after anti-government protests forced the resignation of the country’s longtime president. Though the Armenian government’s future remains in question, citizens have made it clear that they no longer plan to tolerate the corruption or authoritarianism that has plagued their country’s politics since the dismantling of the Soviet Union.
4. Spain
People lift up their arms as the shout slogans during a protest outside the Justice Ministry in Madrid, April 26, 2018.
People lift up their arms as the shout slogans during a protest outside the Justice Ministry in Madrid, April 26, 2018. Women's rights groups protested Thursday after a court in northern Spain sentenced five men to nine years each in prison for the lesser crime of sexual abuse in what activists saw as a gang rape during the 2016 running of the bulls festival in Pamplona.
Over the weekend, demonstrations erupted in cities across Spain as five men accused of gang raping an 18-year-old woman at the annual running of the bulls festival were convicted of “continuous sexual abuse,” a much lesser charge than rape.
A spokesperson said that the Spanish government is reviewing whether the law on sexual crimes "needs to be updated.” The outrage surrounding the case has been likened to a Spanish #MeToo movement.
Read More: Thousands Protested in Spain After 5 Men Were Cleared of Gang Rape
5. Nicaragua
Demonstrators throw rocks at police during clashes in Managua, Nicaragua, Friday, April 20, 2018.
Young people in Nicaragua are digging in for the long haul as they burn vehicles, barricade intersections, and stage demonstrations against authoritarian rule in their country.
What began as protests against social security reforms has evolved into calls for the ouster of the president, Daniel Ortega, who has been leader of Nicaragua for 20 of the past 40 years.
Though he was a revered leader during the revolutionary Sandinista movement in the 1960s and 70s, protesters now argue that Ortega’s censorship policies and the recent killing of protesters and journalists mean that he has to go.
Read More: 3 Things to Know About the Protests Taking Over Nicaragua
6. Thailand
The Guardian Thailand: hundreds stage largest protest since start of military rule The Guardian “The protesters were focused on environmental issues and not politics, and they cleaned the street afterwards,” Paisan said. He… https://t.co/H8T3H3fCqS via https://t.co/V94GbS7WBrpic.twitter.com/rNr5UcQvRB
— EarthMatter (@EarthDefendah) April 29, 2018
More than 1,000 people gathered in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thailand over the weekend to protest the construction of a housing project for judges and government officials in the foothills of a sacred mountain. According to the BBC, it was one of the country’s largest demonstrations since 2014, when the military seized control of the Thai government.
7. Mexico
Thousands gathered in the Mexican city of Guadalajara last week to demand justice for three film students who were recently murdered — their bodies dissolved in acid — allegedly by a drug cartel.
The case highlights the ongoing problem of youth disappearances in Mexico’s drug war, the climax of which was the kidnapping of 43 students at the Ayotzinapa teachers’ college in Guerrero in 2014.
According to Voice of America, 15,516 people between the ages of 13 and 29 are officially listed as missing in Mexico.
8. Russia
In Moscow Monday, thousands of Russians gathered after a court ruled that the state media regulator was allowed to block the popular messaging service, Telegram, in the country. Protesters held signs, chanted, and threw paper airplanes, the symbol of Telegram, to demand that their internet remain free from government cencorship.
The demonstration quickly turned into an anti-Vladimir Putin rally, with speakers like anti-corruption activist and former opposition presidential candidate Aleksei Navalny leading chants of “Down with the Czar!” according to the New York Times. Activists have called another protest, this one nationwide, for May 5 to protest Putin’s fourth presidential inauguration.
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