According to the official Women’s March website, their reason behind marching is to end violence against women, protect reproductive rights, protect rights and equalize the workplace, and more.
Women’s March, a national organization, doesn’t just fight for women, they fight to raise awareness for environmental issues, protect immigrants, promote anti-violence, and protect civil and LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and allies) rights, despite gender, race, or religion. Contrary to popular belief, the Women’s Marches that occur nationwide aren’t meant to help more than just women. Rather, they are using their popularity to peacefully protest for everyone’s rights. These marches bring more people to Washington D.C. than the Inauguration of President Donald Trump did, and they continue to grow in size each year.

The Women’s March in St. Louis wasn’t sophomore Lauren Ulrich’s first experience at a Women’s March. She attended the Women’s March on Washington [D.C.] in January 2017 and the St. Louis Women’s March in January of 2018.

“It was a very positive experience. It definitely had a very big impact on me to see other people that believe in the same things I do. Overall it was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed the speakers [at the marches]. In washington D.C. they had many famous speakers there, so those were very cool and inspirational. In St. Louis there were some local activists and politicians,” Ulrich said.

Ulrich is very passionate about women’s rights issues for many reasons, some hitting close to home.

“The biggest inspiration for me [to march] is the people in my life. A lot of women that I know and look up to, like friends and family members, have been victims of sexual assault and violence, so that’s a major reason I march. The women in my life inspire me be confident in myself and go out and make a difference,” Ulrich said.

Although Ulrich doesn’t feel personally affected by these issues, she chooses to march for the equality of everyone.

“For me personally, I feel that I have a fairly privileged life. I’m financially stable, I have a good family, I haven’t truly been discriminated against, but I know that not everyone has those privileges. I don’t feel like I, personally, have been affected because I am woman, but I know others have been and I want to support those who have been and continue to be. Women are constantly victims of sexual assault and disrespected because they are female and I want it to end. There are definitely disadvantages women, especially of those of color, have that men don’t. There’s wage gaps, disrespect in the workplace, and other daily struggles that women go through. People who haven’t been in the shoes of someone who has experienced these don’t understand what it’s really like. I want the people in power to know what struggles we face. These struggles are real and they affect women of every race every day,” Ulrich said.

Ulrich, along with many others, believe that marches are an excellent way to shed light on social issues.

“Marches are a great way to show what the public’s opinion on social issues. It’s a huge deal; it shows politicians what we want. It also inspires others to go out and support what the want to. When you attend others and see how passionate others are and how much change they are making, then it will inspire others to do whatever they can to help out,” Ulrich said.

Ulrich urges others to help out in all the ways they can, whether that be by marching towards equality or taking smaller, simpler steps to help.

“I would totally recommend [marches] to anyone. Even if you have different opinions than I do, I think you should still go out and show your support for whatever you believe in. Peaceful protest is a really great thing that we’re allowed to do so I believe that everyone should get involved in what change they want to see,” Ulrich said.