Kaila White

The Republic | azcentral.com

About 100 people dressed in red protested outside the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix on Wednesday afternoon as part of A Day Without a Woman and the International Women's Strike.

Both strikes intended to illustrate women's economic and social power.

The national organizers behind the Women's March on Washington in January planned A Day Without a Woman, but no Arizona leaders or organizations planned protests to coincide with the strikes, which called for women to skip work, not spend money and wear red.

After seeing no local events for strikers, Phoenix resident Julie Golding created a Facebook event on Monday for anyone who wanted to strike at the Capitol with her.

"I tell everyone: 'Your body and your voice matters. Do something,' " she said. "We’re here with our signs to show we’re not going to go away."

Scenes outside – and inside – the Legislature

The protesters chanted and carried signs, some of which were feminist or positive, while others were critical of President Donald Trump.

Among the most visible in attendance was Nia Ledesma, a 34-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran who carried three signs and wore an "end white supremacy" shirt.

"Women need to speak out. I don’t look like a veteran, I don’t look like I have been raped in my lifetime, I don’t look like I have been assaulted in my lifetime," she said, although she said all three are true. "This helps me get my power back by helping other women and being able to speak about my pain. I’m turning my pain into power now."

Dozens of the protesters entered the House of Representatives where state Rep. Isela Blanc, D-Tempe, honored Golding and the group, asking them to stand in front of the legislators. Many applauded, including Rep. Daniel Hernandez, D-Tucson, who wore a pink "I stand with Planned Parenthood" scarf.

Blanc said she invited the women in as a way to show that legislators are listening.

"It’s my way of showing them, hey, this is part of the political process, right? Coming in and feeling comfortable to enter this House and feeling comfortable engaging with your legislator or Legislature, and I'm just proud that they're here," Blanc said.

Part of International Women's Day

The strikes coincided with International Women's Day, which has been observed for decades as a celebration of women's achievements across the globe and a call for gender equality.

"I hear that a lot, ‘What rights do women not have?’ It’s not that we don’t have rights; it’s that we don’t have equity," Deedra Abboud said outside the Capitol. She is a member of Love Glasses Revolution, which aims to promote love, positivity and equality.

Number one on her list is wage equity: American women currently earn about 80 percent of what American men are paid, according to multiple sources.

She also noted that more women need to run for office as well as pursue leadership positions as support staff for politicians, such as campaign managers, a point that she heard in the Women in Blue Day event in the Legislature on Wednesday morning, where legislators and organizations talked about encouraging, funding and training women to run for elected office.

"I think we’re still in this stage of healing where people are still angry, and they need these rallies to get that anger out," Abboud said. "I think we need more leadership to show us other ways we can harness that energy and instead of putting it into anger, we can put it into progress."

Impact elsewhere?

Phoenix Union High School District spokesman Craig Pletenik said the district saw no impact from the day, which stands in contrast with the Day Without Immigrants in February, when as much as a third of the student population skipped class in some schools.

A Mesa Public Schools spokeswoman also said that district saw no impact; Tempe Union High School District is currently on spring break. A spokesman for Banner Health, which is the largest employer in Arizona, said he had not heard of any impact at their hospitals.

Planned Parenthood leaders made the decision nationally and locally to stay open but support International Women's Day events or strikes, but could not find any locally, according to Planned Parenthood of Arizona spokeswoman Tayler Tucker.

"It’s a much higher ask of people" than the Women's March was, she said, for example because many people don't have paid time off or don't want to risk affecting their jobs.

"If we’re looking for things like the Women’s March in terms of how big it was or how exciting or flashy or public it was ... there will be very fewer of those moments than will be the small moments," Tucker said.

"You can don red today, but I would say making the commitment to take 5 to 10 minutes out of every day," she said. "Whether it's calling a representative or reading something or actually taking some sort of action … to create ritual and practice is what will make a difference."

Know of Arizona businesses or organizations that were impacted by International Women's Day strikes? Contact the reporter at kaila.white@arizonarepublic.com.