50+ Of The Most Powerful Images Of Women Protesters Of All Time

By​Giedrė

Women have had hundreds upon hundreds of reasons to protest since the dawn of time, whether it was for voting rights, reproductive rights, or most recently, against sexual predators holding powerful positions. To celebrate the strength and bravery of all the women and girls who have taken to the streets, stood up for their beliefs, and stared down anyone who tried to get in their way, we've compiled the best photos of female protesters from around the world, and they're sure to speak to your renegade soul. They might even inspire you to get a sign in your own hands the next time you have a chance. Be sure to vote for the most powerful ones, and let us know if you've ever committed an act of defiance for a good cause in the comments.

#1 A Protester Holding A Sign For Women's Rights, 2017

taammiiMReport

#2 Danuta Danielsson Hitting A Neo-Nazi With Her Handbag In Växjö, Sweden, 13 April 1985

Hans RunessonReport

#3 Two Women Kissing During An Anti Gay Marriage Demonstration In France, 2012

Gerard JulienReport

#4 Kathrine Switzer Was The First Woman To Run The Boston Marathon. When Organizer Jock Semple Realised A Woman Was Running He Tried To Tackle Her, 1967

Boston HeraldReport

#5 A Demonstrator Faces Down A Riot Policeman During A Pro Democracy Protest In Santiago, Chile, 11 September 2016

REUTERS/Carlos VeraReport

#6 A Woman Sits In Front Of Riot Police Blocking The Road To Protect Protesters During The Anti-Government Protest In Seoul, South Korea, 24 April 2015

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty ImagesReport

#7 A Girl Begging The Officers Not To Use Force Against The Protesters. Bulgaria, November 2013

Torod MusevReport

#8 Young Pacifist Jane Rose Kasmir Planting A Flower On The Bayonets Of Guards At The Pentagon During A Protest Against The Vietnam War, 21 October 1967

Marc RiboudReport

#9 Maria-Teresa "Tess" Asplund Stands Up To Uniformed Demonstrators In A Nazi Demonstration In Borlänge, Sweden, 1 May 2015

David LagerlöfReport

#10 Zakia Belkhiri Takes A Selfie At An Anti-Muslim Demonstration In Antwerp, Belgium 2016

Jurgen AugusteynsReport

#11 Gloria Richardson Pushes Away The Bayonet Of A National Guardsman During A Protest In Cambridge, Md., 1963

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#12 A Young American Woman Holds Up A Sign As She Protests For Women's Rights In Front Of The Federal Trade Commission Headquarters While Policemen Look On During Richard Nixon's Inauguration Weekend, Washington, Dc, 18-21 January 1969

David Fenton/Getty ImagesReport

#13 16-Year-Old Student, Lucie Myslikova Confronting A Neo-Nazi Demonstrator

Vladimir CicmanecReport

#14 Protester Ieshia Evans Is Detained By Law Enforcement Near The Headquarters Of The Baton Rouge Police Department In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, During A Demonstration Against The Shooting Death Of Alton Sterling, 9 July 2016

Jonathan Bachman / ReutersReport

#15 Young Girl With Roller Skates Shows A Soldier In Derry She Isn’t Scared, Northern Ireland, 1969

Clive LimpkinReport

#16 Polish Women Take Part In A Breastfeeding Is Not Obscene Protest In Warsaw’s Subway. In Reaction To A Ban Imposed By City Officials On An Art Project, Portraying Breastfeeding Mothers, 15 June 2011

JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty ImagesReport

#17 Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst Is Arrested At A Demonstration Outside Buckingham Palace, January 1914

Getty ImagesReport

#18 An Israeli Woman Stands Up Against Police Brutality At A Protest In Tel-Aviv

Middle East RisingReport

#19 A Woman Dances In Front Of Riot Police During A Demonstration In The Kadikoy Neighborhood Of Istanbul Against The Eviction Of A Squatted Building, 9 December 2014

OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty ImagesReport

#20 Photo Of Saffiyah Khan Smiling At An English Defence League (Edl) Protester In Birmingham Was Snapped After She Stepped In To Defend A "Fellow Brummie"

#21 Woman Campaigning For The Vote Is Restrained By Policemen, C 1910. British Women Did Not Win Full Voting Rights Until 1928

SSPL/Getty ImagesReport

#22 Zulaikha Patel, 13, Along With Other Schoolgirls, Protests Racist Hair Policies At Pretoria Girls High School, South Africa, 2016

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#23 Woman Yelling At A Cop During An Anti-Apartheid Protest, 1981

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#24 Feminists Are Burning Some Election Posters To Fight For Women's Suffrage. Photograph. Paris, France, 12 May 1935

Imagno/Getty ImagesReport

#25 With Blood Covering Her Hand And Arm, A Woman Points At A Police Officer In Charlotte, Nc, 21 September 2016

Sean Rayford/Getty ImagesReport

#26 A Woman Kneels Down And Holds Up A Feather While Facing Police Moving In To Break Up Anti-Fracking Protesters In New Brunswick, October 2013

OsmichReport

#27 Woman Braves The Water Cannon In Turkey, 2013

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#28 Jasmina Golubovska Kisses The Shield Of A Police Officer In Front Of The Macedonian Government Building In Skopje, 5 May 2015

Ognen Teofilovski / ReutersReport

#29 Women Protested Against The Dismantling Of Policies To Confront And Care For Women Victims Of Violence In The City Of São Paulo, 10 August 2017

Cris Faga/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesReport

#30 Indian Policemen Restrain A Tibetan Woman During A Demonstration At The Chinese Embassy. On The Occasion Of The Tibetan Women’s Uprising Day, New Delhi, 12 March 2008

#31 English Suffragette Annie Kenney (1879 - 1953) Is Arrested During A Demonstration

Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesReport

#32 A Woman Gestures To Riot Policemen During A Protest Organized By The Rally For Culture And Democracy (Rcd), Algiers, 02 July

AFP/Getty ImageReport

#33 Feminist Activists Protest On The Streets During A National Demonstration Called "Ni Una Menos (Not One Woman Less)" To Demand Justice For All Women Victims Of Gender Crimes And In Repudiation To The Murder Of Florencia Aguirre, A Nine Year Old Girl Who Was Strangled, Burned And Buried By His Father In The City Of Coyhaique, Valparaiso, Chile, 19 October 19 2016

Marcelo Benitez/Latincontent/Getty ImagesReport

#34 A Woman Yells At A Man Dressed As Adolf Hitler During A Protest Of Newly Inaugurated President Donald Trump At A Women's March Saturday, Las Vegas, 21 January 2017

AP Photo/John LocherReport

#35 A Member Of The “Women In Black”, An International Peace Network, Lays On The Ground Wrapped In A Plastic Bag, As A Sign Of Protest In Downtown Novi Sad, Serbia, 10 December 2005

Marko Drobnjakovic/APReport

#36 A Woman In Buenos Aires Protests With A Sign That Says “Stop Sexist Violence”

Eitan AbramovichReport

#37 A Femen Activist, Sarah Constantin, Is Hanged From A Noose-Like Rope From A Paris Bridge To Call Attention To The Large Number Of Executions In Iran. Paris, 28 January 2016

Zacharie Scheurer/APReport

#38 Two Garment Workers Picketing, Circa 1909

Universal History Archive / Getty ImagesReport

#39 A Woman Stands In Front Of Police Officers As They Block Access To A Street During A Protest Against Proposed Labour Reforms In Paris, 14 June 2016

Alain Jocard/GettyReport

#40 A Turkish Riot Policeman Uses Tear Gas As People Protest Against The Destruction Of Trees In A Park Brought About By A Pedestrian Project, In Taksim Square In Central Istanbul, 28 May 2013

#41 A Woman Listens To A Rally With Her Mouth Taped Shut During The 'Justice For All' March In Washington, Dc, 13 December 2014

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty ImagesReport

#42 An Anti Government Protester Flashes A Victory Sign During The Clashes Between Protesters And Riot Police On Taksim Square In Istanbul, 22 June 2013

OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty ImagesReport

#43 A Palestinian Woman Argues With An Israeli Border Policeman During A Protest Against Jewish Settlements In The West Bank Village Of Nabi Saleh

reutersReport

#44 Masked Women Protesting Against Gender Violence During A Demonstration In Madrid For The International Day Against Gender Violence, 25 November 2015

Marcos del Mazo/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty ImagesReport

#45 Demonstrators Remove Their Brassieres During An Anti-Bra Protest Outside A San Francisco Department Store

Bettmann / Getty ImagesReport

#46 Chinese Riot Police Watch A Muslim Ethnic Uighur Woman Protest In Urumqi In China’s Far West Xinjiang Province Following A Third Day Of Unrest, 7 July 2009

PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty ImagesReport

#47 A Demonstrator Holds A Flower That She Says Is A Symbol Of Hope, 3 December 1999

Karie Hamilton / Getty ImagesReport

#48 Semi-Nude Indian Devadasi Women Shout Anti-Government Slogans During A Protest In Mumbai, 15 August 2010

Nagesh OhalReport

#49 An Afro-Ecuadorean Woman Argues With Police Guarding A Fence In Front Of The National Assembly In Quito. In Protest Of A Proposed Water Privatization Law That Could Impact The Country’s Indigenous Population, 5 May 2010

PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP/Getty ImagesReport

#50 A Woman Protester Waves The Victory Sign During Clashes With Military Police Near Tahrir Square, 17 January 2013

#51 A Protest Led By Students For Justice In Palestine At The University Of Maryland, College Park, 2009

Gerald Martineau / The Washington Post/Report

#52 Police Arrest A Demonstrator Affiliated With The Occupy Wall Street Movement After She And Fellow Protesters Attempted To Cross The Brooklyn Bridge On The Motorway. The Arrested Woman Is Seen Screaming Out Her Name To Supporters On The Pedestrian Bridge Above Who Were Recording Names Of Those Arrested. This Portion Of The Bridge Is Not Intended For Pedestrians And As The Marchers Attempted To Cross, They Were Stopped Midway By Police. Hundreds Of Protesters Were Arrested, New York City, 1 October 2011

Mario Tama / Getty ImagesReport

#53 A Woman Argues With Belarus Police Officers Blocking A Street During An Opposition Rally In Minsk, Belarus As Hundreds Of People Were Arrested Over Protests Against Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, 25 March 2017