Clashes as thousands protest violence against women in Chile

Clashes broke out between police and protesters as hundreds of thousands of women marched in Santiago to demand an end to violence against women.

The protesters on Sunday gathered at the Plaza Italia, one of the main hubs for the more than four months of anti-government demonstrations, and filled the nearby streets.

They then marched up Alameda Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares in the Chilean capital, chanting and singing as they went.

"It's great to see so many women today," Elizabeth, one of the demonstrators, told AFP.

She came out to demand protection of indigenous women's rights.

"I love when women put their ovaries to the side and become empowered, move forward and change everything."

Small clashes broke out near the presidential palace, which was under heavy police protection, when demonstrators tried to clear security barriers. Police drove them back with tear gas and water cannon.

 

Protesters also unfurled a banner outside the palace demanding Pinera's resignation.

Many of the women wore green headscarves, symbolizing the fight for abortion rights, or purple scarves with "NiUnaMenos" (roughly, We can't lose one more woman) -- an anti-femicide rallying cry -- written on them.

More than 125,000 people marched, according to police estimates. Protest organizers put the number at 500,000.

The protest stretched for at least four kilometers (2.5 miles), according to AFP journalists.

More than 30 people have died in Chile since protests began last October with the announcement of a modest hike in metro transport fares.

The demonstrations, the worst since the fall of Pinochet's dictatorship in 1990, have mushroomed to encompass wider discontent over social and economic woes.

The aim is to pressure Pinera's conservative government to expand social reforms it has already proposed in order to quell violent protests which began last October.