Local women on why they're taking part in women's marches

The day after Donald Trump is sworn in as president of the United States, thousands of women are expected to descend on Washington, D.C. – many wearing pink hats – to protest his rise to power.

• Why thousands are heading to the Women's March in Washington
• How to make a pink pussy hat if you don't knit

Several local women will be driving or riding on a bus all night to be in the American capital Saturday for the march. Those who want to march but can't go to Washington, D.C., are attending sister marches in other cities, including Toronto, London, Hamilton and Guelph – the Women's March website said as of Friday morning, there are 616 sister marches taking place around the world.

CBC K-W spoke to some women who plan to march on Saturday and they explained why.

Carolina Miranda – 'The future has to be kind'

As an educator, Carolina Miranda of Waterloo wants to teach her students about equity and human rights. She will be attending with her friends Sara Bingham and Karen Rosenberger. Miranda and Bingman started the group Feminine Harbor, which fosters female leadership.

"For me it was important to be close to the source because that's where so many female leaders are gathering. I think that if we want to build a new generation that understands the importance of gender equity, we need to create systems if we connect to one another, if we get to know each other, if we exchange business cards and we educate each other in terms of what are the things that are really happening. And I think the biggest gathering of minds right now will be in Washington, D.C.," she said.

"We are preparing students for the future, and the future has to be kind. I think, as an educator, we have to start understanding that diversity is at the centre of what we are going to experience in the future because the world has gotten smaller … If we can't live in diversity peacefully, then we are in really big trouble."

Sue Nally – 'They feel genuinely afraid'

TriCity Roller Girls member Sue Nally is going to Washington, D.C. to show solidarity to her friends and make a statement.

"On a very personal level, I have a lot of friends down there, friends of varying ethnic backgrounds, friends who identify along the gender spectrum in a variety of ways, friends who are very much feel targeted and afraid of this coming leadership. So for me, it's about supporting them …

"They feel like rights that they have gained over a number of years and fought very hard for, to be recognized and respected, they feel like that's going to be taken away or compromised. They feel genuinely afraid of what's to come."

Liane Reeves – 'This isn't OK'

Liane Reeves has never been to a protest before, but the London woman felt strongly about attending this march.

"I want to be one of the people counted saying this isn't OK. What happened with electing Donald Trump and with all of the rhetoric that went along with that and what's happening afterwards, it's not OK.

"And I just want to be one of the people standing there letting them know that you can't treat people this way and think that they'll just take it silently … I think I'm looking forward to most, being around people who believe some of the same things I do and getting to have those conversations that you don't always get to have in your own community."

Diane Ballantyne – 'Collective actions have an impact'

As soon as Diane Ballantyne of Fergus heard about the march, she booked three hotel rooms then asked friends, "Who wants to go." She and about 10 other women from Guelph and Centre Wellington are driving down for the march.

"After watching the American election and election night, as soon as I saw the march mentioned on Facebook, I knew immediately that it was important to be there, to join collectively to take a stand against misogyny, bigotry and the politics of division … I think that the opportunity for hundreds of thousands of people to come together the day after the inauguration will make a difference to the American people as well as to the global community ...

"People of all backgrounds, races, diverse faiths, people with different gender expression and differently abled, are together marching and saying that that president represents everybody and yes we are a small group of Canadians that are going, but what happens in the United States affects Canada, both with their policies and with the tone that they use. So I think that these kinds of collective actions have an impact."

Liz Boyle – 'Can't sit back and watch'

The Guelph teacher says she felt depressed after Trump was elected, but news of the Women's March on Washington, D.C. perked her up.

"I can't sit back and watch Trump, who stands for some very frightening values, take away our human rights, which is what he's threatening to do," she said.

"It's a good opportunity to remind our students that when they see something that they don't like, that they have the right to say something about it and that this is one way of doing it … I don't want to just sit by and let him [Trump] speak his rhetoric and have nobody say the opposite."

Aimée Morrison – 'Important for me to do'

The University of Waterloo professor is attending the sister march in Seneca Falls, N.Y., partly because it's closer, but also because it is an important site in American feminism. It is where the Seneca Falls Convention – the first women's rights convention – was held in July 1848.

"This moment feels historic to me. This moment feels like one of those moments that will someday be written about, and there are going to be pictures of people that resisted the normalization of sexual violence, the normalization of hatred against immigrants, against labourers, against the disabled.

"I feel this is a really important moment and when history begins to count who was on what side, I want to make it clear that I stand on the side of women's rights, of human rights, of kindness, of diversity and inclusivity. It feels important for me to do for myself and it feels important for me to do for my daughter as well."

Wendy Rose – 'Showing our solidarity'

Wendy Rose, her husband Ed Slater and their son Ben plan to attend the Toronto march.

"We feel strongly opposed to a lot of the policies of the Trump administration and for sure we are appalled at the misogynist activities that he has demonstrated and his disregard for many people – not just women, but for people of different religions and different ethnicities.

"There's a certain feeling of helplessness that you have in the face of all that, and we thought going and showing our solidarity would be a good thing, and certainly something to show our son, who is only six years old, that when you're opposed to something, you do have some options."

Marjorie-Ann Knight – 'It must change'

"I march for the undervalued, underpaid women who toil tirelessly to bring their families out of poverty. We need to break the cycle and have the same opportunity as others to move ahead.

"I know about being qualified and being hired at lesser positions, but they still use your knowledge and expertise they just don't pay you for it. For my children and grandchildren to come – it must change."