Toronto women explain #WhyIMarch

Tens of thousands of women from all walks of life came together Saturday for a powerful march through downtown Toronto.

Each attendee had their own reasons for being there — the U.S. election outcome, wage inequality, the threat of sexual violence, to name a few — but everyone was also there to support one another.

• RECAP | A look back at the massive Toronto women's march

CBC Toronto asked some of them why they were marching.

Dawn Barrett said she was there "just to prove to the world that women are people, too."

Cheri DiNovo, an NDP MPP, admits there is some "frustration and anger" that women still have to march for their rights, which she fears are under attack. But neither she, nor Diem Lafortune, right, would miss the event.

Tori Cress performed a song in front of thousands at Nathan Phillips Square. "I came to support my sisters of all races," she said. "We're all fighting patriarchy together." 

"I've been rabble rousing all my life," said Lynne Thorndycraft, whose sign comes with an important message. "Too many people think that if they go to one march they turn the tide. This is going to have to go on for a long time."

Tova Benjamin, an American-Canadian studying at the U of T, was already losing her voice mid-march. That didn't stop her anti-Donald Trump chants. "He's proposing things that would harm me and my friends," she said. 

Bonnie Ackerley's sign has the name of all of her American friends. She said she doesn't trust the incoming administration not to take away reproductive rights. Here in Canada, she says wage equality is the biggest issue she faces. "A lot of men just don't know what it's like being a woman in the workplace," she said.