International Women’s Day celebrated around the world

Women — and men — around the world celebrate women’s accomplishments and advocate for gender equality.

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Tunisian women display placards during a demonstration on International Women's Day in Tunis. The legal status of women in Tunisia is unique in the Arab world, giving strict equality between men and women since 1956.

Fethi Belaid / AFP/Getty Images

Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez hold up bouquets of flowers during a rally marking International Women's Day in Caracas.

Ariana Cubillos / AP

Women shout slogans and hold banners as they march through central Ankara, Turkey, to commemorate International Women's Day.

Umit Bektas / Reuters

Iraqi students wearing traditional Kurdish clothing in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil celebrate International Women's Day.

Safin Hamed / AFP/Getty Images

Afghan women surf the Web in the Sahar Gul Internet cafe, the first Internet cafe for women opened in Kabul.

Ahmad Jamshid / AP

Women hold pictures of famous female activists during demonstrations to mark International Women's Day in Belgrade, Serbia.

Marko Djurica / Reuters

Women hold signs as they march through central Ankara to commemorate International Women's Day.

Umit Bektas / Reuters

Female activists react as they march toward the Presidential Malacanang Palace to mark International Women's Day in Manila. The women's group called for gender equality, denounced the presence of the U.S. military in the country and called on the president to scrap the Oil Deregulation Law, following the announcement by major oil companies of another round of oil price hikes.

Jay Directo / AFP/Getty Images

First lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton present the 2012 International Women of Courage Award to Hawa Abdallah Mohammed Salih of Sudan, on the 101st anniversary of International Women's Day.

Charles Dharapak / AP

A model wears fashion from Iraqi folklore during celebrations in Baghdad for International Women's Day.

Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images

Palestinian women take part in a rally to mark International Women's Day and to show their solidarity with female Palestinian detainee Hana Shalabi, who is on a hunger strike, at the Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Mohamad Torokman / Reuters

Members of the Women for Rights organization shout slogans during a protest against the cost of living and violence against women in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

/ Reuters

Members of the alternative choir "Gaggle" prepare to take part in a ”Join Me on the Bridge” event on the Millennium Bridge in central London as they celebrate International Women's Day. Now in its third year, the Join Me on the Bridge campaign started in 2010, when women from Congo and Rwanda joined together on a bridge connecting their two countries, sparking what has now become a global annual event.

Leon Neal / AFP/Getty Images

Egyptian women hold placards that read in Arabic "glory for the women martyrs, do not say it doesn't matter," and "women under military rule, violence is humiliation and silence is an insult," and chant slogans against the military ruling council during a demonstration in front of the Journalist's Syndicate in Cairo.

Nasser Nasser / AP

A woman shouts slogans against the Egyptian military council before marching with other women to mark International Women's Day in Cairo.

Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

Bosnian women release balloons as they mark International Women's Day in Sarajevo. A few thousand Bosnian women gathered at the main square in Sarajevo to mark the holiday. Thousands of white balloons were released by women at Sarajevo's old bridge, as a symbol of equal rights for the female population.

Elvis Barukcic / AFP/Getty Images

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 18: Jockey Gary Stevens rides Oxbow out to the front of the pack on the first straight away during the 138th Running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., on Saturday, May 18, 2013. (Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

Oxbow wins and infield fun at Preakness Stakes in Baltimore

Oxbow put D. Wayne Lukas in the record books again with an upset of Orb in the Preakness, giving the Hall of Fame trainer his 14th win in a Triple...

New York Yankees' Travis Hafner bats during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals Sunday, May 12, 2013, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

MLB power rankings

Barry Svrluga assesses the best teams in Major League Baseball through Thursday.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 13: Many seminary graduates are choosing not to become pastors. Rebecca J. Cole received her Master of Divinity and is becoming a community organizer on Capitol Hill. She hugs another graduate after the ceremony. The 2013 Commencement ceremony for Wesley Theological Seminary was held on May 13 at the Washington National Cathedral. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Eager to minister, but not from the pulpit

An increasing number of divinity students who don’t plan to become pastors envision using their degrees to “minister” in a...

epa03704474 A Muslim woman at the ThetKalPyin temporary relief camp near Sittwe in Rakhine State, Western Myanmar, 17 May 2013. A total of 13 people were confirmed dead in neighboring Bangladesh as people began to return home from shelters, a day after Cyclone Mahasen hit the coast, officials said 17 May. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING

Photos of the day

Cyclone Mahasen, Texas tornadoes, puffin census, melting Swiss glacier and more.

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 16: American Idol Season 12 Winner Candice Glover (C) is seen onstage during Fox's 'American Idol 2013' Finale Results Show at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on May 16, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Candice Glover wins 12th season of ‘American Idol’

The 23-year-old vocal powerhouse from St. Helena Island, S.C., tops competition in her third try.

US actress Claire Julien smiles on May 16, 2013 while posing during a photocall for the film 'The Bling Ring' at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Cannes, one of the world's top film festivals, opened on May 15 and will climax on May 26 with awards selected by a jury headed this year by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI (Photo credit should read ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images)

Eye on entertainment

Claire Julien, David Hasselhoff, Freida Pinto, Candice Glover, Martin Short and more.

**LOC IMAGE** Geo. Hamilton, Assistant Superintendent, Cambria Iron Mills house, Johnstown Flood, May 31st, 1889. (Photo by Ernest Walter Histed / Library of Congress)

The Johnstown Flood of 1889

On May 31, 1889, the South Fork dam that held Lake Conemaugh failed, and 20 million tons of water descended upon Johnstown, Pa. The flood claimed the lives of 2,209 people and spurred...

HACIPASA, TURKEY - MAY 5: Syrian refugee Hala ponders her life on the run on Sunday, May 5, 2013, in Hacipasa, Turkey. Three times this morning, the sounds of aircrafts were followed by explosions that shook the ground. Hacipasa, which sits just across the river border from Syria, is home of several hundred Syrian refugees who have been displaced by their home country's conflict. For a year, Hala and her family have been displaced from their home village in Syria because of violent conflict. After bouncing from village to village, fleeing bombings that seemed to follow them, the family crossed into Turkey six weeks ago. Initially, the family was deported back into Syria, where they lived in camps for internally displaced Syrians. But when the camps were bombed, the family was allowed to cross into Turkey. Hala said, 'The blood of the people who died in Syria, the martyrs, is our sad song, but nobody is listening.' (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Turkey faces a refugee crisis

More than 400,000 Syrians have crossed into Turkey seeking refuge from the conflict at home. Finding its resources stretched, Turkey is urgently appealing for international aid and...

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