March 8 is International Women's Day, a date dedicated to pursuing equal rights for women from Calcutta to Connecticut.
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Gorgeous photos show how people are celebrating International Women's Day around the world
On International Women's Day, March 8, women around the world stand up for their rights. See the fashionable, sporty, diplomatic, and creative ways they do it.
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Scholars believe the first Women's Day was celebrated more than 109 years ago in New York, but recently it's become more popular in other cities and countries around the world. Whereas the day often passes somewhat uneventfully in much of the US, women in other places rush into the streets to celebrate, strike, lobby for equal rights, and share the day with their sisters in suffrage.
This year's festivities include an Indian fashion show dedicated to outlawing acid, an all-women's bowling league celebrating their first game in Afghanistan, and a few female bakers staring down President Putin in Russia.
Check out some of the coolest things that are happening around the world for International Women's Day this year:
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On the eve of International Women's Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin caught some side eye from these workers at Samara bakery and confectionery factory.
Last year, Putin decriminalized domestic violence: it's no longer a crime in Russia to beat your family members, as long as you don't cause them bodily harm.
On the outskirts of Mumbai, this woman got ready for a fashion show aimed at stopping acid sales in the country.
Even though India has made some strides in recent years to better regulate acid sales and punish attackers who use it, acid attacks are still on the rise, Deutsche Welle reports.
Many women are attacked for things like rejecting a marriage proposal, refusing sexual advances, or domestic or land disputes.
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In Connecticut, female beer makers gathered at Black Pond Brews brewery in Danielson to show their support for their sisters in brew.
Stanford researchers estimated that just 21% of breweries have at least one female founder, CEO, or head brewer.
In Istanbul, there were all kinds of different celebrations of women. This pair took to the streets on Tuesday, waving Turkish and East Turkestan flags.
They were also rallying in support of their neighbors in Syria, who are suffering through a nearly 7-year-long civil war.
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Elsewhere in the city, Pervin Buldan, the co-leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, danced with her supporters.
"Equality" was the message these marchers carried through Istanbul on Sunday.
Nearby, this woman was proudly female as she traveled down Istanbul's famous Istiklal street.
In Mexico City, women's rights groups launched a campaign against deadly violence toward women.
The United Nations reports that at least seven women are murdered every day in Mexico in gender-based killings (femicides). Latin America has some of the highest rates of femicide in the world.
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Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank took their opportunity in the spotlight to voice opposition to President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Some Spanish women won't be working at all on Women's Day. This sign says "March 8th. I'll stop" — a warning that women in the area of La Fresneda will be striking on Thursday.
These women in Nairobi celebrated International Women's Day 2017 with a game of soccer.
Girls who start playing soccer in Africa report that they feel more confident and do better in school.
In Afghanistan, this woman celebrated the first female bowling competition at the Strikers bowling alley in Kabul on Monday.
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As they do every year in Warsaw, Poland, women staged a "Manifa" march to lobby for their rights.
Two-thousand women marched through downtown in Warsaw on Sunday, lobbying against the country's strict anti-abortion laws, the Associated Press reports.
Even some prison inmates at the massive Tihar Jail in New Delhi are colorfully celebrating the day.
In the prison, which is the largest such complex in South Asia, this woman made her own decorations for an event to mark International Women's Day.
But for some women, the day won't be much different than any other. These Pakistani girls living in Lahore will likely still have lots to do.
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According to UNICEF, the chore of collecting water falls unfairly to women and girls around the world. Women collectively spend more than 200 million hours a year getting water. That's time they might otherwise spend learning, playing, or going to school.
And of course, many women around the world will simply spend the day working to make money and feed their children.
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