International Women’s Day will be marked by public actions for an end to violence and for Buen Vivir in Londrina. The activities take place on Saturday (7) and Sunday (8), in different parts of the city, with the participation of the Municipal Council for Women’s Rights (CMDM), the Feminist Front, associations, and collectives defending the rights of girls and women.

On Saturday, between 9h and 13h, the CMDM will publicize the services that make up the municipal network for protecting women and the network to confront violence. The action takes place at the Calçadão, in front of the Ouro Verde Movie Theater. The cultural groups Estrela da Vila and Baque de Obá Kossô will be part of the program. A poster workshop organized by the Londrina Feminist Front is also confirmed.

“The aim is to bring the public closer to what March 8 really means: a day of struggle, achievements, and challenges for women,” explains the Council president, Sueli Galhardi.

Sueli Galhardi, president of the CMDM. Photo: Emerson Dias/NCom

“We want equality, justice and democracy for all femininities. We fight to live with freedom, autonomy and respect, already guaranteed by the Constitution. And this struggle is not only women’s, but society’s as a whole.”

Municipal services

During the action at the Calçadão, in addition to publicizing the municipal services for protecting and assisting women, the Municipal Health Department will offer rapid STI tests, blood pressure and blood glucose checks, as well as guidance on disease prevention and the services available at health units.

The action is part of the 2nd edition of the campaign “Women in Focus: Self-care and Prevention,” alluding to International Women’s Day.

The event will also feature the Women Entrepreneurs’ Art Fair, organized in partnership with the Municipal Secretariat for Women’s Policies, with the exhibition and sale of products by local artisans and entrepreneurs.

Vista Bela for Women

Also on Saturday, the Vista Bela Women’s Movement (Mavibe) will promote the “Vista Bela for Women” action, at the neighborhood Society field in Londrina’s North Zone, between 10h and 12h. According to Rita de Cássia Lemos, Mavibe leader, the demonstration was conceived to bring together families and women to signal zero tolerance for the high rates of local and national violence.

“Vista Bela has reached the point where women are the mainstay of the household; they are the providers, and yet they suffer violence in all its forms — they and their children — at the hands of a partner, man or woman. The emotional and psychological imprisonment of these women, the vulnerability of being involved with narcissists, in some way makes them slaves to violence. They want to take a stand, saying they no longer accept the course Brazil has been taking,” Rita explains.

The action will be carried out with posters, held by those who feel comfortable. “It is a manifesto, signaling no to violence with some people who agreed to hold signs, because we also do not want to impose anything. Some do not feel comfortable because of the environment in which they live, because of the situation they are going through, but by being there they will also be signaling that they do not support violence and do not accept this being perpetuated for our daughters, our granddaughters. 2026 is the year to break this cycle,” she believes.

The action concludes with the distribution of meals by the Marmitas do Bem project.

Feminist Front event in March 2025. Photo: Facebook/Reproduction

Sunday at the Saul fair

Continuing the schedule, the Londrina Feminist Front is promoting the action “For an end to violence, solidarity with victims, and for Buen Vivir” at the open-air fair on Avenida Saul Elkind, in the North Zone. The action is in partnership with the CMDM and other feminist movements, popular collectives, and organizations, such as the Feminist Health Network and Néias—Observatory of Femicides of Londrina.

The mobilization takes place at the Cincão Fair, with gathering at 9h, in front of the Muebles Brasília store. The action is part of the national 8M agenda and is presented, according to the organizers, “as a moment of denunciation, solidarity, and mobilization.”

Among the central demands are confronting femicide and holding aggressors accountable; advocating for Paraná and Londrina to adhere to the National Pact to Confront Femicide; resisting the dismantling of the Secretariat of Social Assistance; strengthening the Municipal Secretariat for Women’s Policies (SMPM); combating institutional transphobia; defending legal abortion; fighting against the precarization and privatization of public education in Paraná; and ending the 6x1 work schedule.

“The mobilization also expresses solidarity with Palestinian women, with the Indigenous population — with an emphasis on the Kaingang Cultural Center of Londrina — and with all exploited and oppressed groups. The mobilization also reaffirms the importance of memory and justice in cases of gender-based political violence, such as the murder of Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes,” the organization concludes.

Black Divas

Also on Sunday, the Black Divas Collective will hold an action at the Citizenship Complex, at the Youth Center of the South Region, starting at 9h. “We fight for women’s lives, for the right to exist with dignity, autonomy, and freedom. In a country where gender violence still marks the lives of so many women, we continue denouncing machismo, racism, and the inequalities that traverse our bodies and our territories,” the organization declares.

The action is carried out “For the lives of Black, working-class, peripheral, young, and elderly women. For the guarantee of rights, for access to work, income, education, and justice.”

Partner entities include NEABI - Conceição Evaristo Center for Afro-Brazilian Studies at UTFPR Londrina, and Axé Roots - Afro-Brazilian Culture Point.

"Women at the Front"

This Friday, the actions alluding to International Women’s Day begin with the tribute “Women at the Front,” proposed by state deputy Ana Júlia Ribeiro and councilor Paula Vicente, both from the PT, to recognize women “who make a difference in the city.”

The event starts at 19h30, in the plenary of the Londrina City Council.