Hundreds gather in Downtown LA for International Women's Day rally

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (FOX 11) - They stood together in solidarity.

Women from across the city came together Wednesday in Downtown Los Angeles to honor International Women's Day. Organizers called on women to take the day off to attend rallies, wear red and refrain from purchasing products and items from big box stores and shop local instead.

At the LA City Council meeting, Nury Martinez, the only female councilmember, was joined by some 400 female city workers who disrupted the meeting in a symbolic move.

"Each one stated their name and introduced themselves. It was actually very overwhelming, some of the women thanked me for it," said Martinez.

Earlier outside of LA City Hall, it was a sea of red as women of all ages and even some men took part in the rally.

"I'm out here supporting my woman. I think it's important for all men to go out there and support their women, especially what is going on in the world today," said Kenny Barnes.

Others took the day off work.

"It was a scheduled thing. My work is very supportive of using your vacation time however you see fit, so that's what I did," said participant Julia Roberts.

Side by side, these women vowed to fight for equality and said there is still more work to be done.

"We still don't make equal pay. We still don't have family leave. A lot more to do and we're not there yet," said rally organizer Emiliana Guereca.

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