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France: Women Reclaim ’Yellow Vest’ Protests with Peaceful Demo

France: Women Reclaim ’Yellow Vest’ Protests with Peaceful Demo
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Local Editor

Hundreds of women Sunday marched in Paris to reclaim France's "yellow vest" movement from violent activists, a day after protesters smashed their way into a government ministry.

The women, wearing yellow vests, turned out after 50,000 people returned to the streets of France Saturday amid violent clashes with police.

Some of the women waved yellow balloons and pushed prams. Protests were also held in other French cities.

"All the media ever reports is the violence, and we are forgetting the root of the problem" which is the fight against austerity, said one protester, Karen, a 42-year-old nurse from Marseille.

The women sang the "Marseillaise," France's national anthem, as they gathered on the steps of the city's opera house at Bastille before marching through nearby streets.

The women's demonstrations came as Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire called for an end to the "yellow vest" unrest, saying "those who believe in democracy" should now say "that's enough," he told Europe 1 radio.

There were also women's demonstrations in Caen, northwestern France, and Montceau-les-Mines, central-eastern France.

The "yellow vest" protest movement, which has now seen protests on eight consecutive Saturdays, was initially triggered by anger over an increase in fuel taxes.

But it has since morphed into a campaign against the high cost of living and the government of President Emmanuel Macron, seen by many as arrogant and beholden to big business.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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