10,000 people march for women’s rights in Brussels, MR officials leave after being booed and heckled

Some 10,000 people marched through the streets of Brussels on Saturday afternoon in a national demonstration for women’s rights that turned into an anti-government protest, reports RTBF.

Demonstrators warned of "worrying regressions" concerning women's rights and "the rightward shift of society and politics" in the action for International Women’s Day that was attended by several political parties and organisations.

Members of the francophone liberal party MR, including European equality commissioner Hadja Lahbib and federal interior minister Bernard Quintin, left the march after being heckled.  

"Recent government decisions on social rights alert us to worrying regressions," said the World March of Women, who organised the demonstration. The feminist and anti-capitalist movement regretted in particular changes to working hours, which would mainly affect women’s jobs.

It also advocated for a total decriminalisation of the voluntary termination of pregnancy, the recognition of the rights of migrant women and the fight against all forms of gender-based violence.

MR politicians leave the march

A delegation from the MR party was booed with the slogan "MR, racist, get out of the demonstration" and doused with water. Members of the party, including Bernard Quintin and Hadja Lahbib, left the scene.

"We had water thrown at us, it may seem trivial, it's not a major attack but it means that we are not welcome,” Quintin told RTBF. “It means that for some, democracy is the only way to express what they think and it is not contradiction. I find that absolutely regrettable.”

In a photo captured by Belga news agency, Brussels MR MP Latifa Aït Baala was seen being booed. Several signs carried by MR members on themes of femicide and abortion were grabbed by protesters.

"Violence is unacceptable. Everyone must be able to demonstrate in complete safety," said Ecolo co-president Marie Lecocq on Bluesky. “Let's not let these unacceptable events make invisible the legitimate demands that we have made together today. Arizona must stop attacking women's rights!”

DéFI president Sophie Rohonyi, who was present at the march, said she “totally understood” why the presence of MR politicians caused such an uproar. "Moreover, Les Engagés understood that they had no place here and so they did not come. What is most disturbing is the MR's communication campaign on the occasion of this day, to give themselves a clear conscience with slogans to say that they are for abortion, while because of the MR, this issue of extending the deadline is on the back burner. I believe that it is this hypocrisy that lit the fuse,” she added.

The demonstration on Saturday also included a feminist village that was set up in Place de l'Albertine. A ‘flash mob’ was organised to denounce violence against women and highlight their strength and resilience.

Other women’s marches were staged in cities around the country.

Photo: ©Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck