Women marked International Women's Day around the world Monday with vibrant calls for unity to advance sexual equality and women's rights.
Iran's Nobel peace prize laureate and Iranian human rights campaigner Shirin Ebadi set the tone, saying in Geneva that she was in "mourning for women's rights" on this day.
In Tehran several hundred Iranian female activists staged a rally to mark International Women's Day, despite warnings from authorities that the gathering was illegal.
"Today, because of the situation of women, the discrimination they face, I am wearing black not only for women in my country but also around the world," Ebadi told an audience at the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Wearing a black suit and without a veil or headscarf, the 2003 Nobel peace prize winner said the women's movement in her country would be a force for change because the fight for sexual equality was a fight for democracy.
Another prominent woman, Oscar winner Jane Fonda, marked the event in Mumbai, saying her three marriages had prevented her from becoming a "complete woman', but that she had become enriched through her involvement in the acclaimed off-Broadway play, "Vagina Monologues".
Speaking before performing in a production of the play, which explores female sexuality and strength through a series of vignettes, Fonda, 66, said she had had to "please" the men in her life despite being rich and successful.
There were grim reminders of the hurdles facing women around the world.
The United Nations urged men to reject violence against women in order to protect their daughters from the AIDS pandemic.
"Men should declare zero tolerance for violence against women, be committed to their daughters' education and help alleviate the burden of care placed on women," Peter Piot, director of the joint UN programme against AIDS (UNAIDS), said in a statement. "Women are disproportionately vulnerable to HIV and they account for half of the 40 million people living with HIV or AIDS around the world.
The Vatican asked the United Nations to condemn all sexual violence against women in a submission to the Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat meanwhile called on women the world over to oppose the Israeli occupation in a speech marking International Women's Day.
The Palestinian woman "who gives birth at an Israeli checkpoint or dies there with her baby urges all women in the world to do everything they can to put an end to Israel's despicable occupation," Arafat said in a radio address.
ASIA TARGETS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Domestic violence was the focus of International Women's Day in Asia Monday, while the United Nations took the occasion to warn that HIV rates were soaring among the continent's female population.
In the Philippines, President Gloria Arroyo signed a new law increasing penalties for men who abuse their wives and children, while similar legislation was reportedly on the cards in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, the Jakarta Post said in an editorial that parliament had passed a bill to curb domestic violence but that its signing by the president had been delayed for unexplained reasons.
In Taiwan, President Chen Shui-bian raised the prospect of appointing the island's first woman prime minister if he wins his re-election battle on March 20, according to local media reports.
In Italy, men reportedly spent five million euros (6.2 million dollars) sending text messages on their cell phones to tell the women in their lives how much they appreciate them.
Several governments paid lip service to the women's cause.
Oman's Sultan Qaboos issued a royal decree naming Rawya bint Saud al-Bussaidi as the new higher education minister, the country's first woman minister with portfolio.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin called for full equality of the sexes as he handed out state awards to some 15 women in a ceremony marking International Women's Day.
In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai urged women to register for elections in June and to embrace education denied them under the ousted Taleban regime, at a ceremony marking International Women's Day.