Under the motto “Margaridas in the fight for a Brazil with Popular Sovereignty, Democracy, Justice, Equality and Free from Violence”, more than one hundred thousand women occupied the streets of Brasília during the sixth edition of the Marcha das Margaridas.  In the photo, Sonia Guajajara (center), coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB).

The March of Daisies is an initiative of Brazilian women, rural and forest workers, who joined the World March of Women against Poverty and Violence. The event’s name is a tribute to Margarida (Daisy) Maria Alves (1943-1983), the first woman to hold the position of President of the Union of Rural Workers of Alagoa Grande, Paraíba State. Margarida stood out in the struggles for the rights of rural workers, for land reform and against violence in rural areas. She was brutally gunned down on August 12, 1983, in a murder ordered by landholders of the region.