International Women's Day 2025: What's on in Brussels?

International Women's Day 2025: What's on in Brussels?
Illustration picture shows a demonstration on the occasion of International Women's Day, in Brussels, Tuesday 08 March 2022. Credit: Belga

Every year on 8 March, people across the globe join together to celebrate International Women's Day, as part of the wider Women's Rights Week.

There is always an abundance of activities happening in and around the Belgian capital, from the annual march denouncing the pay gap among other things, to cultural events putting women in the spotlight. Find all our favourites below.

World March of Women

Thousands of people will march through the streets of Brussels for women's right on Saturday. Amnesty International will be in attendance, alongside other NGOs such as Abortion Right, to demand the total decriminalisation of abortion in Belgium and promote access to safe and legal abortion services in the country.

A woman holding a sign reading "I want to enjoy my rights" at the 'Women's Strike' manifestation for gender equality on 8 March in Brussels. Credit: Belga/ Nicolas Maeterlinck

The march will set off from Place de l'Albertine at 15:00, wind round to Place Poelaert and culminate with a concert back at Place de l'Albertine at 16:30.

Find more information here.

'Feminist village' and flash mob

There will also be a "feminist village" at Central Station from 11:00, with stands, workshops, performances and music.

International Women's Day, in Namur, Tuesday 08 March 2022. Credit: Belga / Maxime Asselberghs

Just before the march sets off at 15:00, visitors can enjoy a flash mob outside Central Station from 13:30 until 14:00. The event is co-created by women, beneficiaries, carers, activists, artists and citizens and accompanied by Catarina Campo, a contemporary dancer, to denounce violence against women and highlight their strength and resilience.

'Putting words to the ills of women's health' workshop

This reading and discussion workshop, led by non-profit Création d'un Monde, is a unique opportunity to share, in complete confidentiality, personal experiences and questions on women's health. The main aim is to inform and better equip women so that they can assert their rights as healthcare beneficiaries.

A pregnant woman lies on her bed with monitoring devices placed on her belly as she gets ready before delivering her child at the maternity ward of a hospital in Paris on 29 June 2022. Credit: Christophe Archambault / AFP / Belga

The French-language workshop will take place from 10:00 until 12:00 at the Fuzuê Cultural Centre on Rue Philippe le Bon 15. Reservations can be made by email (creation1monde@gmail.com) or phone (0492 40 46 62).

'Uterine fibroids, let's break the taboos!' conference

This conference will also centre on women's health, specifically uterine fibroids. Led by non-profit Fibrom'Out, it will focus on pain, fertility, the mental burden, menstrual precariousness, as well as the financial and societal aspect.

'My body, my choice, shut up.' Protest on International Women's Day in Namur, 8 March 2022. Credit: Belga / Maxime Asselberghs

During this conference, various speakers will endeavour to lift the taboos surrounding these little-known benign tumours from which so many people suffer on a daily basis. They will share their experiences with us and also explain the consequences of these tumours in the lives of the members of their respective associations.

The French-language conference will take place from 14:00 until 18:30 on Saturday in the Nelson Mandela Room of the Sleep Well Youth Hostel, Rue du Damier 23. Admission is €5.

'What are you complaining about? - The violence of the Mediterranean syndrome' theatre

The members of the 'La Clef' youth centre and non-profit Ras-El-Hanout invite you to come and discover their artistic performances aimed at denouncing what has been defined as the "violence of the Mediterranean syndrome" in the medical sector.

Credit: Raz El Hanout theatre company

Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities UNIA says there is a "belief among some healthcare professionals that patients from the Mediterranean region exaggerate their complaints or the manifestation of their symptoms." The French-language performance begins at 16:00 at Loft 58 on Rue de l'Étuve 58-60. No booking is necessary.

FEMINA JAZZ WEEK, Music Village, until Sunday 9 March

Brussels' iconic jazz venue The Music Village has been honouring women by hosting concerts performed exclusively by female musicians all week.

The Music Village. Credit: visit.brussels

On Saturday, there will be an ode to female composers of jazz history, ranging from Billie Holiday to Esperanza Spalding. Finally, on Sunday, Adinda Hertmans' extraordinary all-female power band will inspire.

Find more information here.

Untold Stories – Women Designers in Belgium, Design Museum Brussels, until Sunday 13 April

For the first time, the Design Museum is bringing together the works of over 50 women designers working in Belgium between 1880 and 1980.

A class photograph including Martha Van Coppenolle at the Technisch Instituur of Sint-Maria in Antwerp, ca. 1930. Credit: Collection City of Antwerp, Letterenhuis

The displayed objects are sourced from several museums and private collections, and many have never been shown to the public before. This includes the overlooked productions of pianist Maria Sèthe and typographer Hélène Denis-Bohy's bold feminist pamphlets. The exhibition also addresses the challenges of invisibility faced by female designers today.

With thanks to Lauren Walker for her contributions to this article.

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