More than 1,000 activists have rallied in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, to mark International Women's Day while demanding equal rights for women.

The highlights

The demonstrators, who gathered near the Shokan Valikhanov monument in the center of Almaty on March 8, held posters with slogans such as "Women's Opinions Matter," "More Women In Politics," and "Feminism Will Save Kazakhstan."

The activists demanded that the Central Asian nation's government outline more modern gender policies, reduce the retirement age from 63 to 58 years, enact measures to help stop domestic violence, and hire more women in state entities and government structures.

The event was organized by feminist groups including Feminita, KazFem, SVET, FemAgora, and Femt.

Participants spoke in favor of creating parties, movements, and trade unions to increase the number of women in the political life of the country as well as combat the number of domestic violence that is a relevant topic in today's society.

The groups organized a similar rally on March 8 last year after obtaining permission from Almaty city officials to hold the public event for the first time.

This year's march was also permitted by the city administration.