LOOK: Women encircled the Capitol for A Day Without Women

As many as 500 people, mostly ladies, gathered at the Capitol Wednesday afternoon to celebrate International Women’s Day, which this year has also been dubbed the “day without a woman.”
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Helen Shreves leads the rally at the Capitol on the “day without women,” Mar. 8, 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite) womens march; day without women; protest; capitol; rally; kevinjbeaty; denver; denverite; colorado;

Helen Shreves leads the rally at the Capitol on A Day Without Women, Mar. 8, 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

As many as 500 people, mostly ladies, gathered at the Capitol Wednesday afternoon to celebrate International Women's Day, which this year has also been dubbed A Day Without Women.

Dana Miller leads the rally. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Like the Day Without Immigrants last month, many women sought to show their roles in society through their absence. Instead of going about their normal days, they gathered for a silent march downtown.

The end of the line had yet to leave the Capitol steps as the front of the line was coming back around the block. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

The silent nature of the march, organizer Dana Miller told the crowd, was derived from DU professor Erica Chenoweth's research on the power of nonviolent direct action.

"Silent vigils are really important when something major has happened in a country, when there's been a huge crisis of sorts," Miller said, citing Chenoweth's work. "This is our opportunity to go from our brain and come down into our hearts."

The end of the line had yet to leave the Capitol steps as the front of the line was coming back around the block. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

The crowd left the Capitol steps to quietly march around the block. There were so many people that the crowd was still beginning the route when the procession leaders made it back to the steps. They circled the building several times before disbanding.

Helen Shreves (left) leads the rally with an American flag. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Organizer Helen Shreves said they'll do this every Wednesday until they see that "their democracy" is not "going away," regardless of how many people continue to turn out.

The march completely encircled the Capitol. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Georgann Low leads the crowd in "America The Beautiful." (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
District 31 Senator Lois Court speaks to the crowd. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
A note on the Denver Cat Company's door explaining why it is closed on A Day Without Women. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

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