The march, held in subfreezing temperatures, came a day after a court acquitted two of three suspects in the rape of a schoolgirl. One of the suspects received a light sentence of 7 1/2 years from the judge, who fell asleep several times during the trial. The girl, who had to have an abortion after becoming pregnant from one of the rapists, remains in a psychological trauma center.

"Women are afraid of being blamed -- by relatives, by society, and by the state. They're afraid to hear 'it's your own fault.'"

Many of the orchestra's members have reportedly faced threats and attacks in their home country, even from their relatives.

Rohani questioned why religious authorities have barred women from games, noting that Iranian women are active in sports and have achieved honors in sport competitions. "Is preventing women from attending sports arenas as spectators in favor of Islam?" Rohani asked, noting that Iranian clerics have justified the ban by saying that women shouldn’t hear male fans swearing and cursing during games. Rohani rejected those claims, saying women should not be punished for men being vulgar at sporting events.

Several female Ukrainian journalists say police officers forced them to undress and undergo invasive security checks in order to attend a Kyiv court hearing where President Petro Poroshenko testified via video link. The security checks, which occurred February 21 during the treason trial for Poroshenko's ousted predecessor, caused an uproar on social media after some of the journalists posted about their experience, resulting in a public apology from Poroshenko's administration.

Yulia Savinovskikh, a 40-year-old mother in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, was born a woman. Her passport says she’s a woman. She is married to a man, has never had sex-reassignment surgery, and publicly insists she is a woman. This evidence of her gender, however, was not enough to convince a local court, which this month rejected her bid to have two foster children returned to her care. The court concluded Savinovskikh wants to be a man, noting that Russia doesn't recognize same-sex marriage.