
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 10, 1995                   TAG: 9504120011
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

WOMEN MARCH AGAINST VIOLENCE

Women's rights supporters rallied near the Capitol on Sunday to protest ``violence against women'' - a term they applied not only to rape and battering but also to political assaults on welfare spending, abortion and affirmative action.

``As women have been able to take some small measure of power, we're facing a fierce backlash,'' Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women, told the crowd.

Thousands of people spread across the National Mall for the five-hour rally, organized by NOW and endorsed by more than 700 groups, including abortion-rights supporters, labor unions, civil rights groups, gay and lesbian organizations, environmentalists, socialists, victims' rights advocates, and welfare recipients.

The U.S. Park Police, using helicopters, counted 50,000 people at the rally. Ireland gave a much larger estimate of 200,000.

Coming at the end of the first 100 days of the new GOP-led Congress, the ``Rally for Women's Lives'' focused heavily on the agendas of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and other conservative politicians.

Speakers voiced fears that Congress would curtail abortion rights, cut spending on welfare programs for women and children, dismantle affirmative action programs for women and minorities, and cut funding to prevent domestic violence and aid its victims. They equated what they called ``political violence'' with physical attacks.

``Be it personal terror or political terror, it has just one purpose - control,'' said Eleanor Smeal, president of The Feminist Majority. ``We are the majority. Our rights will only be taken away if we allow the terrorists to reign.''

Men and children also were sprinkled through the crowd.

``There should be as many men here as women here,'' the Rev. Jesse Jackson said. ``Men must know that none of us are secure until all of us are secure.''

Among the speakers were relatives of people killed in anti-abortion shootings. June Barrett, whose husband was shot to death while escorting a doctor into a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic, said, ``I survived that horrible nightmare and I am here today to say to you, help stop the violence and defend a woman's right to choose.'' Barrett was injured in the attack.

by CNB