Millions of women in seven continents march against Trump

Millions of women are marching through capital cities across seven continents on Donald Trump's first day in office, with protests planned as far as Antarctica, Japan and New Zealand to denounce what they say are the anti-women attitudes and plans of the new US president.

Although the leading protest is centred in Washington, it has transformed into a mass global movement that brings together millions of women - and supporting male counterparts - from different factions of life, including political activists, celebrities and every day mothers, to stand in unity against policies and sentiments shared by the newly-sworn in president and his administration.

Arab American political activist and national co-founder of the Women's March movement in Washington, Linda Sarsour wrote "we agreed that this is a women-led march focused on the idea that women’s rights are human rights—but we wanted to push that further: that women are intersectional human beings who live multi-issued lives.

"When we are protected, when we are respected, when we are able to thrive and given the same opportunities as our male counterparts, when we are given space to lead and rise—our nation will rise," she wrote in a piece published by Women's Media Center.

Just a day earlier, the world watched as the US inaugurated its 45th president, controversial business tycoon Donald trump who ploughed his way towards the White House using rhetoric deemed offensive to "every one apart from white males," as one Twitter user suggested.

"The Women’s March on Washington is poised to be the largest mass mobilisation that any new administration has ever seen on its first day," Sarsour continued.

" If there was ever a time to stand together, to stand proud and loud, it’s under a president who won an election on a message of hate and division. The march is not the beginning, nor is it the end."