Women went on strike across America to protest Donald Trump

People hit the streets in 18 cities on Monday

Women and allies across the country went on strike Monday to protest Donald Trump and the hate he represents. The strike took place in 18 cities, according to a list compiled by New York Magazine, in an effort to bring awareness to gender wage gap, the right to affordable birth control options, the need for rape kit funding, and a host of issues affecting women across the states.

Protesters also urged the president-elect to cut all ties with his chief strategist Steve Bannon citing his past racist, sexist, and anti-semitic comments.

Ann Massaro, a longtime activist who helped organize the protests, said she felt compelled to act following Trump’s election victory.

"When we elected a sexual predator to the White House, I was given a message on that day that as a woman I am not safe in this country," she told The Cut ahead of the event. "For women of color, that threat is doubled, tripled. That was it for me. I just knew that I couldn’t sit here and do nothing."