A march in honour of International Women's Day took place in Helsinki on Saturday, moving from Senate Square to Citizens' Square at 2pm.
Around 100 Finnish organisations participated, demanding concrete measures to defend gender equality.
"Young men's attitudes and violence against women are structural problems. Today, we are here in large numbers to show that this is unacceptable. We refuse to move in that direction, and we will make noise about it," said Amani Al-Mehsen, chair of the Finnish Women's Association Unioni.
According to Silvia Modig, chair of the National Council of Women of Finland and former Left Alliance MEP, the march was organised because gender equality has regressed. A UN report released on Thursday found that women's rights declined last year in nearly a quarter of the world's countries.
"We're not even fighting over how quickly we can move forward anymore. We are being forced to defend the progress we've already made."
The event aimed to urge parliamentary parties to commit to advancing the rights of women, girls and minorities. Organisers specifically called for more resources to combat gender-based violence.
"Everyone should think about how they can contribute. It often starts with speaking up. The vast majority of men strongly support gender equality, but right now, a small minority is making the most noise," said Hanna-Mari Manninen, chair of UN Women Finland.
Tarja Halonen: Recent developments have been disturbing
Thirty years ago, at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, UN member states committed to integrating a gender perspective into all decision-making.
Finland's delegation at the time was led by then-Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen, who later became president. Speaking at Senate Square before the march, Halonen said the consensus reached in Beijing had been a surprise.
There have been further surprises since — some positive, but many recently negative, she noted.
"I have been sadly bewildered by how easily politicians in the East, the West, and even some here in Finland have conceded that too much progress has been made and that we should turn back," Halonen said.
During her speech, a minor incident occurred when police detained a protester.