THOUSANDS of women marched in Argentina yesterday demanding an end to violence against women and for access to free, safe abortions.

A large crowd gathered outside the congress building in Buenos Aires with banners against patriarchy, demanding an “end to death from clandestine abortions.”

They were marking the third anniversary of the “Not One More” march, with many wearing green as the symbolic colour of the abortion fight adopted by the movement.

Voting is expected later this month on a Bill that would allow safe and legal abortions up until the 14th week of pregnancy.

If the law is passed, it would be a landmark decision in a region with strict abortion laws. Polls show that a large majority in Pope Francis’s homeland support the legalisation of free abortions.

Up to 520,000 terminations are carried out each year in secret in Argentina, with around 40,000 ending up in hospital as a result of botched procedures.

Protesters also marched past Argentina’s Central Bank to demonstrate against government negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $30 billion (£22.5bn) loan to deal with deepening poverty.

National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortions spokeswoman Patricia Bustamante explained that abortion rights activists had been demonstrating for three years leading to a growth in women’s movement and a general demand for equal rights.

“These three years, since the first march for Not One More in 2015, there has been a marked growth of the women’s movement, where not only do we ask now that they do not kill us but that the feminisation of poverty ends, because with the visibility we have gained we have a voice in all of society,” she said.