WOMEN and girls congregated in City Park today before breaking into a synchronised dance.

The flashmob was one of a host of events held across the district to mark International Women’s Day.

Young activists debated gender equality in City Hall’s Council Chamber, people could make zines – handmade magazines – in City Library and Bradford Cathedral hosted a performance by actor and writer Irene Lofthouse, who uncovered the hidden histories of women during the First World War.

A roadshow called Register Our Marriage, led by solicitor Aina Khan, came to Bradford’s Mercure Bankfield Hotel. The roadshow heard that when faced with divorce, women in unregistered marriages were left without rights afforded to them in a British court of law.

Ms Khan said: “I am talking not just to Muslims. I am addressing all those who think they have a ‘common law’ marriage. There is no such thing in the UK. Everyone needs to know that without that piece of paper, that legal registration, they have no legal rights.”