Thousands of protesters across France braved the cold on Saturday to express their anger over the persistence of violence against women and demand more public action and funds to combat the scourge.

In Paris, crowds of demonstrators -- 50,000 according to organisers, though official figures were not yet available -- waved signs, chanted, danced and sang as they moved through the capital in the protests organised by the Greve feministe (Feminist Strike) collective of some 60 organisations.

"A man kills a woman every 2.5 days in France," read one placard distributed by the feminist collective NousToutes (All of us Women).

"Nine out of 10 victims know their rapist," read another.

"It's 2025, is it still normal to count our dead women?" said Sylvaine Grevin, president of the national femic

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