Sondra Miller, president and CEO of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, is one of three keynote speakers and will share strategies to prevent sexual violence and discuss the Violence Against Women Act as well as necessary resources to seek to eradicate violence against women in greater Cleveland at the Fourth Annual Women's March Cleveland/Northeast Ohio 2020 event, which will be held Sat., Jan 18, 2020,  beginning at 10:30 am on the outside steps of Cleveland City Hall in downtown Cleveland.

Cleveland's march is a sister march to marches in cities nationwide, the third-year anniversary of the first march in January 2012 that followed the inauguration of President Donald Trump that brought millions of women to the streets in opposition to his ant-female campaign rhetoric.

Speeches are at 10:45 am, and will be followed by a noon march to Public Square.

"I am pleased to accept the invitation to speak," said Miller, who said she will discuss rape and other violence against women as well as the Violence Against Women Act.

Some 20 greater Cleveland activist groups participating and activists will also be among the speakers. Those groups, or group members, include Black on Black Crime Inc., Imperial Women Coalition, League of Women Voters, National Congress of Black Women Cleveland Chapter, Black Lives Matter, Greater Cleveland Independent Black Journalist, International Women's Day March Cleveland,  Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network, Move to Amend, Peace Action, Women Speak Out for Peace and Justice, Carl Stokes Brigade, Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, Action Together Lakewood, Coalition to Stop the Inhumanity in the Cuyahoga County Jail, National Congress of Black Women, BEMAD, Protecting Our Children's Safety, Refuse Fascism Ohio, Northeast Ohio Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, Organize Ohio, Badass Teachers, Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, Black Man's Army, and the Black Women's PAC of Greater Cleveland.

The issues range from the policies out of Washington, D.C. and civil, voting and reproductive rights to education, racism, sexism, climate change, equal pay, jobs, taxes, immigration and religious and other bigotry.

Also at issue, said organizers,  are violence against women, healthcare, criminal justice reform, excessive force, science and technology, and the LGBTQ community, among a host of other concerns.

"Women's March Cleveland is pleased to welcome high quality keynote speakers and an array of respected greater Cleveland activist groups who have been in the trenches for women to our fourth annual march in Cleveland," said Cleveland activist Kathy Wray Coleman, a key organizer of Women's March Cleveland annual anniversary events since 2018. " This event is non-partisan and is open to all women across the board and their supporters."

Coleman is a longtime Black Cleveland activist and said that the rally is being held on the steps of Cleveland City Hall because Cleveland is the hub of the northeast Ohio region and that "Cleveland women in particular want to know what is being done at both the state and federal levels about heightened violence against women and girls and to assist women and their families who reside in largely Black and struggling major American cities."

The mistresses of ceremonies are greater Cleveland Black Women's Political Action President Elaine Gohlstin and writer, community organizer and reproductive rights activist Mallory McMaster, a Cleveland Heights resident.

From the rise of the #MeToo movement to allegations against high-profile celebrities, public officials, priests and powerful business executives, sexual violence has never been more prominent in our national headlines.

In the midst of recent news stories, an unprecedented volume of local and greater Cleveland survivors of rape and sexual abuse have been speaking out, sharing their experiences and asking for help. Stand with women in greater Cleveland and their supporters, and women across the globe, as we demand equal opportunity and fair play for women on Jan 18, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio, a largely Black major American city.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE FOR WOMEN S MARCH CLEVELAND/NORTHEAST OHIO 2020-JANUARY 18, 2020 ON THE STEPS OUTSIDE OF CLEVELAND CITY HALL