The movement was adopted and promoted by the Women's March, and recommended actions inspired by the "Bodega Strike" and the Day Without Immigrants.

Organizers in the U.S. encouraged women to refrain from working, spending money (or, alternatively, electing to shop only at "small, women- and minority-owned businesses"), and to wear red as a sign of solidarity.

The American strike platform demanded "open borders", freedom from "immigration raids", and "the decolonization of Palestine" as ancillary goals to "emancipation of women".

"[3] The strike was worldwide, with planning beginning in Poland in October 2016[4] before Donald Trump won the United States presidential election.

[5] On February 6, eight political activists including Linda Martín Alcoff, Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya, Nancy Fraser, Barbara Ransby, Rasmea Odeh, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, and Angela Davis called for a March 8 strike in the United States.

[3][6] Later that morning, organizers of the 2017 Women's March against the Trump administration endorsed the idea of a general strike without specifying a date.

[22] Four of the primary organizers of the march—Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Bob Bland—were arrested for obstruction of traffic outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower on New York City's Columbus Circle.

"[21] In video gaming circles, some of the debate shifted toward journalist Colin Moriarty when he left Kinda Funny over a poorly received joke about the protest.