SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's first female president marked International Women's Day on Thursday saying women were in politics "to stay," while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe must do more to bring about gender equality.

In capitals of Latin American countries - including El Salvador, Nicaragua and Peru - women held rallies to mark the day, some wearing signs calling for an end to violence against women.

In Santiago, President Michelle Bachelet has passed legislation during her first year in office that has given women new opportunities and protections, including the right to breast-feed at work and stiffer penalties for men who fail to pay alimony.

"Women came to Chilean politics to stay," said Bachelet, whose Cabinet includes an equal number of women and men.

Merkel - the first woman in decades to chair a European Union summit - said Europe cannot remain content with the position of women in society.

"Something must change," she said at the opening a photo exhibition of prominent women, noting women were underrepresented in top positions in politics, science and economy.

Others marked International Women's Day by pledging to improve women's status. In Bangladesh, male celebrities, athletes and students vowed to fight the disfiguring and often deadly practice of attacking women with acid as a means of punishment.

A company in Mumbai, India, launched a taxi service for women with female drivers, and in Vietnam, men bought their wives and girlfriends bouquets, turning Thursday into the communist nation's version of Valentine's Day.

However, in Iran, women released after being detained for holding a peaceful gathering earlier in the week were warned Thursday not to attend a women's day protest outside parliament. Women in the Islamic republic have been pushing for equal rights and the nullification of a law allowing men in Iran to have four wives.

In Afghanistan, where 2 million girls have returned to school since the fall of the ultraconservative Taliban regime, discrimination and domestic violence remain widespread, experts said. At least one in three Afghan women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused, the U.N. Development Fund for Women said.