( CNN ) The United States is urging China to release five young feminists who face years in prison over their campaign for gender equality . Authorities detained the women in three cities -- Beijing , Guangzhou and Hangzhou -- a few days ahead of events planned for International Women 's Day on March 8 . `` Each and every one of us has the right to speak out against sexual harassment and the many other injustices that millions of women and girls suffer around the world , '' U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement Friday . `` We strongly support the efforts of these activists to make progress on these challenging issues , and we believe that Chinese authorities should also support them , not silence them . '' The detention of Wei Tingting , along with Wu Rongrong , Li Tingting , Wang Man and Zheng Churan has drawn harsh criticism from the international community . Protesters in several cities have called for their release and taken to social media with the phrase `` free the five '' as a hashtag . Wang Qiushi , the lawyer for Wei , said police recommended Monday that prosecutors press charges of `` assembling a crowd to disturb public order . '' Prosecutors have seven days -- until Monday -- to decide whether to pursue the charges , according to the lawyer . `` We can do nothing but wait , '' Wang said . The five were initially held on suspicion of `` picking quarrels and provoking trouble . '' Wang said he did n't know why the charge against the women changed . `` Neither should constitute a crime , '' he said . Campaign group Amnesty International said the new charge was less serious but still carried a maximum prison term of five years . `` The women were doing nothing wrong , nothing illegal . They were simply calling for an end to sexual harassment , '' said William Nee , China researcher at Amnesty International . Wang said that Wei was subjected to lengthy cross examinations during her detention . Two of the women are said to be in poor health . He added that the charges relate both to the activities the women planned for International Women 's Day and earlier campaigns against domestic violence . The five are members of China 's Women 's Rights Action Group . They had planned to hand out stickers with slogans saying `` stop sexual harassment , let us stay safe '' and `` go police , go arrest those who committed sexual harassment ! '' on International Women 's Day . This week , Kerry 's predecessor , Hillary Clinton , tweeted that the activists ' detention was `` inexcusable . '' Chinese authorities rebuked her comment , saying public figures should respect the nation 's sovereignty and independence . CNN 's Katie Hunt and Shen Lu contributed to this report .
The international community is calling for the release of the abducted women . Chinese authorities detained them last week over their campaign for gender equality .