A call for Swiss women to do compulsory military service
Switzerland should make military service compulsory for women in the view of the president of the Swiss Officers' Association (SOG), which has roughly 22,000 members.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/ds
Português
pt
Coronel quer que suíças façam serviço militar obrigatório
According to Stefan Holenstein, “it is time that both genders have the same rights and duties in the military.”
His remarks were published on Sunday in the German-language Swiss weekly NZZ am Sonntag.
The SOG is independent of the Swiss government and serves as the umbrella organisation for Switzerland’s regional military officers’ associations.
“We are convinced that the army can no longer do without more than 50% of society’s potential,” Holenstein continued.
All able-bodied Swiss men are called up to do military service from the age of 19. If declared fit for military service – as on average two-thirds of conscripts are –-the only way out is to opt for civilian community service on ethical grounds.
Military service is optional for women. They currently make up less than 1% of those servicing in the Swiss army. The SOG president says a change in culture is among the things needed to attract more female recruits and boost military ranks.
The Swiss army is expected to shrink to 30,000 people – a quarter of its current size – by 2030.To fix the problem, Switzerland’s defence ministry is studying four possible models of compulsory service, three envisage mandatory service for women.
The Geneva-based association “Service Citoyen” plans to launch a citizens’ initiative on August 1 to make military or civilian service compulsory for men and women.
Should raw milk sales be banned or should consumers decide?
Swiss food regulations do not allow raw milk to be sold for direct consumption. However, a loophole allows 400 raw milk vending machines to do just that.
Switzerland to step up humanitarian aid to Lebanon and Syria
This content was published on
The Swiss government decided to allocate an additional CHF7 million to the two countries in response to the escalating violence in the Middle East.
Report exposes widespread hygiene issues in Swiss hospitals
This content was published on
A Swissmedic report found that nearly all of the 25 Swiss hospitals inspected had issues with disinfecting, sterilising and packaging of medical products.
Swiss bank Mirabaud closes brokerage unit due to poor performance
This content was published on
The move spanning the bank’s global operations means a loss of 17 jobs, including five each in Switzerland and the UK, and seven in Spain.
Guterres condemns Israel’s plan to label UNRWA a terrorist organisation
This content was published on
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has spoken out against a law proposed by the Israeli parliament that would classify UNRWA as a terrorist organisation.
This content was published on
The Swiss federal technology institute ETH Zurich is the best university in continental Europe, according to the Times Higher Education ranking.
This content was published on
The Swiss army says women who have served in a peace-building operation abroad should be able to join the militia army directly.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.