The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has concluded that discrimination is still a major problem in Switzerland.
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Particularly affected are women, immigrants, gypsies and poor people, according to the committee.
It criticised wage inequality between men and women, pointing out that the gap had increased recently. It also noted that women made up 68.8 per cent of the people doing low-wage work.
The committee recommended that women be better protected from domestic violence – especially foreigners who might worry about losing residence permits if they speak up against their husbands.
The UN committee criticised the poor accommodation given to asylum seekers – for example, underground military bunkers – while encouraging Switzerland to provide more campgrounds for gypsies.
It also called on the federal government to do more to support the poor, including the so-called working poor.
In addition, it said that the government should do more to extinguish Switzerland’s “increasing intolerance and xenophobia”.
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