Sixteen-day Swiss campaign against gender-based violence ends

The 16 days against violence against women come to an end Keystone-SDA

A16-day Swiss campaign against gender-based violence came to an end on Tuesday. Several hundred organisations mobilised across Switzerland during this period, after starting with a mobilisation attended by 10,000 people.

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“More than 300 organisations and as many events punctuated these 16 days throughout Switzerland,” said the feminist NGO Frieda in a press release, describing the prevention of gender violence as a “societal emergency”.

It pointed out that a woman is killed every two weeks by her partner or ex-partner, and that 49,055 consultations were recorded in victim support centres in 2023. “This rising figure reflects only part of the reality,” it said, as many victims do not seek help, held back by the fear of stigmatisation or the lack of accessible structures.

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The organisation is therefore calling for better funding of support structures, training for professionals and volunteers, awareness-raising among legal authorities and the media, and recognition of the urgent need to act by making gender-based violence a political priority. Statistics also need to become more reliable, thanks to proper data collection, it said.

Translated from French by DeepL/ts

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