International Women’s Day demos planned in Swiss cities

Announcements of demonstrations throughout Switzerland on International Women's Day Keystone-SDA

Demonstrations are planned in several Swiss cities this Saturday to mark International Women's Day.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

While the routes of the processions in Geneva and Lausanne have been decided, unauthorised demonstrations may also take place in Zurich and Basel.

In Lausanne, the Feminist Strike Vaud collective is organising a demonstration starting at Montbenon Park, as the city council writes on its website. In Geneva, the feminist collective is calling for a demonstration starting at the Pont du Mont-Blanc. Several trade unions are also mobilising for these demonstrations.

+Domestic violence in Switzerland: the suffering behind the stats

In Zurich, flyers and websites are advertising an unauthorised rally on Paradeplatz under the slogan 8 March Unite – Struggles unite worldwide.

No permit application has been received for the demonstration on Barfüsserplatz in Basel either, as the cantonal police confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency. According to the Allmend occupancy plan, however, a completely different event on the same square has been authorised. Shortly before the announced demonstration, a pre-carnival Guggenmusik march is to start there.

Against sexual violence

In addition to demonstrations, a campaign against the trivialisation of sexualized violence and harassment in the workplace has also been announced.

The Syna trade union is calling for action in this area throughout Switzerland, as it writes in a press release. Among other things, it is calling for the systematic establishment of advice centers, training for companies, sanctions against perpetrators and a strengthening of the legal framework to protect victims.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].