Protesters in southern Switzerland rally against femicide

Rally in Bellinzona after two suspected femicides Keystone-SDA

Around 200 people gathered in Bellinzona, in southern Switzerland, on Tuesday evening for a rally protesting violence against women. Of the five femicides recorded in Switzerland so far this year, two occurred in canton Ticino.

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Women, men and several members of Ticino’s cantonal parliament joined the rally organised by the feminist collective Io l’8 ogni giorno (“I fight every day”) in Bellinzona’s Piazza Governo. The demonstration against violence against women was held alongside the monthly session of the cantonal parliament.

The organisers read out 129 dates, places and ages: the number of women killed in Switzerland since the start of 2020. Since then, they said, there has been a growing awareness in the country of this form of gender‑specific violence. The national platform Stopfemizid.ch reports the same number of cases.

One speaker said society still struggles with the idea that women want to live independently. She urged not only politicians but also journalists to do more to help stop violence against women. The two femicides in canton Ticino this year, she argued, had shown that sections of the media still find it difficult to call the problem by its name.

+ Why counting femicides is a global issueExternal link

When news emerged on February 13 that a married couple had been killed, and that the woman had died first, some reports described it simply as a “bloody incident”. Changing the language is where it all begins, said the member of Io l’8 ogni giorno.

Criticism of education system

The daughter of the woman murdered 11 days ago also addressed the rally, held alongside the monthly meeting of Ticino’s cantonal parliament. She said her mother had never considered herself a feminist. She had married “the monster”, believing she was making the right choice.

The young woman also criticised the way girls are brought up and taught, particularly in schools. Girls, she said, need to be consistently taught that they have value in their own right, not only when they fulfil a social role. Too often, women are still defined first as mothers, partners or wives rather than as individuals. She pointed to the Winter Olympics in Milan‑Cortina as an example, noting that several winners had been described in coverage as “winning mothers” or “winning wives”.

Bellinzona’s municipal council has also voiced concern over the two recent killings in the city. Local politicians cannot simply look the other way, a councillor from the local left‑wing political alliance Unità di Sinistra wrote in a formal question submitted to the city government.

+ Swiss launch first national campaign against domestic violenceExternal link

Among other points, the councillor asks whether there are specific protocols for handling suspected or confirmed cases of domestic violence, and whether municipal staff and social services receive training in gender‑based violence and recognising warning signs.

Femicide refers to the killing of a woman because of her gender, violence rooted in unequal power relations between men and women. Such killings often occur within current or former relationships, but they can also occur outside such relationships.

Translated from German by AI/sp

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