Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Women replace men on Geneva road signs 

women on road signs
The "female" road signs come in six versions, including a pregnant woman and a woman with afro hair. Keystone

The city of Geneva is putting women on its pedestrian crossing road signs in a move to boost women’s presence in public spaces. 

The silhouette of a man has been replaced with that of a woman on half the city’s 500 signs warning of an upcoming pedestrian crossing. In a move for diversity as well as gender equality, the female silhouette comes in six different versions, including a pregnant woman, an older woman, a woman with afro hair and two women holding hands.   

Presenting the new signs on Thursday, Geneva mayor Sandrine Salerno said it was part of the city’s strategy to promote gender equality and combat stereotypes. Public spaces have traditionally been designed by men and this was a way to “give us women a bit of the public space” as well as to “liven up” the public spaces, she told Swiss public television, RTS.  

The operation has cost CHF56,000 ($58,000) and was funded entirely by the city of Geneva. Salerno said the 250 signs that were being withdrawn would be kept in stock as possible replacements.   

Geneva is the first city in Switzerland to make such a move, although Zurich took a similar initiative on a temporary basis during Gay Pride last year. Trade union activists in Zurich also changed “male” street names temporarily to “female” ones on International Women’s Day.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Swiss Armed Forces have around 147,000 personnel

More

Number of Swiss armed forces exceeds specified limit

This content was published on The Swiss armed forces had an effective headcount of around 147,000 as of March 1, 2024. This exceeds the upper limit of 140,000 specified in the army organisation by 5%.

Read more: Number of Swiss armed forces exceeds specified limit
Two men charged by the MPC with money laundering

More

Two Swiss men charged with money laundering

This content was published on One million francs, 34 million euros and around 830 kilos of gold: this is the fortune that two Swiss nationals are accused of having moved across borders for at least four years.

Read more: Two Swiss men charged with money laundering
Richemont reports lower first-half results

More

Richemont reports lower first-half results

This content was published on Geneva-based luxury goods group Richemont reported a downturn in performance for the first half of its 2024/25 financial year. Both sales and profit declined.

Read more: Richemont reports lower first-half results

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR