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Thousands march for women in Lausanne and Geneva

4000 to 5000 people march for women in Lausanne and Geneva
4000 to 5000 people march for women in Lausanne and Geneva Keystone-SDA

International Women's Rights Day saw some 4,800 demonstrators march in the Swiss cities of Lausanne and Geneva on Saturday.

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In Lausanne, the Vaud feminist strike collective called for a march “against the reactionary offensive against the rights of women and gender minorities.”

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The procession set off at around 4.30pm from the Montbenon esplanade to the Place des Pionnières. The demonstration, intended as “a cry of revolt for a fighting feminism”, drew around 2,300 people, according to Lausanne police figures.

“The revolution will be feminist”, “Rape is murder” and “Big sister is watching you” were just some of the banners and placards displayed during the march through central Lausanne. The procession went off without a hitch, police said.

“Fire of rage”

In Geneva, too, women rallied for “a feminist, social and egalitarian society, free from sexist and sexual violence”. With this demonstration, the Geneva Feminist Strike called for a “resistance and offensive against fascism and masculinity”.

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The procession set off from the Mont-Blanc post office to Plainpalais, where “a raging fire” took place at the end of the demonstration to “symbolically burn down patriarchy.”

According to the Geneva police, around 2,500 people took part in the demonstration, which went off without a hitch.

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Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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