Women’s organisations satisfied one year after historic session

Participants at the Women's Session in Bern last October Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

One year after the Women’s Session 2021, an alliance of women’s organisations has drawn a positive assessment of the exercise: half of the 23 petitions submitted on that occasion have been processed or are well on the way to being processed.

In addition, the session helped women politicians network and encouraged several women to launch their political careers, the alliance said on Tuesday.

On October 29-30, 2021, a two-day session of parliament in Bern was attended by 246 women from all over Switzerland to mark 50 years of suffrage. The female-only session debated more than 70 issues – from equality and violence against women to science and digitalisation – and adopted a total of 23 demands.

Of the 23 demands presented in the petitions, five have already been adopted by both chambers. Another six have been accepted by the committees or one of the two chambers.

The alliance said the government should therefore launch regular nationwide prevention campaigns against domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and examine how universities and universities of applied sciences can employ more part-time researchers in permanent positions.

In addition, more people should receive a higher old-age pension in future for their care work, it said. Finally, parliament has passed on postulates calling for better sex education in schools and for an increase in the proportion of women in the so-called MINT professions (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology).