A series of events and rallies are being held across Switzerland to demand an end to violence against women and for enhanced rights on International Women’s Day.
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A Suíça se mobiliza para o Dia Internacional da Mulher
More than 1,000 people demonstrated in the Swiss capital, Bern, on Tuesday. They demanded easier access to work for migrant women and showed their solidarity for victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The United Nations Refugee Agency also highlighted the plight of women refugees who are exposed to violence and discrimination.
The Swiss Trade Union Federation used the occasion to back a referendum against plans to raise the retirement age of women to 65.
Union leaders said that women’s pensions are at least a third lower than those of men on average. This leaves 11% of retired women dependent on supplementary benefits.
They added demands for improved day care facilities for children to allow more women to join the workforce.
Amnesty International staged an exhibition in Zurich to highlight the problem of sexual violence against women.
Further rallies were held in other cities, such as Lucerne and Geneva, with more planned in the evening in Winterthur, Lausanne and Neuchâtel.
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International Women’s Day has been marked in Switzerland with public protests, calls for equal pay and the overnight changing of street names.
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