Equality not achieved in Switzerland according to the Federal Council
Published: Wednesday, Jun 26th 2024, 12:40
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Equality between women and men has not yet been achieved in Switzerland. This was stated by the Federal Council in a report to the UN adopted on Wednesday. However, significant progress has been made in recent years.
With this report, Switzerland is responding to the UN's call to highlight the latest gender equality policy milestones and identify any remaining gaps. The UN's call came thirty years after Switzerland and 188 other countries signed a declaration on gender equality in Beijing.
"Although equality between women and men has been enshrined in the Federal Constitution since 1981, it has not yet been realized in our country," the report states. For example, women earn on average 18 percent less than men, they often work part-time and provide the majority of care and support for relatives. As a result, their pensions deteriorate and they are more at risk of poverty in old age than men.
Finally, according to the report, women make up the vast majority of victims of domestic violence: a domestic crime is committed over 55 times a day, and in 70 percent of cases the victim is female, writes the Federal Council.
However, the first national strategy for the targeted promotion of gender equality adopted in 2021 represents significant progress in this area, according to the report. An interim review of this strategy is to be carried out at the end of 2025.
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