Thousands took to Swiss streets for women’s strike

Tens of thousands of women demonstrated in Swiss cities on Saturday afternoon to demand equal pay, an end to violence against women and safe access to voluntary abortion. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox In Geneva, a large gathering formed at Cornavin train station by mid-afternoon, before marching towards the lake and crossing the Mont-Blanc bridge. Their route ended at Parc des Bastions. Purple was the dominant colour. Geneva police counted 3,500 participants in the procession. The Keystone-SDA news agency counted several thousand more. Slogans, far from focusing just on issues of gender equality, often referred to the war in Gaza. Numerous Palestinian flags were seen. In Fribourg, the Feminist Strike collective said in a press release that the demonstration had brought together 3,000 women, trans and non-binary people and men. However, organisers complained that the route imposed on them by authorities prevented the parade from passing by the station area.