Violence
against
women
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Feminism needs to refocus on females to counteract violence against women and girls.
One of early political feminism’s foremost goals was to fight violence against women and girls. Today, “feminism” has lost its original meaning, and has even lost its focus on women, as the word “woman” now often includes men. The fact that Alliance F and Grève Feministe, two feminist groups from the French-speaking part of Switzerland, have adopted the “trans” vocabulary and now write the word “woman” with an asterisk (woman*) or with an x (womxn), illustrates this trend.
Femina Helvetica calls for urgent action to expose and end male violence against women and girls, and to return to focusing on the materiality of women’s lives. The following data demonstrates the extent of violence targeting women and girls in Switzerland today. We urgently call for authorities to take action.
Femicide and domestic violence
18 women and girls were killed by men in Switzerland in the first half of 2025
In Switzerland, on average 25 women per year are killed in their homes by men. Numbers have slowly increased over the years. The highest level of domestic violence was recorded in 2020 during COVID, with 20’123 offences committed. Femicides account for a significant proportion of homicides in Switzerland. In 2022, the majority of femicides were perpetrated by the victim’s current or former partner. More than 70% of those murders took place at the victim’s home. According to Stop Femizid, 18 women and girls were killed by men in the first six months of 2025, and 7 women and girls survived an attempted murder. Some countries have changed their laws and put tools in place which aim to keep domestic violence under control, but Switzerland is not one of them.
Femicides are usually not isolated cases, but the result of structural violence, the starting point being the patriarchal power imbalance in our society. Violence against women is still often viewed as a private matter between individuals, not as a structural problem of society. The term femicide has not yet been established as a political term in Switzerland. Its use was again rejected by the Council of States in the summer of 2020.
In 2023, the cantonal police in Zurich intervened on average 20 times per day in instances of family disputes or domestic violence. In Ticino, it was three times a day in 2018. In Geneva, the cantonal police recorded nearly two reports per day in 2019.
Stop Femizid noted recently that there are hardly any media reports on violence and femicide. The few articles are usually only in local newspapers, described as a “family drama”, a “crime of passion”, a “relationship tragedy”, or as an “isolated incident”.
Professionals dealing with domestic violence insist that the majority of femicides are preceded by signs of “coercive control” – which continue to be poorly identified, even ignored. If these signs were better understood, women could be better protected, and the worst outcomes might be avoided. Spain, for instance, has a number of laws and tools which, during the twenty-year period in which they have been implemented, have contributed to a 25% reduction in the number of femicides. France has recently passed a law allowing warning signs of coercive control to be criminalized. But in Switzerland, the legislator seems in no hurry to explore the issue of coercive control or take action.
Under the pressure of being “more inclusive”, lawmakers and helplines are now changing their language and their target audiences. In its 2019-2023 legislature program, the Swiss Federal Council writes about fighting against “gender violence”, instead of naming it clearly as “violence against women”. The online platform www.aide-aux-victimes.ch, created in 2019, provides information and support for anyone who is a victim of violence. In doing so, the platform no longer specifically addresses women. We believe that violence against women and girls can only be effectively counteracted if we can name them and define the word “woman” as “adult human female”.
Femina Helvetica demands that police and legislators receive more adequate training on the issue of violence against women.
Links to supporting documentation of this issue:
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Bindel, Julie: “Feminism for Women: The real route to liberation”, 2021
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Website of Stop Femizid
https://www.stopfemizid.ch/francais#anchor1 -
Swiss government portal on violence against women, June 2021
https://www.news.admin.ch/fr/nsb?id=84038 -
RTS Article on Feminicide in Switzerland
https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/14061588-la-suisse-face-aux-feminicides.html#chap01 -
Article in 24heures on femicides in Switzerland in 2025, February 2025
https://www.24heures.ch/feminicides-deja-huit-cas-en-2025-en-suisse-484533313587
Rape by chemical submission
Rape by chemical submission is a risk for women and girls, also in Switzerland.
The trial of the Mazan rape case in France in 2024 along with its worldwide media coverage have brought to light a number of cases of rape by chemical submission in Switzerland. In Bern, Charlotte, a woman in her fifties, was drugged and raped by her husband for four years. Andrea, a 21-year-old, was drugged and raped by a family friend. In Vaud, in the region of Vevey, an entrepreneur drugged and raped several women close to him in numerous instances for more than ten years: his mother-in-law, his sister-in-law, a neighbor, a family friend, and his own teenage daughter. One of the victims knew that she had been raped, but no one was willing to believe her. She has kept her silence since 2008. The entrepreneur was finally sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2019.
Femina Helvetica argues that accurate language is necessary to protect women from sexually-motivated crimes committed against them.
Links to supporting documentation of this issue.
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RTS article on rape by chemical submission, January 2025
https://www.rts.ch/info/regions/2025/article/viols-par-soumission-chimique-des-victimes-romandes-brisent-le-silence-28757973.html -
RTS Temps Présent, January 16, 2025
https://www.rts.ch/emissions/temps-present/2025/video/soumission-chimique-cauchemars-en-suisse-romande-28758409.html
Sexual violence against women
Unwanted sexual acts and rape are hugely underreported. In 2019, only 10% of women reported sexual assaults to the police.
Sexual violence against women is widespread in Switzerland. A study of 4495 Swiss women, conducted in 2019 by the research institute gfs.bern, revealed that 22% of women living in Switzerland have experienced unwanted sexual acts, and 12% of the women surveyed were forced to have sex against their will. If these statistics were extrapolated to the total female population of Switzerland, aged 16 and over, this would correspond to about 430’000 women (roughly the population of the city of Zurich!). In 68% of all cases, the victims knew their aggressor. Only 11% of those affected went to counselling centres, and only 10% of affected women reported the incident to the police. A mere 8% of female victims of sexual violence filed a criminal charge. These numbers reveal that, in general, rape is much more widespread in Switzerland than the 626 cases recorded by official criminal statistics in 2018.
Femina Helvetica demands that more efforts are made to fight sexual violence against women and girls. We also believe that female victims are too often held responsible for being sexually harassed or assaulted, instead of the male perpetrators.
Links zu unterstützenden Dokumentationen zu diesem Thema:
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Umfrage zum Thema “Sexuelle Gewalt” in der Schweiz durch das Forschungsinstitut gfs.bern
https://cockpit.gfsbern.ch/fr/cockpit/violence-sexuelles-en-suisse/
Sexual violence against women
Unwanted sexual acts and rape are hugely underreported. In 2019, only 10% of women reported sexual assaults to the police.
Sexual violence against women is widespread in Switzerland. A study of 4495 Swiss women, conducted in 2019 by the research institute gfs.bern, revealed that 22% of women living in Switzerland have experienced unwanted sexual acts, and 12% of the women surveyed were forced to have sex against their will. If these statistics were extrapolated to the total female population of Switzerland, aged 16 and over, this would correspond to about 430’000 women (roughly the population of the city of Zurich!). In 68% of all cases, the victims knew their aggressor. Only 11% of those affected went to counselling centres, and only 10% of affected women reported the incident to the police. A mere 8% of female victims of sexual violence filed a criminal charge. These numbers reveal that, in general, rape is much more widespread in Switzerland than the 626 cases recorded by official criminal statistics in 2018.
Femina Helvetica demands that more efforts are made to fight sexual violence against women and girls. We also believe that female victims are too often held responsible for being sexually harassed or assaulted, instead of the male perpetrators.
Links to supporting documentation of this issue:
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Survey on “Sexual violence” in Switzerland undertaken by the research institute gfs.bern
https://cockpit.gfsbern.ch/fr/cockpit/violence-sexuelles-en-suisse/
Sexual harassment
Nearly 60% of women in Switzerland have experienced unwanted contact, touching or kisses.
Sexual harassment occurs on a daily basis. 64% of the respondents personally know women who have experienced sexual harassment, the most common forms being unwanted contact, touching or kisses. 59% of women have personally experienced it. The majority of women have also been confronted with sexually suggestive comments or jokes (56%), inappropriate looks (54%), and unwanted comments about their physical appearance (50%). Young women are particularly vulnerable to inappropriate behavior on social media. 61% of women aged 16 to 39 were exposed to embarrassing comments about their physical appearance. 52% of this age group received sexually explicit messages on online channels.
Links to supporting documentation of this issue:
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Survey on “Sexual violence” in Switzerland undertaken by the research institute gfs.bern
https://cockpit.gfsbern.ch/fr/cockpit/violence-sexuelles-en-suisse/
Pornography, violent sex and social media
Violent pornography has become an everyday reality for most girls.
The British feminist Julie Bindel writes: “During 2019, there were twenty-three billion visits to the website Pornhub. (…) The annual revenue from the porn industry has been estimated at USD 90 billion. To put that in context, Hollywood “only” makes around USD 10 billion a year” (Bindel, 2021, p.44). The porn industry is being transformed. Hardcore porn – which includes acts of violence such as choking during sex and slapping – can be watched on smartphones anywhere and at any time. According to Bindel, “violent pornography has become an everyday reality for most girls” (Bindel, 2021, p.39). Online pornography is also used as a form of sexual harassment against girls.
Bindel notes: “The more porn boys and men consume, the more likely they are to be sexually aggressive to women and girls” (Bindel, 2021, p.39). Men watching women being slapped and choked to provoke arousal clearly has an influence on how they interact with women when having sex. Bindel also observes that an “increasing number of men are documenting their sexual activities on social media, often including their assaults on women and girls” (Bindel, 2021, p.40). The level of misogyny is shocking and the impunity with which these men commit porn-induced rape and domestic abuse must be challenged.
What can be done? Julie Bindel gives the example of Israel: “In 2014, Israel, (…) became the first country to ban revenge porn. (…) The law, which targets sexually explicit media posted without the depicted person’s knowledge or consent, also covers content shared on social media. (…) Those found guilty of posting such content will be prosecuted as sex offenders. (…) The offence is punishable by up to five years in prison” (Bindel, 2021, p.45).
Links to supporting documentation of this issue:
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Bindel, Julie: “Feminism for Women: The real route to liberation”, 2021
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Article in LeTemps on today’s violent pornography, April 2025
https://www.letemps.ch/societe/christelle-taraud-historienne-la-nouvelle-pornographie-n-est-autre-qu-une-entreprise-de-demolition-des-femmes -
Book “Sous nos regards. Récits de la violence pornographique » Seuil, April 2025
Prostitution and human trafficking
Switzerland still does not have a federal plan to fight the trafficking of women.
Prostitution in Switzerland has been legal and regulated since 1942. Sex trafficking or forced prostitution is illegal. In 2016, UNAIDS estimated that there were 20’000 sex workers in Switzerland, most of them being foreign nationals.
The sex trade is one of many ways in which men continue to exploit women as a sex class.
From 2019 to 2021, the Swiss government identified 295 victims of human trafficking; most of them were female, and 8% were children. In 2023, the Swiss Platform against Human Trafficking stated that 80% of the victims of human trafficking were women. About two thirds of them were exploited for prostitution and one third for labour (e.g., in homes, restaurants and nail salons) or criminal activity. Many of the victims of human trafficking are taken care of in four specialized counselling centres. Between 2019 and 2023, the centres counted an average of 200 new victims each year out of a total of ca. 400-500 victims.
In 2023, the Organised Crime Index noted that Switzerland did not have a coordinated plan on a federal level to fight the crime against women which is human trafficking.
Links to supporting documentation of this issue:
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Swiss Platform against Human Trafficking’s data from 2019 and 2022. https://plateforme-traite.ch/statistiques-sur-les-victimes/
Forced marriage
Five to ten young women a week are facing forced marriage in Switzerland.
The Swiss Criminal Code prohibits forced marriage or partnership, as well as attempted forced marriage or partnership (Article 181a SCC).
According to a study, there were an estimated 1400 cases of forced marriage in Switzerland between 2009 and 2010. Between 2005 and 2018, the Service against Forced Marriage, which is part of the Federal Office for Gender Equality, provided advice and support in 2349 cases. Currently, the Service against Forced Marriage receives an average of five new cases a week, which can double before the summer holidays, when many of those affected fear being kidnapped or abducted abroad. This issue concerns mostly girls and young women (86% of cases). Most of the women affected are minors.
Links to supporting documentation of this issue:
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Website Violence que faire.ch writes about forced marriage in Switzerland
https://www.violencequefaire.ch/en/forced-marriage/ -
The help center against forced marriage in Zurich, Zwangsheirat‘s, website
https://www.zwangsheirat.ch -
Article in the Aargauer Zeitung on forced marriage in Switzerlandhttps://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/zwangsheirat-in-den-ferien-gegen-den-eigenen-willen-verheiratet-diese-juristin-beraet-taeglich-verzweifelte-maedchen-und-junge-frauen-ld.2651632
Surrogacy
The lucrative international market of surrogacy finds many customers in Switzerland.
Surrogacy is prohibited under Swiss law (art. 119 para. 2 lit. d Swiss Federal Constitution, art. 4 and 31 Federal Reproductive Medicine Act).
However, due to globalization and progress in artificial reproductive technologies, an increasing number of people residing in Switzerland seek surrogacy abroad. Today, Swiss residents carrying out a surrogacy abroad are, in principle, not liable to prosecution. Surrogacy is permitted in various foreign countries, e.g. in some states of the USA, and in Georgia and Ukraine, and agencies and specialized clinics have been established in those countries. Some lawyers in Switzerland are even specializing in legal counselling regarding surrogacy for people residing in Switzerland.
Surrogacy has generated a billion-dollar industry controlled exclusively by consumers. It has created an established transnational market, but international legal regulation is either lacking or insufficient.
Surrogacy is a form of exploitation of women. In addition, paying for a child is a form of human trafficking. For these reasons, surrogacy has been condemned by several national and international organizations, as well as by the European Parliament, but there is still an urgent need for action by the international community as a whole in order to stop this practice.
Links to supporting documentation of this issue:
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Website of lawyers in Switzerland who specialize on counselling regarding surrogacy abroad.
https://schaubhochl.ch/en/publications/overview-of-surrogacy-in-switzerland/
Genital mutilations of girls
22’000 women and girls are affected by genital mutilation in Switzerland.
The Swiss law against female genital mutilation (FGM) dates back to 2012 and explicitly prohibits female genital mutilation (Art. 124 Swiss Criminal Code). However, in Switzerland, it is estimated that around 22’000 women and girls are affected by or at risk of genital mutilation.
Links to supporting documentation of this issue:
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RTS Article on Victim of genital mutilation in Switzerland, February 2025
https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/2025/article/excision-en-suisse-20-000-femmes-ignorent-leurs-droits-aux-soins-28781730.html -
Swiss Network Against Female Genital Mutilation’s website.
https://www.excision.ch -
Caritas article on female genital mutilation in Switzerland
https://www.caritas.ch/fr/excision/ -
Network against female genital cutting Switzerland
https://www.female-genital-cutting.ch/female-genital-cutting/situation-in-switzerland