EN FR DE
WHO WE ARE
POSITION STATEMENT
THE ISSUES/DID YOU KNOW ?
WHAT YOU CAN DO
RESSOURCES
CONTACT US
Who
we are
"
Femina Helvetica is a coalition of women who are based in Switzerland or have ties to the country, with shared views on the topic of “gender”, but non-partisan, working together to defend and protect the rights of women and girls.
These sex-based rights are increasingly under threat by changes in public policies that conflate sex with “gender identity” or “gender expression”, a trend exacerbated by the adoption of the new sex change law in 2022.
We call on all individuals, regardless of their political or religious affiliation, to join us in defending the fundamental rights of women and girls to privacy, dignity, fairness and safety.
Our
mission
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We believe that protecting women’s and girls’ sex-based rights is a pressing social issue today.
Although it is not possible to change sex, in Switzerland the law allows people to change their sex marker in legal documents as well as at the civil registry. The law (art. 30b Civil Code) was amended in 2022 to simplify the procedure. This happened without any public debate or media coverage, nor substantial due diligence or meaningful consultation with women's advocacy groups. The consequence is that any man can now change his legal sex into “female” by simply declaring himself to be a woman (gender self-identification), and demand that he be granted all of the hard-won rights and protections women have fought for over decades. This includes the right to access female-only spaces, services and resources.
Redefinition of woman.
What does it mean for women
and girls ?
The word “woman” has become a meaningless, undefinable concept, as any man can now declare himself to be a woman. When words such as "woman" and "girl" no longer can be accurately defined to mean "biological female", the harmful outcome is that women's and girls' sex-based rights and protections will be lost.
Apart from this law, Swiss women are threatened by another law amendment:
Swiss criminal law protects people against various forms of discrimination (art. 261bis Criminal Code). It is an offence to publicly denigrate a person or group of people on the grounds of their race, ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation, either by their words or actions. In 2024 a parliamentary initiative was submitted to extend the list to include discrimination on the grounds of sex/gender (in German: “Geschlecht”). (See the article in Tagesanzeiger 19.12.2024, https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/anti-rassismus-strafnorm-staenderat-stimmt-erweiterung-zu-482773761485)
If this motion passes, we believe it would be more difficult to fight for women’s sex based rights, including the right to access female-only spaces, services and resources. It would also infringe on freedom of expression. Opinions on the topic of “gender identity” could be criminalized or would lead to a climate of self-censorship, where individuals would refrain from expressing themselves for fear of legal repercussion. This could restrict free debate on gender-related issues and thus affect the democratic debate in Switzerland.
Femina Helvetica critically questions the extension of the anti-racism norm to include sex/gender.
Femina Helvetica is committed to demanding that women's sex-based rights in Switzerland are upheld uniformly and consistently in the whole country.
Femina Helvetica is also committed to protecting children from the harmful belief and practice of “sex change” through “social transition”, drugs and surgeries.
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J'ai rejoint l'association Femina Helvetica parce qu'une personne très proche de moi souffre de l'idée de vivre dans un "corps qui ne lui convient pas". Je veux faire ma part pour m'assurer que les jeunes puissent vivre sans de telles pensées et que personne ne doit se sentir que son propre corps serait "faux" .
A.H.
I joined the Femina Helvetica association because a young person very close to me suffers from the idea of living in the 'wrong body.' I want to do my part to ensure that young people can live free of such thoughts and that no one feels their own body to be 'wrong.'
A.H.
Our vision
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Ich bin dem Verein Femina Helvetica beigetreten, weil ein mir sehr nahestehender junger Mensch unter der Idee leidet, im "falschen Körper" zu leben. Ich möchte mich im Rahmen meiner Möglichkeiten dafür einsetzen, dass Jugendliche frei von solchen Gedanken leben können und dass niemand den eigenen Körper als "falsch" empfinden muss.
A.H.