Hundreds of thousands of women joined feminist strike in Bern

Hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets in Switzerland for the feminist strike on Friday.

The main demands were equal pay and a living wage pension. Women also protested war, racism and right-wing extremism.

Hundreds of thousands of women took part in the 2024 feminist strike in Switzerland. Collectives and unions called for the demonstrations, and the demands focused on equal pay, minimum wages and a living wage pension.

14 June was declared a women's strike day in Switzerland in 2019. The day refers to 14 June 1981, since which day women and men have been considered equal by law in Switzerland.

Although the inequality between women and men was the central issue of the actions, anger about discrimination and violence in the patriarchal system was also evident. The feminist struggle against war, racism and right-wing extremism was also addressed.

The Kurdish Women's Union YJK-S said: "We feel the effects of war and domination not only in our work and our bodies, but also in the destruction of nature worldwide. As Kurds living in Switzerland, we are constantly on the streets and today we are on strike with you. War, exploitation and displacement have scattered us all over the world, but we have never given up our fight."

The slogan "Jin Jiyan Azadî" (Woman Life Freedom), which emerged from the Kurdish women's movement and became internationally known with the uprisings in Iran after the violent death of the Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini, was chanted along the march.