Swiss women strike to demand equal pay

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/14/swiss-women-strike-demand-equal-pay

Hundreds of thousands of women across Switzerland have taken to the streets to demand higher pay, greater equality and more respect, protesting that one of the world’s wealthiest countries continues to treat half its population unfairly.

Nearly 30 years after the first nationwide equal rights demonstration by Swiss women, a “purple wave” of pram marches, whistle concerts, extended lunch breaks, giant picnics and city-centre rallies took place on Friday.

“In 2019, we are still looking for equality,” Clara Almeida Lozar, one of the committee women organising the Grève des Femmes or Frauenstreik at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, told Swissinfo.

“We realise there has to be a lot more than this – the culture of sexism is part of everyday life in Switzerland, it’s invisible, and we are so used to just getting along that we hardly even notice it’s there.”