The NGO-Koordination post-Beijing Schweiz, consisting of around 35 organizations from the entire political and social spectrum, has been working for women’s rights since the fourth World Conference on Women in Switzerland. While individual member organizations deal with the topic of peace in the context of conflicts and war, the network in Switzerland focuses on “peace” in a more comprehensive sense. The network particularly concentrates on social peace, which cannot exist if women and young girls do not have the same opportunities as men. Domestic violence is another area to be addressed in the context of peace.
Since Beijing, a great deal has been achieved in these areas: marital rape is now a criminal offense, domestic violence is no longer considered a private matter, abortion has been decriminalized, and an effective fight against human trafficking is being sought through cooperation between key players. However, victim protection and access to rights are still no reality for many victims of trafficking in women.
Switzerland has ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CEDAW and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child including the optional protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflicts, the sale of children, and child prostitution and child pornography.
Concerning activities abroad, the Swiss Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders are to be noted positively. However, it is problematic that they are not sufficiently supported abroad.
Concerning, however, are the limited participation and lack of involvement of women in peace processes, insufficient efforts to integrate a gender perspective into strategies to prevent violent extremism and combat terrorism, the negative impact which the trade in small arms and the export of arms and ammunition to conflict areas has on women, as well as the fact that arms manufacturers do not adequately fulfill their obligation under the Arms Trade Treaty of 2014 to monitor the use of their weapons and violence against women.
For Switzerland to celebrate the various anniversaries without reservations, gender equality would have to be further advanced. Considerable efforts are still needed to eliminate role stereotypes and to make equal opportunities a reality. For this reason, more women in decision-making positions, equal pay, and the reconciliation of work and family life, but also politics, are indispensable. The corona period in particular has shown that there are still serious shortcomings in this area. The composition of the expert panel – and the lack of women in it – is only one example that gives an extremely deep insight!
In this sense, we believe that the anniversary should only be celebrated in the awareness that we must finally ensure that the path to equality is now rapidly taken.
