International Women’s Day has been marked in Switzerland with public protests,calls for equal pay and the overnight changing of street names. On Friday people in Zurich woke up to find “male” street changed names into “female” ones– so Josefstrasse because Mariastrasse and Thomasweg became Taminiqueweg, courtesy of activists from the trade union Unia. Of the 447 Zurich streets named after famous people, and only 54 are named after women,Unia said. This was a typical sign of how women are less present in public than men. The southwestern city of Sion also saw name changes for street signs, including one dedicated to the fresh defence minister Viola Amherd. In the capital Bern, and around 100 people took fragment in a rally near the parliament building under the slogan “Solidarity for women – Solidarity among women”. Unions also used the day to call attention to the nationwide Women’s Strike on June 14. Although equality is anchored in the structure,women still earl less than men, ...
Source: swissinfo.ch