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- October 13, 202617°
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Women march 6 kilometers in Zurich demanding equality
Hundreds of thousands of women took part in a roughly 6-kilometer march in Zurich, Switzerland, as part of the Women's Strike. The demonstration highlighted demands for freedom, equality and solidarity against violence targeting women in various countries.
June 14 has become one of the most powerful symbols of women's equality struggle in Switzerland every year. Known by the slogan "When women want, everything stops," this historic Women's Strike took place today in Zurich with a roughly 6-kilometer march joined by hundreds of thousands of women.
The demonstration was organized to be the voice and outcry for women facing violence in Palestine, Afghanistan, Sudan, Kurdistan, Yemen and Africa, keeping the demand for women's freedom at the forefront. During two stages of the march, women staged a protest by sitting and lying on the ground for five minutes each. Participants then rose to their feet shouting cries, performing a ritual of raising their voices on behalf of women in those countries.
Chants of Jin Jiyan Azadi in Kurdish and slogans of woman, life, freedom in various languages were frequently heard. The march ended at Paradeplatz, the center where Swiss-based banks are located. This year's strike powerfully demonstrated both the equality demands of women in Switzerland and global solidarity against violence targeting women worldwide.
The June 14 march date represents a legacy filled with mass strikes and demonstrations, starting from the 1981 constitutional equality article. This movement, which shows that structural gender inequality still leaves deep marks even in a country with a high standard of living, left its stamp on the country's history with the major strikes of 1991 and 2019 and has since created a feminist tradition renewed every year.
1981: The gap between constitutional equality and reality. It all began with a referendum held on June 14, 1981. The article "Equality between Women and Men" was added to the Swiss federal constitution. This meant the formalization of women's legal equality. But in practice, equality advanced very slowly. Wage inequality, the non-recognition of domestic care work, insufficient political representation and gender-based discrimination persisted.
The women's movement turned this date into a reference point to protest the constitutional article remaining on paper. 1991: The first national women's strike – a mobilization that made history. On the 10th anniversary of the 1981 referendum, on June 14, 1991, a landmark action took place in Swiss history. Around 500,000 women (and some men) left their jobs, from factories to offices, from homes to schools.
It was the largest mass movement since the 1918 general strike. Women poured into the streets in a purple wave, demanding equal pay, equal opportunities and an end to gender discrimination under the slogan "Wenn Frau will, steht alles still" ("When women want, everything stops"). The strike, which resonated nationwide with picnics, rallies and protests, was instrumental in the passage of the Gender Equality Act in 1996.
Yet full equality was not achieved. Exactly 28 years later, on June 14, 2019, the movement reignited. Again around 500,000 people participated. Streets in cities like Zurich, Geneva and Bern filled with purple clothes, whistles and banners. The demands were updated: equal pay, recognition of unpaid care work, an end to sexual violence and harassment, and greater female representation in politics.
The strike helped increase the proportion of women in parliament, but the 15-18 percent wage gap and other structural problems remained unresolved. This strike mobilized younger generations as well, turning June 14 into an annual feminist day of action. A tradition extending to the present: 2023-2025 and beyond. Since 2019, "Feminist Strike" or "Women's Strike Day" has been observed every year on June 14.
Although participation ranges from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, the movement's strength is growing. The march on June 14, 2019 was the highest-turnout mass march. Around 2 million women took part. In 2023, more than 500,000 people were on the streets demanding "Respect, more pay, more time!" Femicides, care work and cuts in public spending were at the forefront.
In 2024 and 2025, marches and actions were organized in more than 25 cities, led by Zurich, Bern and Geneva. Migrant women's rights, patriarchal violence, ecofeminist approaches and the emphasis on care work came to the fore. In 2025, the wage gap was still reported at 17.5 percent. Formations like the Zurich Feminist Strike Collective have launched a nationwide "Care Strike" campaign for 2027.
The movement is strengthening through trade unions, feminist collectives and left-wing organizations. Even in a "neutral" and wealthy country like Switzerland, women still do not receive equal pay for equal work, the care burden rests predominantly on their shoulders and the threat of violence persists. June 14 is not just a day of commemoration; it is a tool of pressure for concrete steps. Women are drawing attention to systemic problems by saying "Even in Zurich, we are never equal."
This struggle is also a source of inspiration for feminist movements in Turkey and global solidarity. June 14 once again shows how transformative women's collective power can be.
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