National congress on gender-based violence

The FDHA and the FDFA bring together some 180 specialists in domestic violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and human trafficking. In Switzerland, domestic violence kills one person every two weeks. A few weeks after Switzerland signed the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, Alain Berset opens the congress.

“Ein Leben ohne Gewalt ist ein Menschenrecht, kein Privileg.” A society that tolerates violence, he says, “bricht am Wochentag jene Versprechen, die sie sonntags feierlich verkündet”. He cites 16,000 domestic violence offences known to the police in one year and a cost of 164 million francs a year for intimate partner violence alone.

Speeches on this site

• Congrès national sur la violence de genre : une question de droits humains (in German, French-language page)

Sources

• Federal Council, press release of 22.11.2013