Swiss officially mark 50 years of women’s suffrage

An official celebration has been held in the Swiss parliament building to mark 50 years since women gained the right to vote in Switzerland. Tribute has been paid to the pioneers of the women’s movement. Some 150 people from politics, business, science and civil society attended the event in Bern on Thursday evening - among them two of the three serving women government ministers: Karin Keller-Sutter (justice) and Viola Amherd (defence). Swiss President Guy Parmelin was also present. Swiss women officially gained the right to vote on a federal level on February 7, 1971, after Swiss men decided in favour of women’s suffrage in a nationwide referendum. The country was one of the last countries in Europe to give women the right to vote. The last Swiss canton resisted women’s suffrage until 1990. ‘A whole democracy’ “February 7, 1971 is the birth of that democracy of which we are justly proud today: a whole democracy,” said Keller-Sutter in her speech. It was “an irony of history”...