Friborg: towards an observatory of violence against women?

“Until when will we have to count the dead before acting?” This is the question asked Monday August 4 by the Public Services Syndicate (SSP) Friborg. Through a press release, the latter “calls on the Grand Council and the Council of State to finance without delay a cantonal observatory for violence against women”.

The demand comes shortly after an attempted feminicide in the Schoenberg district at the end of last July. A few days earlier, a woman and her baby had been killed by her companion in Givisiez. At the beginning of the year, it was in Épagny that a man had killed his wife before killing himself in turn.

“Avoidable” deaths

For the union, these facts “are not isolated accidents”. They would be “the symptom of a system that tolerates, trivialized and underestimates sexist violence, which does not give the means to prevent, protect, or stop these acts”. He claims that these deaths “were avoidable”.

“On average, more than 55 cases of domestic violence are reported every day in our country, and 70% of victims are women,” recalls SSP Friborg. “In 2021, 25 women were identified in Switzerland,” said the press release.

“Immediate” funding

Faced with this situation, the union denounces that “no lasting structure has yet been set up to document, prevent and fight this violence in a coordinated manner”, despite numerous mobilizations. He therefore claims “with force and indignation the immediate financing of an independent cantonal observatory on violence against women”.

Other cantons, “like Geneva or Vaud, have already demonstrated the relevance of such a device,” said the press release. This would make it possible to “collect reliable data” on gender violence, to “coordinate actors in the field”, to “measure the real impact of public policies” and to respect the Istanbul agreement.

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