Votes for women
All of Switzerland
Key figures: Iris von Roten, Lise Girardin, Elisabeth Kopp, Marthe Gosteli
On Wikipedia: Women’s suffrage in Switzerland, the film
A long wait (1918–1929). Votes for women are the second of the nine demands of the 1918 general strike, and in December of the same year two motions in parliament call for them at federal level for the first time. In 1928, at the first Swiss Exhibition of Women’s Work (SAFFA) in Bern, the procession carries a large snail with the words “women’s suffrage”: an ironic image of Swiss slowness. In 1929 a petition gathers a record number of signatures, but leads nowhere.
The first No (1959). On 1 February 1959 Swiss men vote for the first time on federal women’s suffrage and reject it by 67 per cent. There is a precise reason for the delay: in a direct democracy, votes for women had to be granted by the male voters themselves, at federal level and canton by canton. The same day, however, Vaud introduces the cantonal vote, followed by Neuchâtel and, in 1960, Geneva. A year earlier, in 1958, Iris von Roten had published Frauen im Laufgitter, a book that caused a scandal.
The turning point (1969–1971). In 1969 thousands of women march on Bern to demand the vote, and Ticino introduces it at cantonal level; Valais and Zurich follow in 1970. On 7 February 1971 voters approve federal women’s suffrage with 65.7 per cent. At the elections of 31 October 1971 the first eleven women enter parliament: ten in the National Council and Lise Girardin in the Council of States, who in 1968 had already become the first woman mayor of a Swiss city, Geneva.
The last cantons (1989–1990). The last to give in are the two Appenzells, where voting is by show of hands at the Landsgemeinde, the open-air assembly. Appenzell Ausserrhoden introduces votes for women in 1989. Appenzell Innerrhoden rejects it again in 1990, until on 27 November 1990 the Federal Supreme Court obliges it to respect the equality written in the Constitution.
From rights to equality (1981–today). In 1981 equality between men and women enters the Constitution. In 1984 Elisabeth Kopp is the first woman elected to the Federal Council, and in 1999 Ruth Dreifuss becomes the first woman President of the Confederation. On 14 June 1991 about half a million women take part in the first women’s strike, under the slogan “If women want, everything stops”; on 14 June 2019 the second strike brings hundreds of thousands of people back onto the streets. The memory of this history is kept by the archive founded by Marthe Gosteli in Worblaufen, near Bern.
The No camp (1959 and 1971). On 1 February 1959, with a turnout of 66.7%, there are 654,939 No votes (66.9%) against 323,727 Yes. Opposition to votes for women comes not only from many men but also from groups of women convinced that politics is not their business. The arguments recur for decades: woman as mother and guardian of the family, the fear of a “politicisation” of everyday life, the defence of tradition, starting with the Landsgemeinde. Twelve years later the balance is reversed: on 7 February 1971, with a turnout of 57.7%, there are 621,109 Yes votes (65.7%) against 323,882 No.
The No posters (1920–1966). For half a century the committees opposed to votes for women cover the walls with posters that play on fear: abandoned children, neglected families, women losing their “nature”. One from 1959 targets Iris von Roten’s book Frauen im Laufgitter directly. These posters are kept in the poster collection of the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich; the image rights do not allow them to be published here, so the gallery shows a card for each, but they can be viewed in the museum’s online catalogue:
All the No posters in the collection are gathered in this search in the Museum für Gestaltung catalogue.
The cinema (2017). In 2017 the director Petra Volpe tells the story of 1971 in Die göttliche Ordnung (The Divine Order): in a small village in Appenzell a young mother, Nora, discovers politics and fights for votes for women. The film was a great success in Switzerland and was the Swiss entry for the Oscars.
Adolf Sulzberger, poster for votes for women, 1912, Swiss Social Archives
Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The campaign for votes for women, November 1970
Photo: Hans Gerber, Comet Photo AG, ETH-Bibliothek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Two campaigners wearing the campaign badge, November 1970
Photo: Comet Photo AG, ETH-Bibliothek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Elisabeth Kopp takes the oath as the first woman Federal Councillor, 2 October 1984
Photo: Fernand Rausser, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
The second women’s strike in Zurich, 14 June 2019
Photo: Fael041, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Otto Baumberger, Wollt Ihr solche Frauen? Frauenstimmrecht Nein (“Do you want women like this?”), 1920. Card in place of the image, which is protected by copyright: the poster can be seen in the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich catalogue.
Card: Artistwall; poster: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Poster Collection
Anonymous, Frauenstimmrecht Nein, 1946. Card in place of the image, which is protected by copyright: the poster can be seen in the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich catalogue.
Card: Artistwall; poster: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Poster Collection
Otto Jakob Plattner, Syt's Mammi politisiert, het's fir mi kai Zyt meh (“Since Mummy went into politics she has no time for me”), 1954. Card in place of the image, which is protected by copyright: the poster can be seen in the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich catalogue.
Card: Artistwall; poster: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Poster Collection
Anonymous, Totale Verpolitisierung unseres Lebens? Frauenstimmrecht nein (“Total politicisation of our lives?”), 1966. Card in place of the image, which is protected by copyright: the poster can be seen in the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich catalogue.
Card: Artistwall; poster: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Poster Collection
A poster for the Zurich cantonal vote of November 1970: “Es bleibt beim JA!”
Photo: Comet Photo AG, ETH-Bibliothek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lise Girardin, the first woman in the Council of States, December 1971
Photo: Comet Photo AG, ETH-Bibliothek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The first women’s strike in Zurich, 14 June 1991
Photo: Comet Photo AG, ETH-Bibliothek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Marthe Gosteli, founder of the archive of the Swiss women’s movement
Photo: Elsbeth Boss, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Donald Brun, Frauenstimmrecht Nein, 1946. Card in place of the image, which is protected by copyright: the poster can be seen in the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich catalogue.
Card: Artistwall; poster: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Poster Collection
Hugo Laubi, Frauenstimmrecht Nein! Muetter, wenn chunsch hei? (“Mum, when are you coming home?”), 1946. Card in place of the image, which is protected by copyright: the poster can be seen in the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich catalogue.
Card: Artistwall; poster: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Poster Collection
Anonymous, Frauen ins Laufgitter? Frauen in die Politik? Beides schadet guter Frauenart! (“Women in the playpen? Women in politics? Both harm good womanly nature!”), 1959. Card in place of the image, which is protected by copyright: the poster can be seen in the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich catalogue.
Card: Artistwall; poster: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Poster Collection
Contro l'ordine divino (Die göttliche Ordnung), di Petra Volpe, 2017: il trailer ufficiale
Filmcoopi Zürich
Le donne svizzere votano per la prima volta, 31 ottobre 1971 (in inglese)
AP Archive
La Landsgemeinde di Appenzello Esterno approva il voto alle donne, 1989 (in tedesco)
SRF Archiv
Appenzello Interno, l'ultimo cantone, 1990 (in tedesco)
SRF Archiv
Lo sciopero delle donne del 14 giugno 1991 (in tedesco)
SRF Archiv
La lotta per il voto alle donne, servizio del 1991 (in tedesco)
SRF Archiv
Storia delle donne in Ticino: dalle filande al voto
RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera
I 50 anni del diritto di voto e di eleggibilità delle donne, con la presidente del Consiglio nazionale Irène Kälin
Parlamento svizzero