Hundreds of men march in Bern against violence towards women

Hundreds of men led a demonstration outside parliament in Bern, the capital of Switzerland, on Saturday. The "Men Against Violence Against Women" rally, held on Bundesplatz, denounced misogyny and violence against women and called on men to play a more effective part in tackling both.

The event comes amid continuing concern that misogyny is widespread online among teenage boys and young men, and that other men need to build a stronger counter-narrative. Such views are promoted by the right-wing "manosphere", a loose network of online forums and influencers that advocate male supremacy and hostility to feminism. These influencers were emboldened after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.

Christoph Gosteli, a 42-year-old social worker who co-organised the rally with a group called maenner, said: "We men are part of the problem – the problem being violence against women and queer people." He added that men no longer want to be part of the problem but part of the solution.

Survey findings

A survey released in June by the University of Zurich and MenCare, an umbrella group of Swiss men's and fathers' organisations, found that half of male respondents aged 18 to 24 held a "restrictive and dominance-based view of masculinity". They also expressed concern that "real men are increasingly marginalised in society". The study called for a systematic, society-wide debate about ideals of masculinity that promote violence, starting in schools.

Justice minister's remarks

Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans attended a conference earlier this month on the dangers of violent online abuse of women. In a speech on November 2, he said men commit four-fifths of violent crimes, and that in rape cases the share is as high as 99 percent. "It is not all men. But we must also admit: it is almost always men," Jans said, adding that violence does not begin with the first blow but with a disparaging remark.