Federal popular initiative "Equal rights for men and women"
The federal popular initiative “Equal Rights for Men and Women” , or the so-called Equal Rights Initiative for short , required an amendment to Art. 4 of the Swiss Federal Constitution to explicitly recognize equality between women and men and a transitional provision for implementation.
The initiative was submitted on December 15, 1976 and withdrawn on October 11, 1980 due to the counter-draft of the Federal Council.
Initiative text
The initiative text read:
I. The Federal Constitution is amended as follows:
Art. 4bis (new)
- Men and women are equal.
- Husband and wife have equal rights and responsibilities in the family.
- Men and women are entitled to equal wages for work that is the same or of equal value.
- Men and women are entitled to equal treatment and opportunities in education, schooling and vocational training as well as in employment and professional practice.
II. Transitional provision
- Within five years from the entry into force of Article 4bis, the necessary implementing provisions are to be issued, both with regard to relations between citizens and the state and between individuals.
- The German text of the initiative is authoritative.
poll
The initiators withdrew the initiative and the Federal Council's direct counter-proposal was accepted with a large majority. 398,454 voters took part in the vote on June 14, 1981, which corresponds to a turnout of 33.93 percent.
| Yes votes | 797,702 | 60.3% |
| Vote no | 525,885 | 39.7% |
| Accepting stands | 14 3/2 | |
| Discarding stands | 6 3/2 |