Theresia Rohner

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Theresia Rohner Mattmüller (* 1954 ) is a Swiss women's rights activist. After the introduction of women's suffrage at the federal level, she advocated the lack of women's suffrage in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden . The Innerrhoder women owe Rohner the introduction of cantonal voting rights in 1990.

Act

For centuries, the Innerrhoder Landsgemeinde was reserved for men

The right to vote for women was introduced in the cantons from 1959, first in western Switzerland and later in other parts of Switzerland. When women’s right to vote was adopted at the federal level on February 7, 1971, women in almost all cantons had or obtained the right to vote at the same time. In 1989, in Appenzell Ausserrhoden , a narrow majority in the rural community decided in favor of women's suffrage. Only women in Appenzell Innerrhoden were not granted the right to vote.

Theresia Rohner, mother of two daughters, operator of a pottery workshop and resident of Appenzell , did not understand this and in April 1989 turned to the community's professional committee to be able to actively participate in their next meeting. She received no support for the matter at the time. Therefore she turned to the Federal Court in Lausanne . The highest Swiss court delegated the decision back to the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden. Due to the direct democracy , however, only male citizens entitled to vote were allowed to vote on women's suffrage for the canton. In April 1990, the men who were eligible to vote again rejected the request to give women cantonal voting rights. The vote against women's suffrage took a full 28 seconds.

Thanks to Theresia Rohner, Appenzell women are allowed to take part in the Appenzell Landsgemeinde

Theresia Rohner did not want to accept this decision and found 100 women and men living in the canton via newspaper advertisement who lodged a complaint with her at the federal court. As a private person, Rohner was now exposed to massive hostility and anonymous threats and was under police protection. On November 27, 1990, the highest Swiss court ruled unanimously with the women's suffrage decision that the existing regulation in Appenzell Innerrhoden constitutes a violation of the federal constitution and that women have the right to vote in the cantons. Ten years after the introduction of the equality article in the federal constitution, this decision was unequivocal. The international and Swiss press cheered the verdict, while the opponents in Appenzell Innerrhoden viewed it as a defeat and talked about the women in the media. When women were able to vote for the first time in Appenzell Innerrhoden in April 1991, around a third of the 4,000 eligible voters present were women.

After the media attention, Theresia Rohner largely withdrew from the public. In June 2017, she gave her first insights into her political experiences in a public conversation.

Theresia Rohner Mattmüller now lives in Interlaken and runs a practice for cranio-sacral therapy .

literature

  • Juristinnen Schweiz (Ed.): 40 women who move - 40 years of women in motion. Editions Weblaw, Bern 2011, ISBN 978-3-905742-92-3 .
  • Isabel Rohner / Rebecca Beerheide (eds.): 100 years of women's suffrage. Goal achieved ... and on? Ulrike Helmer, Sulzbach / Taunus 2017, ISBN 978-3-89741-398-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Yvonne Voegeli: Women's suffrage. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . 17th September 2019 .
  2. ↑ Right to vote for Appenzell women? SRF, April 26, 1982, accessed October 27, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Isabel Rohner / Rebecca Beerheide (ed.): 100 years of women's suffrage. Goal achieved ... and on? Ulrike Helmer, Sulzbach / Taunus 2017, ISBN 978-3-89741-398-6 .
  4. ^ A b c Franz Kasperski: There was no longer any reason to deny women the right to vote. SRF, November 27, 2014, accessed October 27, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b Katja Reim: Right to vote: Alone against the rest of Appenzell. Berliner Kurier, July 24, 2017, accessed on October 31, 2019 .
  6. ↑ A woman goes to court for the right to vote. Migros Magazin 06/2011, February 4, 2011, accessed on October 27, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Federal Supreme Court judgment of November 27, 1990. In: Official collection of the decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Retrieved October 26, 2019 .
  8. ^ Theresia Rohner. Journal21, accessed October 26, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Rabea Grand: Courage and a lot of commitment to politics. Jungfrau Zeitung, June 15, 2017, accessed on October 27, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Rohner, Theresia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rohner Mattmüller, Theresia (married name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss activist for women's suffrage in Appenzell Innerrhoden
DATE OF BIRTH 1954