Nearly 1,000 women demonstrated in Zurich on Saturday during International Women’s Day, resulting in property damage along the protest route.
Demonstrators in Zurich clashed with police Saturday as a large, unsanctioned International Women’s Day march led to vandalism and the deployment of crowd control measures. The protest underscores ongoing tensions surrounding women’s rights and political activism in Switzerland.
According to a statement from the Zurich municipal police, participants ignited pyrotechnic devices during the demonstration. Officers briefly used rubber bullets and tear gas in an attempt to prevent protesters from breaching a police barricade.
The march began on Paradeplatz, where some participants, wearing face coverings, blocked tram lines by suspending ropes above the tracks. Shortly after the demonstration began, graffiti appeared on storefronts, and protesters painted sections of the pavement with red paint.
Police were present in large numbers, supported by the cantonal police, but largely allowed the demonstration to proceed. An investigation has been opened into the property damage, police said. As of late afternoon, authorities reported no injuries.
The demonstration notably saw very few men in attendance, as heterosexual men were reportedly encouraged to show solidarity by abstaining from participation. The march included women carrying purple flags, as well as a significant contingent of Iranian, Kurdish, and pro-Palestinian activists, who chanted the slogan “Feminist and militant.”
