Haut les corps, à bas les tabous!

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Every year, alongside International Women’s Day, the City of Geneva explores a specific theme from the standpoint of gender and equality. The Semaine de l’égalité (Equality Week) 2022, which will be held from 4 to 14 March, invites the people of Geneva to question and deconstruct the gender norms and taboos that continue to target women’s bodies.

A programme and bibliography designed to break taboos

Is intimacy political? Why should periods be considered “dirty”? How can you develop a relationship with your body that is free from the shackles of society? Between disgust, taboo and hyper-sexualisation, women’s bodies are still subject to numerous debates. In order to explore these and many other questions, the Semaine de l’égalité proposes a programme open to all, school workshops and the publication of a bibliography, all concocted by the Agenda 21-Sustainable City Service, the municipal libraries and numerous partners. According to Sami Kanaan, Executive Councillor responsible for Culture, “Cultural mediation tools play a key role in combating gender stereotypes and the different forms of discrimination by serving as a vector of reflection and dialogue.”

Interim review of the projects combating period poverty

The 2022 theme of the Semaine de l'égalité in particular reflects the actions conducted by the City of Geneva to combat period poverty and prejudices relating to women’s periods. According to Alfonso Gomez, Executive Councillor responsible for Equality, “The question of accessibility to menstrual products is not limited to the private sphere. It must be taken in hand by the public authorities in order to combat the economic and societal causes of period poverty.” 

To address these concerns, the City and the University of Geneva installed two pilot menstrual product distributors during autumn of 2021. Installed in premises open to the public within the municipal territory and in five buildings of the University of Geneva, these distributors are intended for the people most at risk of period poverty, in particular young people and people in need. The first Swiss university to install such a system, the University of Geneva has thus responded to a student issue: “The lack of access to menstrual products and the silence surrounding the subject of women’s periods are both sources of inequality and can lead to stigmatisation, exclusion, increased school drop-out rates and absenteeism, as well as serious health problems,” stresses Juliette Labarthe, Director of the Equality & Diversity Service at the University of Geneva. The Semaine de l’égalité provides an opportunity to share the initial, positive results of these two systems: the distributors have been welcomed by those concerned and meet their needs.  

Inauguration of the Espace santé femmes*

Alongside the Semaine de l’égalité, Réseau Femmes* is inaugurating its Espace santé femmes (women’s health centre)*, tasked with providing women with a safe haven where they can talk, share and help each other and where they feel at east talking about their health, in particular when their sexuality and/or profession are/is stigmatised. This project “encourages women of every orientation” to become players in their own destiny and to own their bodies and their health, while providing them with the necessary resources to do so,” explains Nadine Rogivue, Head of the Espace santé femmes* project for Réseau Femmes*.

The City of Geneva is supporting the launch of this project and working with Réseau Femmes* to organise a first workshop included in the Semaine de l’égalité programme. Specially designed for the occasion and entitled “Changer les règles, faire tomber les tabous: enjeux et alternatives autour des produits menstruels” (changing the rules and breaking taboos: challenges and alternatives with regard to menstrual products), it also calls on the expertise of the recently created association, For Womxn, Period, to create a collaborative and participatory forum for discussion on the challenges and taboos surrounding periods and menstrual products.

Semaine de l'égalité programme: www.semaine-egalite.ch