Exhibition and street name signs vandalised: acts which speak volumes about the progress still to be made

6 March 1960 is a key date in our history. After several decades of campaigning, the women of Geneva obtained the right to vote and be elected. For all that, has the fact that they obtained political rights made women citizens in their own right enjoying the same rights, opportunities and recognition as men? Sixty years later, with the City of Geneva celebrating this anniversary through an exhibition organised in collaboration with the Republic and Canton of Geneva, the answer is a resounding “no”. 

Discriminatory graffities

In light of the graffiti that appeared between 6 and 8 March 2020 on the panels illustrating posters calling on the population to vote “yes” to the right to vote of women, it is clear that there is still a long way to go before we achieve equality. While the exhibition highlights the enduring nature of the obstacles to women being seen as citizens in their own right, the stereotypes that these posters display continue to exist, as caricatural as they may seem. According to Mayor Sandrine Salerno who is behind this project, “this type of depredation symbolises all the difficulties that women encounter in being treated in the same way as men and enjoying visibility in public areas.” State Councillor, Nathalie Fontanet, who is responsibility for the Office for the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Violence believes that, “it is deplorable that certain people continue to question the rights acquired. This is proof positive of the need to celebrate these anniversaries and to recall that women only very recently acquired political rights.” 

Other acts of vandalism

The rainbow strips placed in front of a dozen pedestrian crossings to celebrate the Pride Parade last summer were torn up in the months after they were installed. On 20 February 2020, the City announced that it would file an application with the Cantonal Nomenclature Commission (CCN) to change the names of 16 streets, squares, parks and footpaths within the municipal territory. Since then, the purple street name signs installed by the association L’Escouade as part of the 100Elles* project (www.100elles.ch), intended to enhance the visibility of women in public areas, have been the target of depredations. While only 5 street name signs disappeared between March and December 2019, thirty were torn down in less than one month. In light of these different elements, the City of Geneva will file a criminal complaint against persons unknown for damage to property in order to denounce the inscriptions written on the posters of the exhibition in Parc des Bastions.

Challenges remain

The symbolic actions undertaken by the City of Geneva and its partners are part of a policy of promoting equality, initiated some 13 years ago, which consistently incorporates awareness campaigns, support for associations, work on professional equality within the administration and reflections on how to include equality issues across all municipal services. The City is thus committed to a sustainable society in which every man and woman can live and achieve their goals without discrimination, irrespective of their gender, origin, sexual orientation or gender identity. It also wishes to offer future generations more diversified models.