Protests Against Femicide Erupt in Ticino After Multiple Killings

Ticino is reeling. In a stark display of collective grief and fury, nearly 200 demonstrators flooded Piazza Governo in Bellinzona on Tuesday evening, demanding an immediate end to the violence shattering their communities. The catalyst for this surge in civic action is undeniable and alarming: of the five femicides recorded across Switzerland already this year, a staggering two have occurred within the borders of Canton Ticino. This disproportionate concentration of violence has turned the southern canton into the epicenter of a national crisis.

Organized by the feminist collective Io l’8 ogni giorno (“I fight every day”), the rally did not merely mourn; it demanded accountability. Demonstrators stood shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the cantonal parliament, bridging the gap between the streets and the halls of power. The message radiating from Bellinzona is clear: the status quo is lethal. As the monthly parliamentary session convened nearby, the protesters ensured their voices penetrated the legislative walls, transforming a local gathering into a critical flashpoint for Swiss gender politics. The urgency is palpable—Ticino is no longer asking for change; it is screaming for it.

The numbers are not just statistics; they are an indictment of systemic failure. During the rally, organizers read aloud a harrowing list of 129 dates, places, and ages—representing every woman killed in Switzerland since the dawn of 2020. This relentless roll call, corroborated by the national platform Stopfemizid.ch, lays bare a brutal reality that contradicts Switzerland's international reputation for safety. While the overall crime rate remains low, domestic violence statistics tell a radically different, bloodier story.

Switzerland grapples with a persistent inability to curb gender-based violence. The reading of these 129 names serves as a chilling reminder that awareness is growing, but safety is not. The recent spike in Ticino is not an anomaly but a continuation of a deadly trend that has persisted for over half a decade. By vocalizing the sheer volume of loss, activists are stripping away the anonymity of the victims, forcing the public and politicians alike to confront the magnitude of the slaughter. This is a crisis measured in cemeteries, and the count continues to rise unchecked.

The most searing indictment of the night came not from a politician, but from the daughter of a woman murdered just 11 days ago. In a testimony that silenced the square, she declared that her mother had "married the monster," believing she was making the right choice. This powerful statement shatters the myth that victims are somehow complicit or naive; it places the blame squarely on the perpetrators and the society that shields them.

The speaker launched a blistering critique of the education system and societal norms that continue to define women by their relationships to men. She argued that girls are still taught to value themselves primarily as wives, mothers, or partners, rather than as autonomous individuals. Pointing to the coverage of the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, she noted how even gold medalists are reduced to "winning mothers" or "wives." This cultural reductionism, she argued, feeds the entitlement that underpins femicide. Until society—and schools specifically—teach girls they have inherent value independent of their social roles, the cycle of violence will remain unbroken.

Words matter, and the Swiss media is under fire for failing to use the right ones. Activists slammed news outlets that described a recent murder where a woman was killed by her husband as merely a "bloody incident." This euphemistic language sanitizes violence and obscures the gendered nature of the crime. "Changing the language is where it all begins," asserted a member of Io l’8 ogni giorno. The demand is simple: call it what it is—femicide. The refusal to name the problem is an act of complicity that hinders public understanding and policy response.

Politically, the pressure is mounting. The Bellinzona municipal council can no longer ignore the bloodshed on its doorstep. The left-wing alliance Unità di Sinistra has formally challenged the city government, demanding to know if specific protocols exist for handling domestic violence cases. They are calling for mandatory training for municipal staff to recognize warning signs before fatal escalations occur. As the death toll mounts, the era of looking the other way has ended; Ticino’s institutions are now on notice that negligence will be met with public outrage.