Women across Switzerland on Sunday held protests demanding an end to gender-based violence and equal treatment.

The demonstrations were not as big as similar marches held last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For me it is emotional. Because I scream for me, but I also scream for my sisters and brothers, I scream for all the other children who lost a mother or a father, and I also scream for my mother, who would have screamed if she was still here, Reuters quotes Roxanne Errico, a 19-year-old student who said her mother was killed by her violent boyfriend.

Another Geneva resident, Rose-Angela Gramoni, said she had joined all the women's strikes since 1991.

Now I can die in peace, the next generation is here to take over. But for a while, I was very sad. I thought we fought for many things, but we did not finish the job and nobody was here to finish it, Reuters quotes Gramoni, who is in her 70s.

Switzerland lags behind other developed nations in women’s pay and workplace equality. According to Reuters, the country's Women earn roughly a fifth less than men, better than 30 years ago when it was about a third less, but worse than in 2000.

Thousands of protesters across Swiss cities screamed for a minute at 3:24 p.m. — the time of day when women technically start working for free given the wage gap.

They also staged a flash mob and held a minute's silence for women killed by husbands or boyfriends.

(CGTN)