Switzerland: The Clock Moves Forward

FROM MALE DOMINATION TO EQUAL PARTNERSHIP! So read a headline last week in the Geneva daily La Suisse, hailing the result of a national referendum on equal marriage rights for women. The vote in favor, however, was a less-than- overwhelming 54.7%. Sexual equality has come late to Switzerland, which adopted women's suffrage at the federal level only 14 years ago and an equal rights amendment a decade later. Still on the books until last week were laws enshrining the husband's right to choose his family's place of residence, prevent his wife from working, and manage her private finances, including any inheritance.