The army wants to increase the number of women in its ranks: the goal is 10%, compared with 1.5% at present.
Keystone-SDA
Parliament says women in the Swiss armed forces should receive higher pay, with the Senate on Tuesday endorsing a motion – already approved by the House of Representatives – aimed at eliminating existing financial disadvantages.
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This content was published on
March 10, 2026 – 11:46
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Allowances based on previous final income remain low for women who worked part‑time before entering the army, according to Marcel Dobler of the centre‑right Radical‑Liberal Party, who introduced the motion. Consequently, a woman with the rank of major who has completed 1,000 days of military service is paid the same as a recruit on her first day.
This inequality must be eliminated, especially as the army wants to increase the number of women in its ranks: the goal is 10%, compared with 1.5% at present.
The Federal Council also supports this motion.
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Mixed political response to compulsory army orientation day for Swiss women
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The Swiss government wants to make it compulsory for women to attend the orientation day for the army and civil defence.
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Return to service for ex-soldiers
The Senate also approved another House of Representative text aimed at strengthening the armed forces. It accepted the motion by Rémy Wyssmann of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party to allow former soldiers to return to service.
However, the Senate sent back to the House of Representatives Mauro Poggia’s motion, which seeks to stop French‑Swiss dual nationals from avoiding their military service obligations in Switzerland.
The two parliamentary chambers agree on the content of this proposal, but their opinions differ on procedural details.
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Swiss Politics
A day in the life of a woman in the Swiss Army
This content was published on
May 14, 2018
swissinfo.ch spends a day with Zoé Frei, one of the few female soldiers in the Swiss military.
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Adapted from French by AI/sb
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