"We too often wait until it's too late" 15 femicides by June - victims and experts call for more prevention
In 2025, 15 women were already victims of femicide in Switzerland - most of them at the hands of men in their immediate environment. Survivors like Nicole Dill are calling for more decisive action against the escalating violence.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- In Switzerland, 15 women had already been killed by femicide by mid-June 2025 - almost as many as in the entire previous year.
- Survivors such as Nicole Dill are emphatically calling for preventive measures and criticizing the authorities' failure to protect victims, as confirmed by an ECHR ruling.
- Despite the announcement of a round table by Federal Councillor Baume-Schneider, experts are calling for concrete action instead of mere symbolic policy.
It is a shocking result: 15 women have already been killed by femicides in Switzerland in 2025 - up to mid-June. According to the "Stop Femicide" research project, there were a total of 20 cases in the previous year. The numbers are rising, the warning signals are increasing - but there is largely no social outcry.
The perpetrators? Often men from the immediate environment - partners, ex-partners, acquaintances. "We have twice as many femicides today as we did just a few years ago," warns violence expert Agota Lavoyer to SRF. She is fighting against the normalization of this violence with workshops, books and prevention work.
Life after survival
Nicole Dill, a woman from Lucerne, survived herself - and has been fighting tirelessly for more protection and visibility ever since, as SRF reports. In September 2007, she wants to separate from her former partner. What she doesn't know is that the man was previously in prison for murder. Despite strict restrictions, he managed to enter her apartment unnoticed and attack her with a crossbow. Three shots - she survives seriously injured.
Dill became suspicious early on and contacted the police. However, they were not allowed to inform her of the man's dangerousness for data protection reasons. Years later, a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights made it clear that the authorities should have warned her.
"I survived so that I could fight - for the victims who no longer have a voice," says Dill. Her case has triggered a "small tsunami" in the victim protection agencies, and she has received many letters from people who feel that they have been taken seriously for the first time as a result of the ruling.
"We wait too often until it's too late"
Dill calls for a paradigm shift: prevention instead of reaction. "It's not acceptable to only act when there are fatalities. We have to start much earlier - with the police, in schools, in politics."
Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider has already reacted and convened a round table on the topic of femicide. However, many victims and experts warn that words are not enough - action, resources and the courage to change are needed.
Nicole Dill now helps victims of violence and their families with her private drop-in center "Sprungtuch". Her appeal: "Don't just wait - anyone who senses something should get help before it's too late."