The little town of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland now boasts a space reserved for the World March of Women. On May 1, 2000, March activists sold paving stones that will bear witness for centuries to come. At the same time they built a time capsule in the form of a large paving stone into which they put their demands. The urn will not be opened until 2020, at which time the women will evaluate their actions and share their conclusions with their daughters and granddaughters.
Swiss women carried out many decentralized actions. In Bienne, 300 women marched on March 8 draped in a black sheet, which they then threw off to display the March colours. In the canton of Saint Galle, March activists toured villages by train collecting women's demands, which they passed on to the authorities. In Argovie, they blocked rush hour traffic to proclaim the reasons women were marching in the year 2000. Then the European March was launched March 8 in Geneva, the headquarters of many UN agencies in Europe.
On this occasion, women wearing red gloves denounced violence: State violence that gives rise to wars as well as wife assault and the violence inherent in discrimination. They deplored discrimination against immigrant women, for whom the March demonstrators demanded the same rights as nationals, and discrimination against lesbians. They also drew attention to violence at work and in society at large.
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