Swiss women take to streets for equal pay

GENEVA: Purple-clad protesters blowing whistles, banging pots and pans and brandishing feminist slogans filled the streets of Swiss towns and cities Friday, as women across the country went on strike for equal pay.

"I love badass women" and "Eliminate the patriarchy" figured among the messages on posters and banners, as women poured into the streets to vent their frustration with persistent gender discrimination and wage gaps in the wealthy Alpine nation.

The strike comes nearly three decades after women held the country's first nationwide strike for equal pay. Thousands of women dressed in purple -- the colour chosen to show solidarity with the cause -- filled the square in front of the government and parliament buildings in Bern Friday morning. Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd, flanked by a large group of women MPs draped in purple, including one wearing boxing gloves.