The Swiss army has made headlines in recent months after a spate of resignations of senior figures, including Defence Minister Viola Amherd.
Keystone-SDA
The mediation service, set up in 2022, has noted cases concerning overwork, conflicts with colleagues, and compatibility between military and civilian life.
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On Sunday, the defence ministry confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency the figure of 850 incidents following an article in the SonntagsBlick newspaper. According to the paper, the number of cases has been particularly high in recent weeks.
The ministry also confirmed that a quarter of incidents involved bullying, harassment or discrimination. Reports of sexual violence have also been noted, but their number has not increased since a 2024 report revealing problems in this area, according to the defence ministry; the mediation service said it was surprised by this stable trend.
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However, outgoing Defence Minister Viola Amherd’s ministry could not confirm all the figures in detail as the mediation office does not compile statistics on this subject.
Difficult balance
Reconciling military and professional life can also be difficult. For example, in the SonntagsBlick article, the mediation services cite the case of a commanding officer who wanted a soldier to attend a training course, while his employer wanted it postponed – leaving the soldier caught between a rock and a hard place.
Viola Amherd set up the mediation service in 2022 with the aim of defusing conflict situations quickly and simply.
Adapted from French by DeepL/dos
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