Swiss bill proposes ejecting wife and husband beaters from home

BERN, Nov 12 (AFP) - Wife beaters, husband bashers or parents who hurt their children could be forced out of their own home under a new law being drafted in Switzerland to stem domestic violence, the justice ministry said Wednesday.

Women are usually the victims of violence at home although it can also affect men, said the Swiss Crime Prevention Centre, which estimates that every year at least 10,000 women report cases of domestic violence to the police.

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The proposed legislation drawn up by the Federal Department of Justice and Police would empower a judge to order the violent member of a family out of their home immediately and prevent them from contacting the victim.

"Domestic violence is unfortunately a fact of life," said Hermann Schmid, a spokesman for the justice ministry.

"Either you accept that women are forced to go to a safe house or you try to do something to better protect them," he said, when asked why the ministry had decided to draft the new rules.

There is no explicit remedy in Swiss law for victims of domestic violence, a fact the ministry hopes to rectify, explained Schmid.

Legal experts, government officials and organisations involved in combatting violence at home have until the end of February to study the proposals and make amendments.

Once an agreement is reached on the measures, it will take at least two years to put them into force in various cantons (regions) around the country.

The bill states that each canton must also establish a centre of information or consultation to help prevent domestic violence and stop secondary offences.

Earlier this year the Swiss Crime Prevention Centre launched a campaign to eradicate domestic violence in Switzerland.

"The perpetrators must know that violence is punishable... victims have a right to protection from violence," the organisation said on its website.

One woman out of five in Switzerland is exposed to physical or sexual violence at least once in her life from her partner, according to a survey by the centre.

The justice ministry meanwhile did not have figures available on domestic violence against men, or on child abuse.

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