GENEVA: Swiss voters are casting ballots to decide whether women, like men, must do national service in the military, civil protection teams or in other forms. Supporters of the “citizen service initiative” in the referendum ending Sunday hope it will boost social cohesion by adding jobs in areas like environmental prevention, food security and elderly care. Parliament overwhelmingly opposes the idea, mainly for cost reasons and out of concern that it could crimp the economy by taking tens of thousands of young people out of the workforce.

GENEVA: Swiss voters are casting ballots to decide whether women, like men, must do national service in the military, civil protection teams or in other forms. Supporters of the…

Eine Volksinitiative will Männer und Frauen für Armee oder Zivildienst verpflichten. Das Anliegen stieß anfänglich auf starken Zuspruch. Doch kurz vor der Volksabstimmung…