BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Hundreds of men led a demonstration in the Swiss capital on Saturday to denounce misogyny and a plague of violence against women, insisting men need to take a bigger and more vocal role in fighting both.
The “Men against Violence against Women” rally outside parliament follows high and persistent concerns that expressions of misogyny are too present online among teenage boys and young men — and that other men need to build a stronger counter-narrative.
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A man holds a placard reading: 'digital violence is also violence' during a demontration to denounce violence against women in Bern, Switzerland, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
A man stands next to a placard reading: 'violence affects us all' during a demontration to denounce violence against women in Bern, Switzerland, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
People attend a demontration to denounce violence against women in Bern, Switzerland, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
People attend a demontration to denounce violence against women in Bern, Switzerland, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
It comes as some influencers on the fringe of the right-wing “manosphere” were emboldened after President Donald Trump'spresidential win in 2024 to justify and amplify misogynistic derision and threats online.
Academics and advocacy groups, for the first time, have tried to map the extent of the movement in Switzerland.
A survey released in June by the University of Zurich and mencare, an umbrella group of Swiss men's and fathers' organizations, found half of male respondents aged 18 to 24 had expressed concerns that “real men are increasingly marginalized in society" and had a “restrictive and dominance-based view of masculinity.”
The study pointed to the need for “a systematic and society-wide debate about ideals of masculinity that promote violence. The debate should start in schools.”
The Swiss government has been taking note: Justice Minister Beat Jans earlier this month attended a conference designed to raise awareness about the hazards of violent invective online against women.
In a speech on the issue on Nov. 2, Jans cited statistics that four-fifths of violent crimes were committed by men, and in cases of rape “it is as high as 99%.”
“It is not all men. But we must also admit: It is almost always men,” Jans said. “Violence by men does not begin with the first blow; it begins with a disparaging remark. We men all have a duty.”
In the movement, the idea is to open the eyes of young men who are caught up in the "manosphere" and the “patriarchy” more broadly.
“We men are part of the problem — the problem being violence against women and queer people,” said Christoph Gosteli, a 42-year-old social worker and co-organizer of the “Men against Violence against Women” demonstration with the group Maenner.
“That is why it is important for us to take a stand and say: We no longer want to be part of the problem; we want to be part of the solution,” he said.
A man holds a placard reading: 'digital violence is also violence' during a demontration to denounce violence against women in Bern, Switzerland, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
A man stands next to a placard reading: 'violence affects us all' during a demontration to denounce violence against women in Bern, Switzerland, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
People attend a demontration to denounce violence against women in Bern, Switzerland, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
People attend a demontration to denounce violence against women in Bern, Switzerland, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
Major sporting events slowly returned to normal Saturday after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide for several hours a day earlier, disrupting travel plans for professional and college teams across the country.
Most college football teams playing Saturday travel the day before kickoff, and a number of games were delayed by hours to give visiting programs more time to arrive and prepare. No. 2 Utah’s game at No. 22 Arizona was pushed back three hours, as was Arizona State’s game at Central Florida. Other teams, like Auburn, opted for charter buses. One way or another, most teams found a solution.
There was, of course, one major exception: the No. 19 Mississippi game at Oklahoma will now compete with the NFL with a kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. EST on Sunday.
JuJu Watkins and her third-ranked Southern California teammates had just boarded their flight to face top-ranked South Carolina when the ground stop was issued. The Trojans women's basketball team stayed in Los Angeles for the night after being deplaned, and their departure for Greenville was pushed to Saturday afternoon.
Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball coach Stephanie Gaitley found out late Friday night that her team's flight to Ohio State had been canceled. There was discussion about leaving immediately by bus and making a stop halfway, but Gaitley preferred to let her team get a better night’s sleep before setting out on a 10-hour bus ride on Saturday morning.
In women's soccer, the Utah Royals already were in the Washington, D.C., area ahead of their National Women’s Soccer League semifinal against the Washington Spirit on Saturday. The Kansas City Current were supposed to depart Friday for their semifinal against Gotham FC on Sunday in New York.
The Current told ESPN they were “collaborating with key stakeholders, including the NWSL and our charter partner, to identify next steps in order to arrive safely ahead of our match against Gotham FC on Sunday.”
There were 14 scheduled NHL games on Saturday, and the majority made it to their destinations before the flight stoppage began. The San Jose Sharks, who were left waiting to see whether they would be able to travel, arrived late Friday in Utah.
In the NBA, most teams were, at worst, mildly affected by Friday’s events. Cleveland was the outlier.
The Cavaliers started their Saturday much earlier than usual, leaving Miami at 8:54 a.m. on a plane taking them to Cleveland — where they were set to play the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.
The Cavs couldn’t get out of Miami on Friday night as planned after a game against the Heat that capped a three-game road trip, then scrambled to re-book some hotel rooms. NBA teams typically don’t fly on the morning of a game, but there have been exceptions made for unusual situations.
Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell said he would have preferred Saturday’s game to get rescheduled, but noted the team will “make adjustments, figure it out and go from there.”
“Back-to-back, three-hour flight, it was already a tough one,” Mitchell said. “But hey, they say we’ve got to play, we’ve got to play.”
Rescheduling the game against the Mavericks wasn’t an ideal option. Cleveland has a busy arena with a minor league hockey team, college games and other events scheduled; Saturday’s game falls in a stretch where the arena is playing host to events on 11 consecutive days.
“It’s part of it," Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. "You just adapt.”
The NFL benefitted from its Sunday slate, as teams typically travel the day before their games. Friday’s flight stoppage ultimately had the biggest impact on official Don Willard, who will work as a referee in two games on the same day. Willard will call the Dolphins-Colts game at 1 p.m. EST before heading 112 miles east for a Steelers-Bengals Sunday Night Football contest.
The NBA had a similar debacle.
At least one NBA referee was unable to get to where he was scheduled to work on Saturday, prompting the league to make changes to the crews assigned to two games.
Brian Forte was added to the crew for the Chicago-Minnesota game, replacing Jason Goldenberg. And Jenna Schroeder was added to the crew for the Dallas-Cleveland game, replacing Forte.
AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds and Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.
See AP’s full sports coverage here
Aircraft are seen at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
