The parliament of Switzerland’s canton of Vaud unanimously approved a proposal for a register of childcare professionals who have been prohibited from working in the field.
The motion’s sponsor, lawmaker Yannick Maury, said the register is intended to prevent people from evading a professional ban by changing employers or moving to another canton. About 60 lawmakers from across the political spectrum had supported the proposal before the vote. The cantonal government has a year to prepare a concrete proposal and draft legislation.
The debate was revived by a case in Saint-Sulpice, where a childcare worker was arrested on suspicion of inappropriate touching of a young child. SRF reported that U.S. authorities had earlier alerted Swiss police to the man’s suspicious online activity. In early 2025, the prosecutor’s office for northern Vaud decided not to proceed with the report.
Nuria Gorrite, a member of the cantonal government, backed the motion and called for protections to cover all children, not only those in daycare. A similar national proposal for a registry was filed in June 2025. The Swiss Federal Council recommended rejecting it and waiting for a broader report on sexual abuse of minors, expected by the end of 2027.