Berlin.
The #outcry started on Twitter and ended up being everywhere. Since then, laws have been tightened. But sexism remained, also in the FDP.
2013 was a bad year for the FDP. But a good thing for women: It begins with a scandal surrounding the liberal top candidate Rainer Bruederle and ultimately leads to the party being expelled from the Bundestag. At the same time, a debate about sexism in everyday life started – which continues to this day: Countless women then reported online about their experiences with abusive men under the Twitter hashtag “#aufschrei” – and thus documented how widespread sexism is in Germany.
Exactly ten years ago, on January 24, 2013, the “Stern” published a text by the journalist Laura Himmelreich about Brüderle, the number one of the FDP in the federal election campaign. In the text entitled “Der Herrenwitz”, Himmelreich accuses the FDP man of sexually abusive behavior. On the evening before the Epiphany meeting of the liberals a year earlier, Brüderle had made lewd remarks in conversation with the journalist, ignored her rejection, and kissed her hand. It’s not the first time that Brüderle has attracted attention with sexist slogans.
#outcry: First on Twitter, then everywhere – in the media and talk shows
“He likes to embody the walking gentleman’s wit. He accepts the reputation of being dubious as long as the men around him are laughing,” writes Himmelreich. Ten days earlier was an article by the journalist Annett Meiritz appeared in “Spiegel”, it was about misogyny in the Pirate Party.
Comment on #outcry: The author of the “Stern” portrait takes stock
Rainer Brüderle is history, the FDP was kicked out in autumn 2013 Bundestag. Today, Himmelreich is deputy editor-in-chief of the central editorial office of the Funke media group, to which this portal also belongs.
The debate about sexism in everyday life quickly gained momentum – also because she found a medium in Twitter that many young women used: the night after the publication of the Stern article, the feminist established herself Anne Wizorek the hashtag “#aufschrei” on Twitter – and thus bundled the personal reports of women, some of whom spoke publicly about their experiences with sexism for the first time.
In the first week alone, 15,000 users used the hashtag, one of the largest to date Twitter events. Almost all media in Germany took up the debate, and sexism was widely discussed in almost every talk show.
Study: “Sexism is a mass phenomenon”
The fight against sexism in language and in everyday life is the latest chapter in the old struggle equality: While earlier generations of women fought for the right to vote, the right to work, the right to an abortion, later there was a struggle for equality at work and in leadership positions.
The journalists and twitterers who, ten years ago, started the debate about sexism on the other hand, mostly come from a generation in which the idea of equal rights already seemed self-evident. Discrimination at school, in training or at work is experienced by many as an exception. It is all the more outrageous for them to be treated disrespectfully, devalued, and attacked in a sexist manner. There is no German movement left: Four years later, in 2017, a new hashtag appeared in the wake of the Weinstein scandal: “#metoo” became the buzzword for a global movement against sexual harassment.
Read the interview with Family Minister Paus here: “Sexism cuts across all parties”
“Everyday sexism is a mass phenomenon“, write the authors of a large, representative study commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs. The basis is a survey from 2018 and 2019. According to this, around 44 percent of all women experienced sexist attacks in their everyday life, 14 percent several times a month. M
At 32 percent, a significant proportion of men also stated that they were affected by sexism in everyday life. Interesting: The higher the level of education, the greater it appears to be sensitivity being in favor of sexism: 71 percent of the women with an academic education, but only 53 percent of the women with a low educational qualification were themselves affected by sexist attacks or observe them in their environment.
Read the interview with Family Minister Paus here: “Sexism cuts across all parties”
Sexual Violence: How Criminal Law Has Been Tightened
The fight against sexism and for sexual self-determination now also has concrete legal consequences. Additionally reinforced by the attacks in the New Year’s Eve in Cologne This was tightened up in 2015/2016, gaps in protection were to be closed. Since then, the principle “No means no” has also applied in the code: every sexual act against a person’s apparent will is punishable by law. The criminal offense of sexual harassment was also newly introduced.
The traffic light coalition wants to go even further: in the future, when sentencing, motivations In addition to racist or anti-Semitic motives, expressly “gender-specific” and “against sexual orientation” motives are also taken into account.
FDP: Still a men’s party?
The FDP meanwhile can’t get rid of the topic: in the fall, Silvana Koch-Netzin reported in an interview about sexual innuendos and physical harassment by party friends from the FDP. The politician had the Liberals back in 2004 as the top candidate in Europe houses of Parliament led, but later withdrew from politics. The current FDP leadership offered Koch-mehrin “personal support in processing the events she addressed”. In a statement at the request of our editors, it said: “The reports by Silvana Koch-Überin underline the need for the comprehensive renewal process that the FDP has undergone since 2014.”
However, women still don’t feel particularly at home in the FDP: the party is “perceived as a men’s party,” says the leader of the Young Liberals, Franziska Brandmann. In order to change that, more is needed than increasing the quota in the party executive: “It’s about the culture, about our self-portrayal as a party, about our communication”.
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