Berlin – In a speech on the 125th birthday of women’s rights activist Elisabeth Selbert, Federal President Walter Steinmeier described the struggle for equality as an important common cause for all democrats – for men and women alike.
“What has once been achieved is not irreversible,” said Steinmeier, pointing out that the proportion of women in parliaments is falling for the first time in a long time. In the Bundestag it is currently 30.7 percent. It has thus fallen back to the level of the mid-1990s.
The Federal President spoke in Kassel after a visit to the archive of the German women’s movement, which is currently publishing a series about Elisabeth Selbert. The SPD politician was one of only four women out of 61 men in the Parliamentary Council that drafted the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. Selbert initially campaigned in vain for the phrase “men and women have equal rights” to be included. When her application was rejected, the lawyer organized a nationwide protest campaign, so that the proposal was finally accepted – unanimously.
In his speech, Steinmeier also referred to the documentary film “Die Unbeugsamen” by Torsten Körner, which was recently released in cinemas and honors the women of the Bonn Republic who defended themselves against everyday sexism and prejudice. “From today’s point of view, it is shameful to see how much condescension and disdain for the female MPs in the Bundestag and in the media back then,” said Steinmeier and at the same time made it clear with regard to social media that this is not just a bygone historical phase : “Yes, there is too much hatred on the Internet – but there is a special and particularly pathetic hatred of women on the Internet!”
Federal President: “We all have to act”
Politicians, the police and the judiciary must do their job and protect women from such hostility. The demand goes further: “All of us, men and women, must not look the other way, we have to raise our voices and show everyone who speaks like this: Misogyny and sexism are never in any way bearable! They are never to be tolerated and never remain unchallenged. “
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