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FEMNET statement on the shift to the right in Germany

Bonn. Friedrich Merz has torn down a firewall when, at the end of January, he brought about a majority in the Bundestag with the votes of the far-right AfD, instead of finding a response to the terrible murders together with the democratic parties. It's a dangerous caesura. What decisions will Merz decide as a possible chancellor together with the AfD? Right-wing extremism and anti-feminism are closely linked, according to scientific research. The AfD represents a reactionary image of women, and one of its leaders (Maximilian Krah) claims that ‘feminism is cancer’. Even though the AfD has Alice Weidel as its top candidate, the proportion of women in the AfD parliamentary group is just over 13 percent.

The shift to the right strengthens the danger of sexism, racism, misogyny. Almost every day there is a femicide in Germany. Every day, more than 140 women and girls in Germany are victims of a sexual offense.

The BCA reports in its State of play report at the end of 2024 a sharp increase in hatred and violence against women in 2023, with the digital space being the driver. Here, an increase of 25 percent compared to 2022 was reported to almost 17,200 female victims. The number of crimes based solely on misogynistic ideas increased by more than 56 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. Non-binary and trans* persons are also affected by increasing hate speech, hatred and violence. The rejection of equality and equality of all genders is underpinned by right-wing positions, because there one sees patriarchal structures of power and domination threatened.

Right-wing governments have come to power in many countries, whether in the US with Trump, in Argentina with Milei or in Italy with Meloni. Right-wing conservative to right-wing extremist parties have also become stronger in the EU Parliament and in Germany. This shift to the right leads to nationalism and a rejection of international solidarity. The own economic and political power - the right of the strongest - at the expense of others should dominate, see exit of the US from the World Health Organization and the climate protection agreement or the termination of US development aid. Should this policy be implemented, it would fundamentally throw back both the most vulnerable groups such as women and children in their living conditions and the population in the Global South. Other tentative approaches towards fair world trade, such as the EU Supply Chain Act, not only seek to weaken conservative parties and the business lobby, but also to abolish them. Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as poverty reduction and gender equality, would then become even more distant. If the German government were also to focus its policy on this geopolitical competition to the detriment of others, this would contradict the goals of a solidarity-based and feminist development policy.

FEMNET will therefore work with other civil society organisations to ensure that the German Federal Government and the EU do not undo the first successes of recent years – the German and European Supply Chain Acts, the implementation of the SDG goals, etc. – but stick to them and continue to pursue them.