On 9 April 2025, the CDU/CSU and SPD published the coalition agreement for the upcoming legislative period.
The strengthening of prevention and perpetrator work is explicitly mentioned in the coalition agreement. We welcome this, as well as the plans to create a legal basis for mandatory perpetrator work, to strengthen the coordination office for the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, and to develop a National Action Plan.
Nevertheless, the agreement falls short of our expectations, particularly regarding gender equality and violence prevention. Anti-feminism, as a phenomenon that threatens both democracy and human rights, is not even mentioned in the coalition agreement. In the field of democratic education, the topic of gender equality and gender-sensitive educational work plays no role. Furthermore, concrete primary prevention measures against rising right-wing extremism are nowhere to be found.
In the area of protection against violence, it also remains unclear in many places how the implementation of the Istanbul Convention is to be achieved – especially against the backdrop of the worrying tightening of migration policies. Preventive measures addressing the root causes of violence largely take a back seat to reactive instruments such as electronic ankle tags or harsher sentencing. The necessary shift in thinking regarding protection against violence is not evident.
The fact that strengthening perpetrator work has been included in the coalition agreement as an important component of protecting victims and preventing violence is to be viewed positively. However, there is a lack of ambitious objectives, especially given the increase in domestic violence.
This means:
- Mandatory perpetrator work for those using violence (anti-violence training is not an adequate intervention for domestic/gender-based violence)
- Expansion of funding for perpetrator work
- Promotion of standardisation processes
In times of global crisis, we need politics that clearly commit to human rights, advocate for the rights of all people regardless of gender, sexuality, or origin, and tackle the root causes of violence.
