{"id":252641,"date":"2016-09-27T17:51:41","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T17:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=252641"},"modified":"2016-09-27T17:51:41","modified_gmt":"2016-09-27T17:51:41","slug":"sexism-row-grips-german-politics-and-shakes-cdu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/09\/sexism-row-grips-german-politics-and-shakes-cdu\/","title":{"rendered":"Sexism row grips German politics and shakes CDU"},"content":{"rendered":"
A young woman politician who attacked sexism in Germany’s governing Christian Democrat (CDU) party has won praise from many fellow politicians but some have also questioned her motives.<\/p>\n
In an open letter Jenna Behrends, a newly elected CDU politician in Berlin, complained that sexism was rife in the party. She felt insulted when a senator called her a “sweet mouse”.<\/p>\n
Minister for Families Manuela Schwesig said sexist jokes were “unacceptable”.<\/p>\n
A Green MP also backed Ms Behrends.<\/p>\n
Gesine Agena, the Greens’ spokesperson on women’s issues, said she had also heard “daft language” from male politicians. Sexism “is experienced by many women politicians”, she said – though the Greens, unlike the CDU, have a 50-50 quota rule for men and women on their party lists.<\/p>\n
Backlash from women<\/strong><\/p>\n Ms Behrends, a 26-year-old lawyer, said she had experienced “party-wide solidarity” since publishing her “Dear Party” letter on her blog (in German) on 23 September.<\/p>\n Dear party, we need to talk… about how you treat women and how you’re gambling away your future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n However, she lashed out at the CDU’s Women’s Union for “shutting itself off” and addressing her complaint “internally, at senior level”. The union deals with women’s issues in the party.<\/p>\n According to Ms Behrends, some of the CDU women members characterised her as “hungry for promotion” and “ambitious to get elected to chair the Women’s Union herself”.<\/p>\n The union’s leader, Sandra Cegla, was quoted as saying Ms Behrends was intimate with Peter Tauber, the CDU’s Secretary General and a top aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel.<\/p>\n Quoted by German news website Der Spiegel, Mr Tauber said “I got acquainted with Jenna Behrends and we flirted, but quickly I realised that we would remain friends, no more than that”.<\/p>\n