For Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock there are still far too few women in the German Bundestag. This should change with a women’s quota. Unlike men, women politicians still have to contend with a certain form of discrimination.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock from the Greens has spoken out in favor of a women’s quota in the Bundestag. “A women’s quota in parliament would not be revolutionary, it exists in the majority of Latin American countries,” Baerbock told the Rheinische Post newspaper. “We can still learn a lot from other countries here,” she added.
“If there weren’t parties in the Bundestag with a women’s quota, we would have even fewer women in Parliament instead of the still sad 35 percent and there would perhaps only be a woman in every fifth place,” Baerbock continued.
The Federal Foreign Office should also have more women in management positions. According to Baerbock, only 26 percent of ambassadorships are currently occupied by women. “There’s still room for improvement,” said Baerbock.
Baerbock reported on the disadvantages of being a woman in politics from her experience: women in political disputes often have an additional, sexist level of attack, “especially when the male counterpart runs out of arguments”. “Then sometimes the voice is ‘too high’, sometimes women are ‘too emotional’, ‘too young’ or ‘too inexperienced’,” said Baerbock. “These are questions that men simply don’t have to ask themselves.”
She also called it “disgusting”, which is what politicians in particular have to endure in terms of hate and hate speech on the Internet. “It’s not surprising if, in this mixed situation, far too many women still shy away from running for political office,” said the Greens politician.