SPD on equality and diversity

The SPD wants women to stop earning less than men. To that end, the EU Pay Transparency Directive is to be transposed into German law by 2026 and the Entgelttransparenzgesetz (pay transparency act) developed into a pay equity law.

Women often earn less than men. The SPD wants to change that. A law should make pay easier to see. Germany would put an EU rule into practice for this. Social care jobs should get more recognition.

The EU requirement is to be implemented by 2026. The existing German law would be changed so that, in the SPD's view, it actually has an effect. The party also wants to further upgrade social service occupations.

The SPD wants to improve accessibility in the public and private sectors and to require private providers to take part. People with disabilities should find it easier to work in the regular labor market, and workers in sheltered workshops should earn more.

People with disabilities should be able to take part everywhere. The SPD wants to remove barriers. Private companies must do so too. People with disabilities should find jobs more easily. In sheltered workshops they should get more money.

Housing construction, mobility, digital services and health care are the priority areas for accessibility. Workshops for people with disabilities are to be developed further, and disability representatives in companies and political self-advocacy strengthened. A federal competence center would promote plain language and sign language. Rules on violence-protection plans in disability services would be tightened. For people with mental health impairments, rehabilitation and participation should respond better to actual needs.

The SPD wants a nationwide legal entitlement to protection and counseling for people affected by violence. At the same time, the Gewaltschutzgesetz (Protection Against Violence Act) is to be tightened, for example with electronic ankle monitors and mandatory training for offenders.

The SPD wants to protect victims of violence at home better. Victims should have a right to a place in a women's shelter. They should also have a right to counseling. Offenders should be watched more closely, for example with an electronic ankle monitor.

The Protection Against Violence Act is to become stricter: the platform lists electronic ankle monitors, mandatory anti-violence training, stay-away orders and house arrest for offenders. The Gewalthilfegesetz (Violence Assistance Act) is to expand and permanently secure shelters and counseling centers, and prevention is to grow. Refugee women who suffer domestic violence should get easier exemptions from residence restrictions. Their right of residence independent of a spouse is to work better in practice.

The SPD wants to fight antisemitism and all group-focused hostility, and to promote and protect Jewish life in Germany. It bases this on Germany's special responsibility.

The SPD wants to fight hatred of Jews. Jewish people should be able to live safely in Germany. That applies on the street, online and at universities. The memory of the murder of the Jews should stay alive.

Antisemitism is to be fought whether it comes from right-wing extremists, Islamists or others. Jewish life should become more visible; memorial sites and educational work are to be funded and remembrance of the Shoah preserved. Safety is to apply in public and digital spaces alike. Universities should be safe for Jewish students and teachers, and antisemitic conduct there should have consequences. The SPD also opposes racism, anti-Muslim hostility, sexism and hostility toward queer people.

The SPD wants to make gender equality a guiding principle for all ministries and put the federal equality strategy on a statutory footing. Laws, measures and the federal budget are to be assessed for their effects on equality.

The SPD wants women and men to have equal chances by 2030. All ministries should pay attention to this. Every new law should be checked for it. The SPD also wants to act against hostility toward women.

The SPD sets the goal of achieving women's rights and equality by 2030. The government is to be guided by rights, resources and representation. Antifeminism, sexism and hate speech are to be fought, and the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency should also address antifeminism. At the EU level the SPD wants a charter of women's rights. Data gaps on women's health are to be closed and care improved, for example for endometriosis, childbirth and menopause.

The SPD wants abortion to no longer be regulated in criminal law, except where it happens against or without the pregnant woman's will. Abortion is to be part of basic medical care.

The SPD wants abortion to no longer be a crime. It stays a crime only if the woman does not want it. Abortion should be part of normal medical care.

Abortions are to be decriminalized and regulated in an area of law other than criminal law. Abortions the pregnant woman has not agreed to would remain punishable. Abortion is also to become part of basic medical care.

The SPD wants a parity law to ensure women and men are equally represented in the Bundestag. Supervisory and executive boards are also to reach parity by 2030.

The SPD wants as many women as men in the Bundestag. A new law should ensure this. Company leadership should also have as many women as men by 2030. Later there should be an equality law for private companies.

The parity law is to apply to both list seats and constituency seats. The SPD calls an even split its standard for all parliaments and cabinets. The Führungspositionen-Gesetz (law on leadership positions) is to be developed further to reach parity on supervisory and executive boards by 2030. An equality law for the private sector is planned as the next step.

The SPD wants to add sexual orientation and gender identity to Article 3 of the Basic Law. Queer families are to be treated fully equally in family and parentage law, and the Selbstbestimmungsgesetz (Self-Determination Act) is to stay.

The SPD wants to protect queer people better. The constitution should ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Families with two mothers or two fathers should get equal rights. The Self-Determination Act should stay.

The ban on discrimination in Article 3(3) of the Basic Law is to be explicitly extended. In family and parentage law, all disadvantages for rainbow families are to end. The federal government's action plan "queer Leben" is to be updated together with civil society. The SPD stands by the Self-Determination Act and rules out any rollback of existing queer-policy rules.

The SPD wants to strengthen protection against discrimination, racism and exclusion. To do so, the General Equal Treatment Act is to be broadened and the office of the anti-racism commissioner made permanent.

The SPD wants to protect people better from racism. The law against unequal treatment should cover more cases. There should be more counseling centers. The office of the anti-racism commissioner should stay for good. There should be a new plan against racism.

The SPD justifies this by saying that many people in the country face hostility and worry about their safety. Counseling for people affected by discrimination is to be expanded. The National Action Plan against Racism is to be relaunched and based on an up-to-date definition of racism. The SPD wants to implement the extended UN Decade for People of African Descent in Germany.