SPD on equality and diversity

The SPD wants to make it easier for women to return to work after or during a family phase. Reliable childcare, flexible working hours, training and counseling are meant to help, also to secure skilled workers and prevent poverty in old age.

Many women take a break from work for their family. The SPD wants to make their return easier. There should be good childcare and flexible working hours. Women should also get advice and courses.

Women should be able to increase their hours or move into a job with social insurance coverage if they wish. Targeted training and individual counseling are meant to strengthen their financial independence. For unemployed women, the SPD wants to keep funding projects such as Bedarfsgemeinschaftscoaching (coaching for households on benefits) and "Frauen aktiv in die Zukunft." The program justifies this with the shortage of skilled workers and with equality at work.

The SPD wants women and men to receive equal and transparent pay for work of equal value. It also wants the share of women in leadership positions to rise permanently.

The SPD wants equal pay for women and men. This applies to work of equal value. More women should become leaders. The state will keep supporting women to get there.

The platform calls for equal and transparent pay across every sector and level. Women should have a say wherever major decisions are made, such as in politics, public administration, business, academia, media and culture. The state's support programs for women are to be developed further. The SPD opposes efforts to roll back progress on gender equality. It also wants to strengthen women's medicine and gender-sensitive research, training and care to narrow the health gap between the sexes.

The SPD wants victims of domestic or sexual violence to get protection, counseling and support quickly anywhere in the state. To that end, more places in women's shelters and further safe spaces are to be created.

The SPD wants to protect women and girls better from violence. There should be more places in women's shelters. Victims should get help and advice quickly everywhere. They should be able to have evidence secured without filing a police report.

The Istanbul Convention, a European treaty against violence toward women, and the state's own action plan are to be implemented further. The SPD wants to strengthen second-stage projects, which support women in starting over after a shelter stay. Intervention centers and specialist counseling services are to be expanded, and professionals are to get more training. Victims of sexual assault should be able to have evidence secured anonymously and in a form that holds up in court, without having to file a report right away.

The SPD backs a separate criminal offense for verbal sexual harassment, known as catcalling. Women are also to be better protected from hate, threats and feeling unsafe online and in public spaces.

The SPD wants verbal sexual harassment to become a crime. This is called catcalling. Women should feel safe outside. They should also be better protected from hate on the internet.

Courts, prosecutors and police are to be made more aware of digital violence against women. Illegal content online is to be prosecuted and deleted consistently. Women's perspectives are to be included in town and city planning and in safety concepts, with the platform stressing good lighting in public places. According to the SPD, verbal sexual harassment harms women's sense of safety.

The SPD wants to fight antisemitism in every form and expand the protection of Jewish life. The party points to the sharp rise in antisemitic incidents and crimes as the reason.

The SPD wants to act against hatred of Jews. Jewish people should be better protected. There is a state commissioner for Jewish life. This work should be strengthened.

The office of the commissioner for Jewish life and antisemitism issues is to be strengthened further. The state wants to join the network of RIAS, the Research and Information Center on Antisemitism, which records antisemitic incidents. Teaching about Jewish history, including rural Jewish communities, is to be promoted, and the World Heritage ShUM sites in Speyer, Worms and Mainz are to be made more accessible. The SPD wants to work closely with churches and religious communities and support Muslim communities in their civic engagement.

The SPD wants to continue and further develop the state's action plan against racism and group-focused hostility. The office that records such incidents is to be supported and made better known.

The state has a plan against racism. The SPD wants to keep this plan and improve it. There is an office where people can report hateful incidents. The SPD wants to support this office. More people should know about it.

The existing state action plan is to be updated and developed further. The reporting and documentation office for hateful incidents will continue to receive support under the program. Its work is to become more widely known to the public.

The SPD wants to continue and implement the state action plan "Rheinland-Pfalz unterm Regenbogen" (Rhineland-Palatinate under the rainbow) to strengthen the rights, visibility and protection of queer people. Queer centers are to receive permanent funding.

The SPD wants to protect queer people better. Queer people are, for example, lesbian, gay and trans people. The state has a plan for this. The SPD wants to keep this plan going. Queer centers should get money permanently.

The office of the state commissioner for same-sex lifestyles and gender identity will remain, as will cooperation with QueerNet RLP. The education project SCHLAU and the expansion of youth work are to be supported. Initiatives that improve the medical, health and social situation of queer people are also to be strengthened. The persecution of queer people is to be visible in the state's culture of remembrance, so the SPD wants to fund historical research on it.