SPD on equality and diversity

The SPD calls for equal pay for equal work and wants to strengthen works councils, staff councils and collective bargaining coverage to get there. At the federal level it wants the Pay Transparency Act tightened. The state of Saxony is to lead by example on gender equality in the labor market.

Women often earn less than men. The SPD wants to change that. It wants more union wage agreements and strong works councils. A federal law on pay openness should become stricter.

The platform considers the pay gap between the sexes too large. As tools it names strong works and staff councils, broader collective bargaining coverage and a tougher federal Pay Transparency Act. It argues that pay differences are smaller in companies bound by collective agreements. It also plans a funding program for women starting businesses, programs and awards that make women more visible, and more STEM offerings such as school labs or the Girls’ Day Akademie so that more women choose technical careers. The SPD further calls for a rethink in pension policy so that interrupted careers do not lead to poverty in old age.

The SPD wants menstrual products to be available free of charge in buildings owned by the state of Saxony. It also backs a uniform nationwide rule under which the cost of medically prescribed contraception is covered.

Buildings of the state of Saxony should offer free pads and tampons. Birth control should not depend on money either. The SPD wants one rule for all of Germany. Then people would not pay for prescribed birth control themselves.

The platform points to Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig, where some schools already provide free menstrual products, and holds these cities up as a model for the state. On contraception, the SPD says a person's budget should not matter. It therefore seeks a uniform federal solution for covering the cost of prescribed contraceptive products and methods. Men are to be made more aware of their share of responsibility for contraception.

The SPD wants enough shelters for women and children across Saxony and gives priority to implementing the Istanbul Convention. It also advocates making the killing of women and girls because of their gender a separate criminal offense.

Women and children should find protection from violence all over Saxony. There should be enough shelters and counseling. The SPD also wants a new crime in the law. It is called femicide. That means killing a woman because she is a woman.

In women's shelters the number of residents per staff member is to fall step by step, and all facilities are to become accessible. The SPD wants to expand intervention and coordination centers according to need and to keep funding shelters and counseling for men adequately. Prevention is to be improved so that domestic violence happens less often. The Istanbul Convention is a Council of Europe treaty against violence toward women; implementing it is a priority for the party, including with regard to violence online. To counter sexualized violence and sexism, the platform calls for sufficient counseling and support services.

The SPD wants to protect queer people better from violence and plans protection strategies, more counseling and a statewide campaign. Associations and initiatives working for LGBTIQ* people, diversity and anti-discrimination are to receive stronger support.

Queer people are, for example, lesbian, gay or trans. The SPD wants to protect them better from violence. There should be more counseling in cities and in the countryside. A campaign across Saxony should work against hostility toward queer people. Groups that stand for diversity should get more support.

The platform observes a rise in aggression and attacks against queer people and feminists. In response, the SPD relies on awareness-raising and educational work, explicitly including in schools, and wants to support projects doing this. Funding programs and structures for LGBTIQ* initiatives are to be strengthened, as are counseling centers and anti-discrimination initiatives. The party commits to taking part in and supporting Christopher Street Day events.

The SPD rejects a ban on gender-inclusive language. Whether someone writes with or without the gender asterisk is for people in Saxony to decide themselves, at work and in private.

Some people write German words with a gender star to include all genders. The SPD does not want to ban this. Each person should decide how to write and speak. That should apply at work and in private life.

The party uses gender-inclusive forms in its own platform and explains this by saying that language shapes awareness. It argues that people everywhere in society should be free to choose whether to use such forms. In its view, a ban would contradict a stance against a culture of prohibitions.

The SPD wants more women in leadership positions in politics, business and public administration and will back quotas where needed. Saxony's Equality Act is to apply to municipalities as well, and options for a constitutionally sound parity rule for parliaments are to be examined further.

The SPD wants more women as leaders. This applies to politics, companies and public offices. Where needed, it wants quotas. A quota sets a fixed share of women. Saxony's equality law should also apply in towns and cities.

The platform criticizes that too few women work in public administration, especially at the management level. The existing Equality Act is to be implemented and extended to the municipal level. On parity, the SPD refers to the laws in Brandenburg and Thuringia that were struck down by constitutional courts, while noting that the rulings do not rule out constitutional solutions. At universities, equality plans based on the cascade model are to be updated and the visiting program for women professors expanded.

The SPD wants queer ways of life and education about them to be part of young people's everyday experience in educational institutions. Children and teenagers should be able to grow up without discrimination.

The SPD wants to encourage children and teenagers. They should be able to live the way they want. Schools should talk about queer life. Queer means, for example, lesbian, gay or trans. Every school and daycare center should have trained contact persons.

The platform wants to encourage young people to live and define themselves as they wish. To that end, every educational institution is to have trained contact persons. The goal is growing up free from discrimination.

The SPD wants to remove abortion from the criminal code and replace mandatory counseling with a right to counseling. Access to abortion should be possible throughout Saxony. The cost of medically prescribed contraception is to be covered.

Abortion is in the criminal code today. The SPD wants to remove this rule. Women should be able to get counseling but not have to. Abortion should be available everywhere in Saxony. Contraception prescribed by a doctor should be paid for.

Facilities for abortions are to be expanded in Saxony so they can be reached statewide. The SPD advocates repealing Section 218 of the criminal code. Information on contraception, abortion methods and protection from sexually transmitted diseases is to be widely available, accessible and age-appropriate. Coverage of the cost of prescribed contraceptives is to be guaranteed.

The SPD wants to rewrite the equality clause of the Saxon constitution. The term "race" would be replaced because, scientifically, there are no human races. The bans on discrimination would be named explicitly and expanded.

Saxony's constitution uses the word race. The SPD wants to replace it with a better word. The constitution should say exactly what is forbidden. For example, no one may be treated worse because of age, disability or sexual orientation.

The platform notes that many other states have already changed their constitutions in this way. As protected characteristics it lists, among others, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social status, religion, worldview, origin and disability. These are to appear in the constitutional text.