Federal Minister of Family Affairs Karin Prien (CDU) expressed her support for the International Women’s Day strike that took place on March 9.
She told the “Funke” newspapers that the strike in Iceland 50 years ago ignited a significant advance in gender‑equality policy. While the protest is not her preferred tool, she understands why women would choose such a visible form of protest.
Prien is not troubled by German labour law, which only permits strikes under a trade‑union banner. “If you want to make a statement, it becomes even more powerful when you are willing to accept the consequences” she said. “The women who step forward are courageous”.
She also reminded listeners of the constitutional requirements for equality between women and men. “Implementing equality is not a pious wish of committed feminists but a constitutional mandate” she explained, noting that this mandate has yet to be fully fulfilled. Women have made great strides in accessing education, university studies, and corporate boards. Yet the representation of women in boardrooms, especially in senior leadership roles, remains an area that needs improvement. The same applies to equal pay. Women are still under‑represented in the federal and state parliaments and at the municipal level.
Prien pointed out that progress has stalled: “In the German Bundestag we have fewer female members than before the last election”. She warned that blaming the AfD alone is an oversimplification and urged all parties to keep the issue in mind. She called for politics to become more family‑friendly, with predictable meeting schedules, reliable childcare, and better alignment between parliamentary duties and family life.
The unresolved question of adequate representation, she stressed, must be debated widely and seriously examined to determine a constitutionally compliant proposal for greater parity in parliament. When asked whether gender equality is a core concern of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), Prien replied, “I certainly experience that. He has also enforced the quota in our party, and without him this would not have succeeded”.
