A majority of state justice ministers across Germany are reportedly open to the prospect of legally prohibiting verbal sexual harassment, according to a survey conducted by “Der Spiegel”. Currently, actions such as suggestive comments and derogatory remarks of a sexual nature, often referred to as “catcalling” are generally not prosecutable under German law.
Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (of the Social Democratic Party, SPD) has pledged to address this issue. Following an agreement within the governing coalition between the SPD and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a review is underway to determine the feasibility of expanding legal protections against harassment.
A previous attempt to amend the penal code by the state of Lower Saxony within the Federal Council (Bundesrat) earlier this year, aiming to include “catcalling” as a criminal offense, met with rejection. Several states criticized the proposed legislation as insufficiently precise. Lower Saxony’s Justice Minister, Kathrin Wahlmann (SPD), attributes the failure to “party-political maneuvering” occurring near the time of the federal election, suggesting a broader consensus on the issue exists than previously demonstrated.
The “Der Spiegel” survey indicates that seven states – including SPD-led Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony and Saarland and CDU-led North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia – are in favor of a legal ban. Minister Wahlmann highlighted the perceived incongruity of penalizing the display of an offensive gesture, while overlooking “the most appalling verbal and non-verbal sexual harassment”. North Rhine-Westphalia emphasized that the issue constitutes a significant matter in Germany that warrants attention rather than being dismissed.
Six states have adopted a non-committal stance, expressing willingness to evaluate a concrete proposal. Concerns have been raised regarding the practical challenges of implementing such a law, with Bavaria noting the difficulty in defining a clear distinction within legislation between “inappropriate, yet permissible expressions” and “unacceptable harassment.
Notably, three states – Berlin, Bremen and Saxony – oppose the idea of a prohibition, questioning whether criminal law represents the appropriate instrument. Saxony’s Justice Minister, Constanze Geiert (CDU), stated that creating a new criminal offense specifically targeting “catcalling” would be misguided, arguing that not every verbal boundary violation necessitates involvement of the criminal justice system.
