Kenyan Justice Reuben Nyakundi ruled that the prosecution presented sufficient evidence to prove Jacktone Odhiambo's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in the murder of LGBTQ+ activist Edwin Chiloba. Sentencing is scheduled for December 16.

The judge noted that forensic and DNA tests revealed an intimate relationship between Jacktone Odhiambo and Edwin Chiloba; he added that the evidence was a crucial part of the case, offering insight into the nature of their connection and supporting the prosecution's argument linking Odhiambo to the crime.

Chiloba, a prominentLGBTQ+ rights activist and model, was reported missing in January 2023. His body was found the following day, stuffed in a metal boxalong a road near Eldoret.

The discovery sparked a national and international outcry, with rights organizations raising concerns about the dangers LGBTQ+ individuals face in Kenya.

Condemnation from human rights groups

Groups such as the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and Amnesty International Kenya condemned the killing. They urged authorities to ensure a thorough investigation and justice for the slain activist.

Odhiambo, who had been living with Chiloba at an apartment in Eldoret, was arrested shortly after the incident.

Investigations revealed that the murder occurred between December 31, 2022, and January 3, 2023, when the body was recovered.

The court heard testimony from 22 witnesses, including government pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor, who confirmed that Chiloba died from asphyxiation caused by smothering.

Despite Odhiambo's denial of involvement, the evidence presented during the trial was overwhelming, according to Justice Nyakundi. 

Call for stronger protection for sexual minorities

Activists in Kenya have called for stronger protections for sexual minorities and an end to violence and discrimination.

Ivy Werimba, the communications and advocacy officer at galck+,  a coalition of 16 LGBTIQ organizations in Kenya, described the ruling as long-awaited justice for Kenya's LGBTQ+ community.

"It is justice that took a long time to get there," Werimba told DW. "My credits to the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and all the partners they've been working with. They've been patient and pushed to not only mobilize the community to show up to court, but also to get the case itself to the point where we finally have a sentencing date."

Werimba noted the systemic barriers LGBTQ+ individuals face in seeking justice in Kenya and across African countries.

"The system doesn't think that the community really has or should be catered to by justice. Back in 2023, the first thing was just shock — that two men were in a relationship and that this had happened within a same-sex relationship," she explained, adding that such a reaction was mirrored by the justice system and media conversations.

Verdict a significant milestone for LGBTQ+ rights in Kenya

Despite the challenges, Werimba said the verdict is a milestone.

"It's really great that we finally have a ruling that highlights that when queer people are saying they want their rights, it's not anything special," she stressed.

 "We are also Kenyan citizens living our own lives and going through things we'd like our institutions to help us with," she said. "This ruling is an indication of progress, showing that queer people are being seen by various institutions, especially the judiciary."

Francis Musii, a student at Jomo Kenyatta University, echoed Werimba's sentiments. 

"This ruling shows that justice can work for everyone, no matter who they are. It's a step forward for equality in our country," Musii told DW. "But let's be honest, this case only got attention because it was high-profile. There are so many others who never get justice; they need justice too."

The case has drawn attention to the widespread violence and discrimination faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community in Kenya, where same-sex relations remain criminalized.

Activists have called for urgent reforms to protect marginalized communities, emphasizing the importance of addressing deep-rooted societal biases that often lead to tragic outcomes.

Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, is one of the world's major textile producing nations. The country's 5,000 large and medium garment and textile companies supply many of the world's notable fashion brands, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Uniqlo and Calvin Klein.

Yet, its garment workforce, which is predominately female, faces widespread exploitation and gender-based violence. 

Power imbalances, a culture of silence in the workplace along with unrealistic production targets, make female workers particularly vulnerable. Many even forgo breaks in order to hit their targets. 

Upon returning home, they are still responsible for caring for their families — a dual burden that significantly impacts their physical and mental wellbeing.

Championing female workers in Indonesia

Didit Saleh and Nitya Swastika, members of Indonesia's Trade Union Rights Center (TURC), recently visited Germany to advocate for female workers' rights in Indonesia.

TURC was founded in 2004 to educate workers about trade unions and labor rights in Indonesia.

"We want to ensure that brand owners can guarantee better and fairer treatment for female workers, especially in terms of occupational health and safety," Saleh told DW.

TURC's research shows that in small villages, factory jobs with major brands are considered prestigious, leading many people to pay brokers to secure factory jobs.

The companies, which are aware of such practices, do to little to prohibit or curb the practice.

"To secure employment, some individuals are willing to pay up to 10 million Indonesian Rupiahs [$630, €598]. However, after starting work, they realize the situation is not as favorable as they had imagined," Swastika told DW.

Dual roles, double burdens for female workers

"We want the public here [in Germany] to be aware of the real situation in Indonesia. Here, brands may only have large offices, not factories with 50,000 workers," Swastika said. "Therefore they often do not know the real situation in their supplier's factories."

Swastika also highlighted the complex dimensions of violence and oppression against women. 

Research by TURC found that since most of the workers are women, many men have become unemployed or work irregular, low-income jobs. In many cases, male household members still refuse to share domestic duties, citing cultural norms.

This imbalance often leaves female workers — who often bear the dual burden of being the main breadwinner while managing household responsibilities — with limited rest and significant stress.

"As a result, female workers are not focused on their work and often experience work accidents," Swastika said, adding that they struggle to engage with unions because many union members are men.

"Even if there are female workers who wish to be active in the union, they face opposition from their partners, who object or disagree and do not allow it," she said.

Attention has been drawn to gender-based violence in Indonesia following campaigns by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other groups.

Obstacles to female union membership

Satyawanti Mashudi, from the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), stated on the commission's website that various trade unions have reported gender-based discrimination in the industry against female workers, particularly regarding differences in wage structures and promotions.

Female workers also face violations of their rights related to freedom of association and encounter difficulties in obtaining permission to participate in union activities for female union administrators.

There are negative perceptions regarding women joining labor unions.

"In some areas in Central Java, for instance, our research indicates that women who wish to join a labor union must first obtain permission from their husbands," Saleh said.

Another challenge is the stigma around labor unions, often viewed as left-wing and controversial. 

"So, it is considered dangerous," Saleh said. "In some areas, the labor union movement is even considered taboo."

Edited by: Keith Walker 

"The Russian police threatened to have me raped in prison," recounts 21-year-old Yusif Muradov. He had to flee Russia after authorities started cracking down on him for being openly queer.

As of 2024, 64 countries in the world criminalize homosexuality. In at least 10 countries like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Iran, consensual same-sex acts can even lead to the death penalty. 

In several other countries, like Russia and India, same-sex relations are legally permitted, nevertheless LGBTQ+ people are still persecuted — leading to a de-facto illegality. 

Four openly queer people spoke to DW about why they had to leave their country and come to Germany to live their lives freely, out of the closet.

'Queer rights non-existent in Bangladesh' 

"My queer life began after I came to Germany," says 39-year-old Ziaul Haque. He moved from Bangladesh to Germany in the 2000s.

"I am happily married to a handsome man, but in many ways, we live just like other straight couples. We do chores and go to work. Sometimes, though we like to hang out in gay bars, or watch RuPaul's Drag Race with my gay friends. Then I realize: okay, I am gay," he says, bursting into laughter.

Haque's life was not as serene in Bangladesh: "I used to hide myself, as religious conservative groups were getting stronger each day. I had to get out of that country as I also feared for my family's safety."

"Homosexuality is criminalized under Section 377 of the Bangladesh Penal Code and punishable by imprisonment. This law is a remnant from the British colonial days and vastly used to arrest, harass and extort queers," Sadat Tasnim, a Bangladeshi rights activist, told DW.

"As a Muslim majority country, religious parties shape public sentiments, and queer folks receive little to no social acceptance," adds Tasnim.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community in Bangladesh have been targets of violent crimes.

In 2016, a series of gruesome murders of queer bloggers and activists rattled the country. Xulhaz Mannan, the founder of Bangladesh's first and only gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender magazine, and activist Tanay Mojumdar were hacked to death in an attack in the capital city, Dhaka.

"Since then, Bangladeshi queer stay in their own little discreet bubble," Tasnim concludes.

On top of facing abandonment by law enforcement and society, most queer individuals lose the support of their close ones. For Ziaul Haque, coming out led to a disastrous reaction from his family. His father even took him to a doctor to cure him of his sexual orientation.

"I dream of the day when my dad would say: Son, no matter who you are, we love you and want you to be happy," says Haque.

Labeled an 'extremist' for being gay: Yusif's story

Yusif Muradov, born in Azerbaijan and raised in conservative Moscow, fled to Europe at 21 to escape persecution. "I was targeted by the Russian government for volunteering in an NGO AIDS center for queer people who are HIV positive," he says.

Muradov attempted to leave Moscow several times after coming out to his family. "I had to move back as my mother kept threatening to kill herself. When I returned, I was sent to work and study with my brother, who monitored my every move," he adds.

"Once my brother got me drunk and forced me to sleep with a female prostitute. Thankfully, the lady saw I was desisting and lied to my brother about having done the deed," he painfully recounts. When he told his mother what had happened, she shrugged and said, "this is normal."

"This broke me, and I knew it was time to leave."

Leaving Russia became more urgent when the war started, as Muradov did not want to be drafted to fight against Ukraine. The final straw was when the Russian police searched his apartment and "threatened him with rape," he told DW.

In Germany, his life as an asylum seeker has been difficult, with Russian intelligence still pursuing him.

Some months ago, an anonymous report in Yusif's name was made to the prosecutor's office in Russia. The report outed him as an openly gay person who secretly donated to the opposition party, the one formerly led by late Alexei Navalny. "I was labeled an extremist, overnight," he says.

According to Muradov, the Russian secret service is notorious for such insidious reports.

Now living in a German refugee center, he shares a room with conservative refugees from Afghanistan and Iran. "I receive sexual threats and harassment every day from my roommates." Despite his hardships, he longs to return to Moscow: "I miss the city, my friends and my cat. I feel very homesick at times."

'Lebanon considers queer people as dangerous': Ali's story

"Lebanon does not only have no rights for queer people, they are even closing the few queer supportive establishments that we did have," says Ali Najjar, a 39-year-old queer activist from Lebanon, now living in Germany with his spouse.

In August 2023, two Lebanese officials proposed separate bills to explicitly criminalize same-sex relations between consenting adults and impose up to three years' imprisonment for anyone promoting homosexuality.

A series of hostile incidents against LGBTQ+ people have followed.  Lebanon recently imposed an unlawful ministerial ban on events related to homosexuality.

These attacks are occurring amid a severe economic crisis that has devastated human rights and driven over 80% of the population into poverty, particularly affecting marginalized groups. 

"The Lebanese society sees the queer community as a threat and danger. Religious parties have even attacked queer bars, events and organizations," points out Najjar.

Amid Lebanon's struggling economy, the younger generation promoting more tolerance and diversity is increasingly leaving the country in a huge wave of brain drain.

'In Chile legal to be queer but not safe': Dieter's story

"For those who are 'queer-passing,' as in cis-gendered queer people, who dress according to the gender assigned to them at birth, Chile is relatively safe," explains Dieter Ligueros Korsholm, a Chilean queer-rights activist based in Germany. Korsholm identifies as non-binary and dresses in androgynous clothing.

"I dress feminine; in Cologne, Germany, all I get are weird looks. Unlike in Chile, where people would yell at me or insult me in public," they point out. 

Same-sex acts are legal in Chile since 1999 and same-sex marriage was legalized in 2021, but LGBTQ+ people remain vulnerable to attacks.

One of the most prominent cases of homophobic violence is the murder of Daniel Zamudio, who in 2012 was beaten and burned for being gay. He was found dead in a park in Santiago, the capital city, with swastikas carved into his skin.

Fighting for human rights, around the world

LGBTQ+ refugees may find more freedom in Europe, but challenges persist, including a rise in hate crimes against sexual minorities in Germany.

As Cologne celebrates its three-day Christopher Street Day festival from July 19-21, culminating in one of Europe's largest pride parades on Sunday; Ziaul, Yusif, Dieter, and Ali plan to join the festivities without societal constraints.

"We must stick together, especially now," says Dieter, as they and thousands of others prepare to take to the streets to celebrate diversity, tolerance, acceptance, and anti-discrimination.

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier

Monika Magashazi is a fighter. The 52-year old trans woman lives in Hungary — a country that has been ruled by Viktor Orban's nationalist Fidesz party since 2010. 

For transgender communities, the situation "has been becoming worse and worse and, unfortunately, we are desperate today in Hungary," she told DW. She said the government was trying to portray trans people as pedophiles and criminals, using seemingly every opportunity to discriminate against them.

Struggling with her own coming out, Magashazi even attempted to take her own life. "I reached a point when I had to decide on how to live on," she said. Thinking about her children saved her life.

"I said I will keep myself alive and try to live as a transgender woman and the father of my children — or the second attempt will be successful, and I'm going to be dead. And in that case, my children would miss their father," she said.

Magashazi said this was the point when she decided out of respect for her children "to keep myself alive."

She has gone through surgeries and a hormone replacement therapy. "I present myself before the society as a woman," the activist said. "But I am not able to prove my ID in a parallel way. And you can imagine how stressful the situation is." 

Forced to reveal their transgender identity

In 2020, Hungary's parliament passed a law practically banning transgender people from legally changing their gender. The bill changed the sex category in official documents to "sex at birth." Once determined, this category can't be altered.

According to the Hungarian government, the legislation was meant to end legal uncertainty but did not "affect men's and women's right to freely experience and exercise their identities as they wish."

But human rights groups have criticized the law, saying it puts trans people at risk of harassment and discrimination because they are forced to reveal their transgender identity every time they need to present their driver's license or passport.

Just imagine, said Magashazi, "when you are called for an examination and the assistant shouts out loud your dead name — your birth name — on a corridor. We are facing these situations again and again every day."

Fear of the far right in Italy

Magashazi is afraid of a rise of the far right in the European elections. Her message to all the other parties is this: "Please have a look at the Hungarian society and the Hungarian transgender community. Look at me. This is going to be your country if you follow this way."

Vanessa Santamaria and Laura Magnarin have a similar message. The same-sex couple, who live in Italy, told DW they are one of more than 30 families who had the birth certificate of their child contested. This happened last year after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government ordered local authorities to stop registering children of same-sex parents with both of their names.

Santamaria described it as a "very sad moment." As a non-biological mother, she would "lose all rights, but also all the duties in respect of my child" if she and her partner were to lose their appeal in court that is due to be decided later this month.

"It's not just a formality," said Santamaria. She finds it outrageous that  Meloni and her party claim they want to protect the rights of families. "We are a family, and we think that we have exactly the same rights as all the other families."

Santamaria and her partner feel they have been discriminated against by the Italian authorities, accusing Meloni's government of "discrediting our children, making them second-class children." But according to the Italian government, "there is no discrimination against children" as the children of gay couples would have access to school and medical services just like those who only have one living parent.

No going 'back into the closet'

Santamaria and Magnarin fear the government's aim is to carry out a hate campaign against the LGBTQ+ communities. "We fought for our visibility and for our rights. But now, they want us to go back into the closet."

That's why the two mothers have spoken out against any normalization or cooperation with far-right parties such as Meloni's Brothers of Italy — a party with neo-fascist roots.

Meloni has emerged as a potential kingmaker who could have a big say about the EU's key policies after the European elections, courted by both sides — far-right forces and center-right European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In Brussels, some officials have described Meloni as "not as bad" as they initially thought.

'Don't make alliances with the bad guys'

"Our message is really: She is that bad, and you can never trust her words," said Santamaria, arguing that Meloni has mastered the strategy of telling people what they want to hear and lying about her true intentions.

Europe's political leaders need to make a decent choice on who they are willing to work with, said Bart Staszewski, a leading Polish LGBTQ+ activist, even though this may be "a hard choice."

Staszewski told DW how he and his fellow activists faced targeted attacks from politicians, media and courts under the previous nationalist-conservative government in Poland, how they felt like "second-class citizens."

It was a creeping process, "and we and people around us did not understand what was really happening until it was too late, and until one third of Poland was LGBT free zones," Staszewski said.

Now with a new government in power, Staszewski hopes the situation in his home country will change profoundly.

But it's crucial to remember the lessons learned over the previous years, he stressed. He sees himself and his fellow activists as "soldiers fighting for democracy."

His message ahead of the European elections: "Don't make alliances with the bad guys."

Edited by: Rob Mudge

Female genital mutilation (FGM) remains illegal in Gambia — for now. A decision in Gambia's National Assembly on whether to overturn the ban on FGM has been postponed for at least three months.

The divisive issue led MPs to ask for more consultation on the matter, referring the bill to a parliamentary committee which will examine it for at least three months. The bill will then be returned to parliament.

According to the AFP news agency, hundreds of people were seen protested outside parliament on Monday, with most supporting a repeal of the ban on FGM.

The tiny West African nation had explicitly criminalized FGM, also called cutting or female circumcision, in 2015, making the practise punishable with up to three years in prison or a fine of 50,000 dalasi ($736 or €678), or both.

In cases where FGM causes death, the law calls for life imprisonment.

FGM involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia, often involving the removal of the clitoris or labia. It has no health benefits and is proven to harm girls and women in many ways.

The private bill to scrap the law outlawing FGM, which was proposed by individual members of parliament, argues that the current prohibition violates citizens' rights to practice their culture and religion.

Renewed debate around criminalizing FGM

The debate around FGM in Gambia flared up in mid-2023 after three women were convicted of the practise under the law. They were ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 dalasi or serve a year in jail for carrying out female genital mutilation on eight infant girls, aged between four months and one year. However, an imam paid the fines for all three women,

These were the first convictions under the law. Prior to this, only two people had been arrested and one case brought to court, according to UNICEF, and no convictions or sanctions had been handed down.

This is despite nearly three out of four girls and women, or 73%, having undergone female genital mutilation in Gambia, according to official figures.

Parliamentary reporter Arret Jatta told DW that she wasn't surprised that the pro-FGM bill has come before parliament, given the heated discussions in recent months:

"Almost all the National Assembly members are in support of the law being repealed, especially the female National Assembly members," she said.

Different interpretations of Islam

Most of the small African country's population are Muslim, and many believe that FGM is a requirement of Islam. The Gambia Supreme Islamic Council issued a fatwa (religious decree) last year, declaring FGM "one of the virtues of Islam."

However, Isatou Touray, former vice president and founder of the anti-FGM organization GAMCOTRAP, strongly refutes this interpretation.

"Who has the right to interfere in what Allah had created, and who has the right to define how a woman should look?" Touray told Gambian media organization Kerr Fatou.

Supporters of FGM meanwhile believe it can "purify" and protect girls during adolescence and before marriage.

"When it comes to the social aspect, they'll even tell you, 'Oh, it is to ensure that you stay a virgin because if you have the clitoris then … you would want to have sex,'" woman's rights advocate Esther Brown said in an interview on DW's AfricaLink radio program earlier in March.

Human rights violation

The practice of FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women, finds the World Health Organization. 

As well as severe bleeding, FGM can cause a variety of severe health problems, including infections, scarring, pain, menstruation problems, recurrent urinary tract infections, infertility and complications in childbirth.

One study on the health consequences of FGM in Gambia found women who were cut are four times more likely to suffer complications during delivery, and the newborn is four times more likely to have health complications if the mother has undergone FGM.

But for Fatima Jarju, an FGM survivor who sensitizes women in Gambia to the harms of the procedure, the ongoing debate on the issue is causing further damage to women's rights:

"I think it's a big setback ... looking at our human rights standards as a country and also the commitment from the government to protecting the rights of women and girls of this country," she told DW.

Legislation not always effective against FGM

The Gambia is among 28 sub-Saharan nations where FGM is practiced. Six of these nations lack a national laws criminalizing the procedure (see map below). The Gambia could soon join them.

Many anti-FGM activists stress, however, that legislation alone is insufficient to tackle FGM, especially when it lacks enforcement, as is the case in Gambia.

Rugiatu Turay in Sierra Leone, one of the six African nations without a law against FGM, has gained international recognition for her work combating FGM.

The strategies she uses include the development of rites of passage for girls that don't involve cutting, finding alternative livelihoods for the cutters and intense community engagement.

She isn't convinced that legislation is the best way to tackle the issue.

"Generally, in Africa, people make laws to satisfy their donor partners. But when it comes to implementation, they are not implemented," she told DW.

To change cultural attitudes, she says, more community-based initiatives are needed that involve everyone from regional chiefs, local headmen and religious leaders to the cutters and the mothers making decisions for their daughters.

"If every sector in our country speaks about the cut and the scar — and its consequences — I tell you, we will end FGM," she said.

Sankulleh Janko in Banjul, Eddy Micah Jr. and George Okach contributed to this article.

This article was first published on March 7, 2024 and was updated on March 19, 2024 to reflect the postponement of a vote to repeal the FGM ban.

Edited by: Rob Mudge

It has been more than 100 years since German suffragists won the right for women to vote. That was back in 1918, during the Weimar Republic era in Germany.

So women in post-World War II democratic Germany have always had an equal right to participate in elections. Today, voter turnout among women is virtually the same as men's.

Which parties do women vote for?

Women's party preferences have changed quite a lot since Germany's first postwar parliamentary elections, then held in only West Germany.

For many years, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, was more popular among women than men. In the 1950s and 1960s, more than half of all female voters chose the party. This might be due to its focus on Christian and family values, Elke Wiechmann, who researches the representation of women in politics at Hagen University, told DW.

"As religion, family and home life became less central to women's lives, this changed," Wiechmann said. "We think that for a while, Angela Merkel might have still given the CDU a bonus with women, despite the party's policies. When Merkel's era ended, that was over."

When Angela Merkel didn't run for office again in the most recent, 2021 election, the CDU almost entirely lost its edge with female voters.  

What if only women had elected the German parliament?

"In the last election, women voted more progressive," Wiechmann said. If only women had had their say in 2021, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz would have had one percentage point more, as would the environmental Greens. Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) would have lost seats.

This is down to the parties' political programs, Wiechmann told DW.

"Women's lives still look different to men's," she said. "They still carry more responsibility for children, for the home, in addition to work and career."

"Women might be more likely to, for instance, value better public transport over a new highway," she said, leading to their voting for progressive parties — like the SPD, Greens or Left — which tend to promote gender equality, even without the explicit label.  

However, with their votes, women in the broader population can only hope their chosen party will implement the changes they would like to see. Female representatives in parliament wield more direct power.

Are there enough women in Germany's parliament?

In past decades, the share of women in the German parliament, or Bundestag, has hovered at only around a third, even though women make up a little over half of the German population.

"In order to represent the breadth and diversity of women's experiences and perspectives, you need a certain number of women from different backgrounds in parliament as well," says Elisa Deiss-Helbig, a research fellow at the University of Konstanz who focuses on party politics and political representation, particularly the representation of politically marginalized groups.

Women might introduce topics into the political agenda that could be overlooked by a male-dominated parliament, she told DW.

This is particularly relevant when it comes to women's rights: In 1957, when fewer than 10% of parliamentarians were women, Germany voted on whether husbands should continue to have the last say in all marital affairs (the so-called "Stichentscheid" of the husband). It was women's votes that ended this discriminatory law: A majority of male parliamentarians would have kept the law, while 74% of the women voted to repeal it.

Some changes required a much larger share of women. For example, it took Germany until 1997 to criminalize rape during marriage. That was the result of a decades-long, cross-party effort led by female legislators. Multiple draft laws brought to parliament since the early 1980s had been rejected. 

Ulla Schmidt from the SPD, one of the initiators of the reform, said in an interview: "We finally had more women in parliament. With fewer than 10% of women, any cross-party campaigning lacks the basis needed to exert pressure"

More than 90% of female parliamentarians voted in favor of the new law. Among the men who voted against it were multiple prominent politicians, including current CDU party leader Friedrich Merz.

Which parties do female legislators belong to?

Of the 736 seats in the current parliament, just over a third (263 seats) are held by women. Most of them belong to parties on the political left: 70 are from the Green Party alone, while the far-right AfD only has nine female representatives in the Bundestag.

"There is definitely a difference in ideology behind this," Deiss-Helbig told DW. "Left-leaning parties tend to place greater emphasis on gender equality. So they were the first to introduce quotas."

The Greens, for instance, self-imposed a mandatory quota of 50% women on all political mandates in the 1980s. The SPD currently has a 40% quota. The CDU recently introduced a gradually rising quota as well, while the FDP and AfD still reject gender quotas entirely.

What if only the female parliamentarians voted?

In Germany, members of parliament typically adhere to strict party lines when voting, which is known as "Fraktionsdisziplin," or party discipline. This makes it difficult to determine how women legislators would vote if they followed only their own conscience.

However, there have been some historical decisions made without party discipline being exerted, particularly on morally challenging issues. These show that female parliamentarians can hold different opinions than their male counterparts, even within the same party.

• Marriage equality: In 2017, only 54% of male MPs voted to open marriage to couples of all genders, compared to 76% of women.
• In 2023, reforms aimed at regulating and decriminalizing access to assisted suicide failed, with 375 against to 286 in favor. If it had been only up to female parliamentarians, the law would have passed with 105 against to 128 in favor.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, parliament was debating whether to mandate vaccination for people aged 60 and above, with compulsory vaccination counseling for anyone over 18. The law would have passed with 62% of valid votes if only female parliamentarians had voted. As it stands, it failed with only 44% in favor. Vaccination remained voluntary in Germany, with the exception of certain health care professions.

Research by a Swiss-German research team also found that female MPs tend to advocate more for gender equality issues throughout their whole careers, making significantly more parliamentary inquiries related to gender than their male counterparts.

Edited by: Timothy Jones and Nancy Isenson

Data and code behind this story can be found in this repository.

More data-driven stories can be found here.

This article is part of the Towards Equalityprogram, a collaborative alliance of 16 international news outlets highlighting the challenges and solutions to reach gender equality, which is led by Sparknews.