Frauen.Vielfalt.Politik.

Diverse women for a strong democracy

Information, consulting, best practices, and networking: The project by EAF Berlin and the German LandFrauen Association offers, at www.frauen-vielfalt-politik.de.
solutions to improve the framework conditions in local politics. This is to ensure that more diverse women can and want to get involved in politics—for a strong democracy.
 

The Project

Women are significantly underrepresented in local politics: the proportion of women in local councils averages about 30 percent and varies widely, often being lower in rural regions. The reasons for this are manifold: local political engagement requires time and money—resources that women generally have less access to than men. Barriers to entry include difficult conditions for balancing engagement, family, and career, as well as stereotypical gender roles. Women often lack access to established (male-dominated) networks. In the worst cases, stereotypes lead to the exclusion and devaluation of women. Furthermore, the climate in local councils and in the public sphere is becoming harsher, and local female politicians are increasingly facing personal, sexist, and racist insults and threats.

Project Goal

The goal of the Frauen.Vielfalt.Politik. project is to dismantle structural barriers to women's political participation and to make the framework conditions in local politics more inclusive. It demonstrates how political participation can become more diverse, focusing on various lived realities, such as those of women with migration backgrounds, single mothers, young women, and non-academics. The project is directly committed to strengthening democracy, because democracy is only as strong as the diversity of the voices represented within it.

Services

Our services are designed to support officeholders and elected officials, equal opportunity officers, as well as local administrations, associations, and parties in increasing the proportion of women in local politics. Women in rural areas: highly engaged, but rarely in office. Local politics directly shapes people's lives, and rural development is largely determined at the municipal level. Key decisions significantly affect women in their daily lives. Therefore, the project places a special focus on providing solutions for local political practice that are tailored to the requirements of rural regions.

Taking Action: Solutions for municipalities, implementable on-site

As diverse as the reasons for political underrepresentation are, so too are the solutions. The digital knowledge platform www.frauen-vielfalt-politik.de offers comprehensive information on women's participation in local politics, identifies barriers to entry, and provides information on intersectionality and hate speech. It contains practical and successful examples from municipalities, current studies, and hands-on tips on how to promote local political participation.

Project History

The Frauen.Vielfalt.Politik. project builds on the experiences and successes of previous initiatives—in particular, the joint project Action Program Municipality – Women into Politics!, which was implemented by EAF Berlin and the dlv, and at the Helene Weber College. The Action Program Municipality supported 20 selected partner regions in developing and implementing concrete local measures to strengthen women's political participation.
The Helene Weber College was the first nationwide, cross-party platform for local female politicians and, also under the auspices of EAF Berlin, provided important impetus for a more diverse political landscape. It offered various exchange and networking formats as well as information resources to support women in entering and advancing in politics.
With Frauen.Vielfalt.Politik., these approaches are being consistently further developed to dismantle structural barriers and sustainably improve the framework conditions for women's engagement in local politics.

Partners and Funding

Frauen.Vielfalt.Politik. is being carried out by EAF Berlin in cooperation with the German Rural Women's Association (dlv) and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) until at least 2027.