Violence without end? Some reflections on achievements, contradictions, and perspectives of the feminist movement in Germany

Abstract

Violence against women within the family surfaced as a widespread problem through feminist activism. In particular, the first shelters for battered women were demanded and created in the mid-1970s, nearly simultaneously in North America, Europe and Australia, by initiatives emerging from the new women's movement. Throughout, these activities met with similar responses: denial, anger, and ridicule. Women who chose male violence as a defining issue of feminism were perceived, and saw themselves, as radicals. This has changed profoundly, but as of yet we have little analysis of the various “careers” that the topics of physical and sexual violence against women have traversed. Existing comparative studies have been restricted to the English-speaking countries of Canada, the USA, and Great Britain (Dobash and Dobash 1992; Walker 1990). The example of Germany to be examined here is instructive in several ways, both in respect to the significant influence of feminist positions and to their institutionalization and its consequences. The following discussion will trace changes since the early feminist struggles and try to identify what has been achieved and what has been lost relative to those programmatic goals. Limitations of space preclude more than an occasional comparative remark; but as the young feminist rebellion was international in its thinking, so the final sections of this chapter will try to describe elements implicit in the confrontation with violence which may constitute some common ground for the future. © 1998 Selection and editorial matter, Renate C.A.Klein.