#LinkMetoo
Serious allegations: The left is said to have been sexually assaulted
Left party leader Janine Wissler together with faction leader Dietmar Bartsch.
© Fabian Sommer / picture alliance / agency / dpa
#LinkeMetoo – the Left Party is being shaken with allegations of alleged incidents of sexual violence. The “Spiegel” has uncovered the alleged abuses.
Sexual assaults are said to have taken place on the Hessian left over the years, writes the current issue of “Spiegel”. Minors should also be affected. Some of them have now commented on their experiences with the Left Party and some members. Federal President Janine Wissler is said to have known about the attacks.
References to alleged abuse of power and macho culture on the left
The “Spiegel” spoke to a total of ten women and men, who primarily raise allegations against members of the Hessian left. But not only the statements of those affected are available to the magazine, there are chat histories, photos, e-mails, affidavits and other documents that provide evidence of alleged border crossings, abuse of power and a toxic macho culture.
Hannah Maas (name was changed by the “Spiegel” editors) is 22 years old today and is studying law. She is probably just one of those affected. At the age of 17, she met the Bundestag candidate Adrian G., who was 24 years her senior. According to information from “Spiegel”, he was Janine Wissler’s partner at the time. Maas says that Adrian G. was initially charming. She was flattered that he was interested in her. Shortly thereafter, they had sex and began an affair – for the underage Maas it was the first time.
Left Bundestag candidate is said to have had an affair with a minor
He wanted to film her having sex. Maas allowed it, but didn’t really want it. Adrian G. boasts about his young affair: “The guy in his mid-late 20s, talking to her and looking at her face about 20, she’ll be 18 in April. Don’t say anything, it’s crazy,” he said in a chat with one have written to acquaintances. The answer: “You stud! You sugar daddy! You Roman Polanski!”
Even after the affair ended, Adrian G. did not leave Hannah Maas alone. At a party in the state parliament, he followed her to the toilet and tried to kiss her. That evening Hannah Maas tried to talk to Janine Wissler about the events for the first time, but G. intervened. Maas later sent the screenshot of a chat history with G. to Wissler, but she received no reply. One night G. climbed into Hannah Maas’ apartment unannounced via the balcony and they discussed whether G. was allowed to sleep with Maas. She gave in because she knew he would leave.
Federal President Janine Wissler is said to have known about the incidents
The next day she received an email from G.: “It was really good for me, I thought it was crazy, romantic, sparkling (…) Of course Janine went crazy, had called 10 times since 1:30 a.m. and scanned my mobile phone when I returned .” Hannah Maas forwards the email to Wissler. During a phone call, however, she only “tried to distract from the topic.” Hannah Maas is probably just one of those affected – her story may be representative of many others.
After suspected cases of sexual assault became known, the pressure on the party leadership increased to initiate a comprehensive investigation and to draw personal consequences. The co-chair of the left Susanne Henning-Wellsow made her office available on Wednesday afternoon with immediate effect.
“All cards must be on the table. The party executive must be re-elected and downsized,” says the left state chairwoman in Rhineland-Palatinate and party executive Melanie Wery-Sims, the “RedaktionsNetzwek Deutschland” (RND). “The cases that have now become known are just the tip of the iceberg in the party. Many more victims will come forward.”
More and more suspected victims are reporting sexual assaults
She is right, because the number of people who are suspected to be affected is growing. “In the meantime, almost 30 people who have experienced sexual assaults in the Left Party have contacted the ‘Left Youth Solid’,” said federal spokeswoman Sarah Dubiel to the RND. “Most of them are under 30 years old. People have come forward from almost every state association.”
Sexism and sexual assault are not just a problem for the left, but party members set higher standards for themselves: “After all, we’re fighting for feminism and against exploitation at all levels,” says Wery-Sims. “We have to break up power monopolies and intra-party hierarchies. That will be rocky and dirty in the coming months, but the party has to go through it now in order to have a future.”
Sources used: spiegel.de, rnd.de