Management promises clarification
Linke apologizes to victims of sexual assault
4/21/2022 9:52 am
In the Left Party, there have been sexual assaults for years. The party executive therefore apologizes to the victims and decides to set up a new “advisory structure” for those affected.
After the resignation of co-leader Susanne Hennig-Wellsow, the Federal Executive of the Left Party apologized for “sexualized assaults” in the party. The party must be a space in which all members can get involved “without fear of being treated sexistically, insulted or even threatened with violence,” the board said. He also decided “unanimously” on an action strategy.
The party is currently confronted with sex allegations that affect the Hessian left. The “Spiegel” had reported that there had been sexual assaults for years. The former partner of co-party leader Janine Wissler is said to have been one of the accused. Her colleague Hennig-Wellsow justified her resignation with the fact that “dealing with sexism in our own ranks had revealed blatant deficits in our party”.
The federal board has now said that it “deeply regrets” the sexual assaults. “We’re sorry we didn’t respond to this sooner,” the statement said. The board promised a “transparent and unreserved clarification” of the incidents. He decided to set up an “independent advisory structure consisting of experienced women from feminist anti-violence work and victim support as well as experienced lawyers”. This should oversee the further clarification of the cases that have become known, be the contact point for future victims and develop suggestions for how to deal with them.
In addition, the party statutes are to be changed in such a way “that even below the exclusion and even before a lengthy arbitration procedure, there is the possibility” of taking measures against members who act sexistly, insult others or “exaggerate with criminally relevant behavior”. As examples of possible steps, the executive board named a release of the accused from party offices, a suspension of the right to vote and speak and the exclusion of meetings.
Bartsch: “Will hit the whole party”
Group leader Dietmar Bartsch urges the members of his party to end quarrels. “Intra-party wars” should no longer be waged, “this dispute must finally be a thing of the past,” said Bartsch on Wednesday in the ARD “Tagesthemen”. “Everyone should take a look at their own noses and do something to ensure that we live up to our historical responsibility.”
Bartsch emphasized that his party must take allegations of sexism in its own ranks very seriously, take the victim’s perspective, provide information and draw conclusions. “Obviously we have problems in this field. They must be of a structural nature,” said Bartsch.
Hennig-Wellsow’s resignation came as a surprise to him too, said the group leader. This is a severe blow. “And I think he will hit the whole party a bit too.” Now is the time to “push ahead with the programmatic renewal” and to answer the strategic questions of where the party’s place is in the Federal Republic and in the next decade. The left is in one of its most serious crises, but has not become meaningless. Despite weakening, his party is the social opposition in the Bundestag, is involved in four state governments and has many politicians in local councils.