CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel has said much more needs to be done to achieve gender equality in Germany.
As Germany marked the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, Merkel said in a speech in Berlin that there is a lot still to do to achieve gender equality – notably in the worlds of politics, business, science and culture.
“The goal needs to be equality, equality everywhere,” she said.
“I hope it becomes natural for women and men to split up work, raising the children and doing the household equally... and I hope that’s not going to take another hundred years to get there.”
Merkel, the country’s first female chancellor, highlighted the fact that only 30.9% of politicians in the current Bundestag are female, down from 36.5% in the previous one.
“We’ve achieved a lot, but there’s still much to do and we cannot accept setbacks,” Ms Merkel said.
As for her own role, she acknowledged to roaring applause she had made a contribution: “Nobody laughs anymore if a girl says she wants to become a chancellor.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here