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Women of the SPD (1985)

In March 1973, the first national conference of the Study Group of Social Democratic Women [Arbeitsgemeinschaft sozialdemokratischer Frauen or AsF] was convened. After the Social Democratic Party (SPD) went into the opposition in 1982, the AsF focused increasing attention on discrimination against women within their own party. While women made up 23% (1980) of SPD members, only 7-8% of its national party convention delegates were female and less than 10% of its members of parliament were women. Thus, the AsF demanded a quota system to regulate the number of women holding mandates and offices. On August 30, 1988, the SPD National Party Congress agreed on a quota system that required 40% of all mandates and offices to be given to women.

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Women of the SPD (1985)

Courtesy of the German Information Center