Feminism and Domestic Violence Activism in the GDR

This chapter examines feminism and activism against gender-based violence in East Germany, and asks what it shows about the development and practice of feminism in Germany. It explores how East German activists thought and spoke about violence against women and how they sought to address it in ways distinct from feminist practices in the West. In doing so, it shows how East German activists shaped feminism to speak to life under socialism and assist women living with violence. While there was little time for these activists to create change before the collapse of socialism in 1989, this work took on renewed importance after reunification. At that time, the delegitimization of socialism and the integration of the German Democratic Republic into the Federal Republic paved new avenues for activists tackling violence against women. Indeed, domestic violence projects in the former East Germany quickly received financial and political support from the new authorities, revealing how feminism, and feminists, had successfully transformed the political landscape of Germany.