Overview
- SPD deputy parliamentary leader Sonja Eichwede said the Bundestag group will seek a new criminal offense for verbal sexual harassment, with monetary fines as a possible starting penalty.
- Under current law many sexualized remarks or gestures are not prosecutable as insults, a gap highlighted by a 2017 Federal Court of Justice ruling.
- The CDU/CSU bloc rejected the push as symbolic and hard to apply in practice, arguing unclear boundaries would undermine legal certainty.
- A similar attempt led by Lower Saxony failed in the Bundesrat in February 2025, leaving nationwide legislation to be negotiated and drafted.
- Several European countries have enacted public-space harassment laws, including the Netherlands—which recorded an early fine under its 2024 statute—as well as France and Portugal with fines and Spain with possible custodial penalties.