Gender-based violence against MPs in the German Bundestag through a twofold theoretical lens

The Parliament is not only an arena of the political sphere, where debates take place and decisions on matters of public interest are taken. It is also the workplace for MPs, guided by formal and informal norms and rules. Thus, the MPs’ work can be analyzed through twofold lenses: The parliament as a gendered workplace (Acker 1990, Erikson/Josefsson 2022), or as an aspect of the gendered political game (Bourdieu 1997) in the political sphere (e.g., Habermas 1991). Gender-based interpersonal violence against politicians is increasing and can as well be analyzed from these two perspectives. In the research-project “’Not in my Parliament’. Violence and Gender in the German Bundestag from an intersectional perspective”, we investigate gender-based attacks against MPs within this twofold theoretical framework. In a workplace perspective, the focus is on the MP as a qualified professional and an employer. Whereas in a public sphere perspective the affected person is regarded an actor in this sphere. Attacks may not aim at the individual but at the group for which the individual stands. It may be the same kind of violence. Yet, the specific impact of each perspective as well as the interplay between the two will be highlighted in the paper. The database are problem-centered interviews with 27 MPs of all political groups in the 20. German Bundestag, realized from June 2024 to October 2025. For the analyses, we applied qualitative content analysis plus deep hermeneutics of selected interviews. The main research question was: How do MPs perceive violence, how do they react, and what consequences does this have for their political participation? Our findings prove the relevance of the construction of political masculinity and femininity. In this context, some MPs stress their privileges e.g., in comparison to local politicians. Others deny their vulnerability. Another focus is on the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) as perpetrators as well as affected persons. In the paper I will not only analyze the impact to the health, personal integrity and political participation of the affected individual. Rather, I will discuss, in which respect gender-based violence damages liberal democracy in general.