When you think of Germany, images of beer, pretzels and leather pants often come to mind. Female politicians are not often associated with the country because they are not typically represented in the mainstream media. Surprisingly, Germany is incredibly plagued by sexual violence against women. In the country, 35% of women have admitted to being victims of sexual violence after the age of fifteen, and 97% of perpetrators are men. This includes, but is not limited to, groping, harassment, stalking, abuse and rape. On New Year's Eve 2015, women in Cologne, Germany were subjected to mass harassment, only to be met with unprepared law enforcement who failed to intervene in a timely manner. This event caused a stir in women's rights movements in the country with protesters calling for better preventative measures against sexual violence and greater protection of sexual self-determination. Although most cities have emergency numbers for victims of sexual violence, women are still worried about their safety as they feel that the people protecting them do not know how to properly approach a victim of sexual violence or how to prevent them from this happens. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Germany also seems to be ahead of the curve when it comes to LGBT rights and sexuality. It is illegal to discriminate against anyone in the LGBT community in the country, especially employers, military officials and home sales representatives. Although marriage is not yet legal in the country, they recognize same-sex civil unions accompanied by tax breaks. Citizens can also legally change their gender without undergoing sex reassignment surgery. Unlike the United States, same-sex couples are unfortunately not allowed to adopt children unless they are stepchildren and are absolutely prohibited from donating blood. Additionally, while many people oppose sex education in the United States, Germany has very comprehensive sex education programs, allowing them to have lower teen birth and abortion rates than the United States. The non-Catholic northern part of Germany also accepts public nudity, as they consider it natural, which also differs from common American beliefs as public nudity is subject to arrest. Moving away from tradition, Germany has worked to become more gender equal than in the past. They have started to move away from traditional gender roles and are now using women in the workforce more than ever. Women are often encouraged to start using daycare early to quickly return to work after giving birth, while men take more paternity leave to care for children at home. These adjustments, however, are still very new to German society, so citizens may still be scrutinized for not adhering to typical gender roles. This also means that most German institutions (family and work) still employ a patriarchal structure, but the Equality Offices are working to ensure “that women occupy a more equal share of positions in the public sector” (Gordeeva) . Similar to the United States, women are not as verbal in their objections to social norms as they were in previous years. Germany tends not to see many protests for women's rights, however women have collaborated with various institutions, such as the Equality Offices.