Within 30 minutes, Pariser Platz in Berlin fills with thousands of people. The organizers later spoke of 13,000 people, police confirmed 6,700 – including men and women, young and old, families with children and bicycle groups. They gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate to demonstrate against digital violence. The background is the current case involving the presenter and actress Collien Fernandes.

In the video: “Nazis out!” Suddenly it gets loud at the demo in Berlin

“It’s also up to us men,” says Johannes

It quickly becomes clear that this is not an isolated case and is purely solidarity with a prominent personality. The signs they brought with them often read “Down with the patriarchy” or “Patriarchy protects perpetrators”.

Jim (45) and Johannes (33) came to Pariser Platz together. On Johannes’ sign it is written in bold letters: “Fucking Patriarchy wretched”. But this is by no means about hatred of men. “It is also up to us men to talk to our friends and other men,” demands Johannes.

“I think it’s really important that we as men understand that we too have to free ourselves. According to the motto ‘Nobody is free, until everyone’s free’ (editor’s note).” The quote comes from the American civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.

FOCUS online wants to know whether they would implement this in their everyday lives. “In some groups it’s difficult to start a conversation. We’re socialized in the 1980s, which is shitty socialization,” says Jim, visibly upset. His sign says something about anger. His is clearly felt. “Because people didn’t talk about it in men’s groups before, it’s difficult to do it again with people who are over forty.”

What makes Spain better?

Jim is also angry that the German laws are “worse than those in Spain” – a topic that comes up again and again in conversations with the demonstrators.

Fernandes has filed a complaint against her ex-husband in Spain. For one thing, she had last lived there with her ex-husband. On the other hand, “the rights of women are significantly better” there than in Germany, as she said in an interview with ARD daily topics said. Germany, on the other hand, is a “perpetrators’ paradise” in this regard.

The lawyer Josephine Ballon also confirmed this in the run-up to the demo. She is the managing director of the non-profit organization HateAid, which advises and supports those affected by online hate speech and hate comments. In an interview with FOCUS online, she pointed out the unfortunate legal situation: “There is no clear criminal offense.” For Fernandes it is a rare advantage to be able to sue in Spain: “For most people in this country that is not possible.” However, she is confident that the law could change soon.

Many families take part in the demonstration

Overall, it is striking how many families with children came. A kind of makeshift playground has even formed on a fountain next to the square, where around ten children between the ages of three and ten are running around. As if at a concert, in the middle of the crowd, small children sit on their parents’ shoulders to get a better view. Anyone trying to make their way through the crowd regularly stumbles over strollers.

The Janke family also came. You watch the action from the edge, there is enough space for the strollers. In one of them sits a little boy who is watching the spectacle with great interest. “He doesn’t really understand what’s going on here,” says mother Saskia. “But if he grows up knowing that you can stand up for it or take to the streets if you don’t like something, I think that’s really important.”

“We’ll make it a party”

Sixty-year-old Connie L. is also there with her daughter Nina (25). “I just think it’s good that the generations here stick together so much,” says Connie. Meanwhile she holds her daughter by her arm. If her sons had had time, they would have been there too, she is sure.

The two came with a group of women who saw the whole thing as a “party”. “Some bring a few snacks, others maybe a bit of good music, funny posters. We meet, we exchange ideas and are still united for this political cause,” reports Connie. “That’s our leisure activity now. We’re taking to the streets now to show that we don’t want any of this.”

What does this have to do with climate?

The group also includes 56-year-old Christiane Frohmann. She has a sign with her that says: “When we meet, we do girly things: democracy, human rights, climate protection.” She leads a literary art project that shares many goals with “Fridays for Future,” the global climate movement. Luisa Neubauer, a leading figure in the German movement, also speaks on stage during the demonstration. She has already been a victim of digital violence herself and is calling for “laws that no longer protect the perpetrators, but the victims.”

“Fridays for Future” supported today’s event. “There has long been a need in the climate movement to bring this concern to the public,” says a spokeswoman for the FOCUS online event. That’s why the rally is a “hybrid thing”. The “Feminist Fight Club” alliance, which was founded last Friday in solidarity with Collien Fernandes, goes back to the well-known “Fridays for Future” activist Kira Bönisch. She also registered today’s demo.

For Christiane, this is not a mixture, but rather consistent: “I think it’s good to always discuss these topics together at the moment. Not just individual demos, not just individual groups that are working on their differences. It all belongs together.”