A third of men in Germany find violence against women to be acceptable, gender equality campaigners said on Sunday.

According to a new survey, 33% of men aged 18-35 thought it was "acceptable" if "their hand slipped" occasionally during an argument with their female partner, while 34% of respondents admitted that they had been violent towards women in the past.

The nationwide survey questioned 1,000 men and 1,000 women aged 18-35 and was commissioned by children's charity Plan International Germany.

The findings are "shocking," said Karsten Kassner from Federal Forum Men, a German group that advocates for gender equality.

"It's problematic that a third of the surveyed men trivialize physical violence against women. This urgently needs to change," he told the Funke newspaper group, which is set to publish the full findings on Monday.

More than 115,000 women in Germany were victims of partner violence in 2021, according to federal police data. That equates to 13 women each hour. In the same year, 301 women were killed by their current or former partner.

Gender roles 'deeply ingrained'

The survey also examined other perceptions of gender and sexuality among German men and women.

It found that 52% of men said they believed their role was to be the main provider in a relationship, and that their partner should mostly run the household.

Meanwhile, 48% of respondents also expressed a dislike of public displays of homosexuality, saying they felt "disturbed" by it.

"Traditional gender roles are still deeply ingrained in people's minds," Alexandra Tschacher, a spokeswoman for Plan International Germany, told the Funke newspaper group.

zc/lo (AFP, KNA)

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