Collien Fernandes (44) made a surprise appearance at the handover of a petition for greater protection of women against violence. The catalog of demands was presented on Wednesday to the parliamentary groups of SPD, Greens and Left Party in front of the Bundestag in Berlin - it bears the title "In Solidarity with Collien Fernandes - 10 Demands to the Federal Government". More than 336,000 people have signed it, as announced by the organization HateAid, which supports victims of digital violence. The actress and presenter said she came spontaneously.
The ten-point plan was initiated by feminist Kristina Lunz, Green Party politician Ricarda Lang and human rights activist Düzen Tekkal. The core demand is to criminalize the creation and distribution of deepfakes - images and videos generated using artificial intelligence - and to regulate platforms more strictly. In addition, the principle "Only Yes Means Yes" should be enshrined in criminal law, and the secret taking of images of individuals without clothing, for example in saunas or showers, should become punishable. Femicides, that is gender-based killings of women, should also be recognized as a separate criminal offense.
"Stay loud, stay angry"
At the handover, Collien Fernandes recalled the demonstrations of recent weeks. "Why were so many women on the streets? Because it's their reality, because they experience digital violence", she said according to consistent media reports. As long as this is dismissed by perpetrators and their lawyers as "disproportionate hysteria", "we simply have to be loud, stay loud, stay angry". Each of the ten demands has already been implemented in one or more other countries. "So I ask myself: why not in Germany?"
The initial signatories include, in addition to the initiators, around 250 women from politics, business and culture - including SPD leader and Federal Minister of Labor Bärbel Bas, Green Party leader Franziska Brantner, presenter Carolin Kebekus, actress Veronica Ferres, musician Nina Chuba, comedian Hazel Brugger, model Stefanie Giesinger and activist Luisa Neubauer.
Fernandes also shared several short clips from the event via Instagram. The actress wrote: "A petition was launched in connection with my case! Nearly 500 prominent initial signatories are demanding concrete political steps against digital violence, measures for better protection of women, in a ten-point plan addressed to the federal government." She also emphasized once again that she neither launched the petition nor organized the event in front of the Bundestag.
