Women protest outside Austrian chancellery over Stocker childcare remark

Several hundred women, along with some men and children, gathered outside the Austrian chancellery on Ballhausplatz in Vienna on Monday to protest remarks by Chancellor Christian Stocker of the Austrian People’s Party about childcare, ORF reported.

Protesters used chants and placards to condemn what they called the chancellor’s lack of appreciation for childcare and care work, which is largely carried out by women. The woman from Salzburg who asked Stocker about support for mothers during a public discussion on Thursday also attended the demonstration.

Organisers demand longer parental leave for fathers

Elisabeth Klatzer, an organiser with the Fairsorgen initiative, said she was surprised by the turnout despite the short notice. She called for fathers to take half of parental leave and for comprehensive childcare services across Austria.

Klaudia Frieben, the initiative’s co-organiser and chairwoman of the Austrian Women’s Ring, said Stocker’s remark had offended half the population. Instead of an apology, she demanded equal pay for women and the closure of the pension gap.

Organisers reject Stocker’s apology

The spontaneous protest was organised by the Frauen Streiken action alliance. Klatzer and Frieben said Stocker’s public apology was not enough. They had called for the demonstration on Friday, saying women had been devalued at the highest level of politics.

The protest followed a remark Stocker made during a citizens’ discussion in Salzburg on Thursday. Asked how the government planned to provide more support to mothers raising children, he said he would not regard raising children as work. After sharp criticism from the opposition, coalition partners and members of his own party, Stocker apologised publicly on Friday.

During an official visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Monday, Stocker again addressed the issue. He said it had not been his intention to hurt, insult or belittle anyone, and repeated that he had apologised. He added that care work performed by mothers, fathers and grandparents could not be converted into paid employment.

Lower Austria Governor Johanna Mikl Leitner of the Austrian People’s Party also discussed the remark in an ORF summer interview. She said the sentence had been wrong and that Stocker’s apology had been important, right and necessary. Earlier, she had defended him, saying she understood him to mean that children brought their parents much more joy despite the work involved.