# Halina Bendkowski

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**Halina Bendkowski** (born 28 July 1949 in [Gliwice](/source/Gliwice), Poland) is a German journalist, politician, and activist for [feminism](/source/Feminism) and the [lesbian movement](/source/Queer_movement).

## Early life and education

Halina Bendkowski was born in Poland as the fourth child of a single mother. In 1956, the family moved to [Oberhausen](/source/Oberhausen), Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).[1] She lived at a Catholic boarding school for girls for two years, where she graduated from high school as an external student. She studied sociology, political science and philosophy at [Münster](/source/Westf%C3%A4lische_Wilhelms-Universit%C3%A4t). She completed her studies in 1978 with a master's degree.[2]

## Career

In 1987, together with other women, she founded the *FrauenfrAKTION* as an umbrella organisation in [Berlin](/source/Berlin) to network women who worked in government or in administration and management with autonomous feminists, regardless of their party affiliation.[3] From 1990 to 1991, Halina Bendkowski was a member of the [Berlin House of Representatives](/source/Berlin_House_of_Representatives). As an [independent](/source/Independent_politician), she was elected on the [Alliance 90/The Greens](/source/Alliance_90/The_Greens) list, but then resigned.

In the early 1990s, in the context of the international campaign for women's and human rights, she developed the political-sociological approach of [gender democracy](/source/Gender_democracy),[4] which further developed the concept of [gender mainstreaming](/source/Gender_mainstreaming) by providing for the participation of all groups.[5] The first publication to bear this term in its title was a two-volume documentation published by the Austrian Federal Chancellery in 1993 on behalf of [Johanna Dohnal](/source/Johanna_Dohnal): *Test the West. Gender Democracy and Violence*. The concept of *gender democracy* was adopted in a more general sense by the [Heinrich Böll Foundation](/source/Heinrich_B%C3%B6ll_Foundation) in the 1990s. The conception of this term was controversially discussed in numerous feminist discourses.[6]

In 1999, Halina Bendkowski was one of the founding members of the [Lesben- und Schwulenverband in Deutschland](/source/Lesbian_and_Gay_Association_in_Germany) (LSVD, therefore it was organisation SVD since 1990), for which she was national spokesperson for four years. She is the initiator and theoretician of the [Civil Partnership Act](/source/Civil_Partnership_Act).

## Personal life

In August 2001, she was one of the first women in Berlin to enter into a civil partnership. With her long-term partner, the US-American theatre writer [Lydia Stryk](/source/Lydia_Stryk), she lives alternately in Berlin and New York City.[7]

## Bibliography (selection)

- *Sag niemand, dass du jüdisch bist.* In: [Viola Roggenkamp](/source/Viola_Roggenkamp): *Tu mir eine Liebe. My mum. Jewish women and men in Germany talk about their mothers.* Mosse Verlag, Berlin 2002; Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, pp. 110–118.
- *Der theatralisch verlassene Mann.* In: Sonja Düring, [Margret Hauch](/source/Margret_Hauch) (Eds.): *Heterosexuelle Verhältnisse* (= Contributions to Sexual Research. Volume 71). Psychosozial-Verlag, Gießen 2000, ISBN 3-89806-051-9.
- Halina Bendkowski et al.: *How far did the tomato fly? A '68 women's gala of reflection.* Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-927760-32-3.
- With Agnes Büchele, Erica Fischer, Ilse König: *Geschlechterdemokratie und Gewalt.* In: *Test the West. Gender democracy and violence.* Campaign of the Federal Minister for Women's Affairs 1992–1993. Concept and organisation: Halina Bendkowski, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-901192-09-3.
- with Irene Rotalsky (ed.): *Die alltägliche Wut. Violence, Pornography, Feminism* (= *Elefanten-Press* 242 *Bilder-Lese-Buch*). Elefanten Press, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-88520-242-5.
- with [Brigitte Weisshaupt](/source/Brigitte_Weisshaupt) (ed.): *Was Philosophinnen denken.* Volume 1, Amann Verlag, Zurich 1983, ISBN 3-250-10012-9.

## Literature

- Werner Breunig, [Andreas Herbst](/source/Andreas_Herbst) (Eds.): *Biografisches Handbuch der Berliner Abgeordneten 1963–1995 und Stadtverordneten 1990/1991* (= *Schriftenreihe des Landesarchivs Berlin.* Volume 19). Landesarchiv Berlin, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-9803303-5-0, p. 86.

## References

1. Heide Oestreich: [*Die Freistil-Interventionistin.*](http://www.taz.de/1/archiv/archiv/?dig=2002/08/20/a0163) In: *TAZ.* 20. August 2002.

1. [*Bendkowski, Halina, 1949–*](http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84080259.html) Library of Congress.

1. Myra Ferree: *Varieties of Feminism. German Gender Politics in Global Perspective.* Stanford University Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0-8047-5760-7, S. 130.

1. *Geschlechterdemokratie ist wie der Gender Mainstreamingvertrag und der Geschlechtervertrag keine theoretische Kategorie, sondern eine der politischen Losungen, die in den 1990er Jahren eine Verschiebung in der Politik gegen Frauenunterordnung markierten.* In: [Frigga Haug](/source/Frigga_Haug) (Hrsg.): *Historisch-kritisches Wörterbuch des Feminismus*. Herausgegeben im Auftrag des [Instituts für kritische Theorie](/source/Institut_f%C3%BCr_kritische_Theorie). Band 1, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-88619-295-4, S. 436.

1. [Ilse Lenz](/source/Ilse_Lenz): *Die Neue Frauenbewegung in Deutschland.* 2., aktualisierte Auflage. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-17436-5, S. 874.

1. Halina Bendkowski, [Sabine Hark](/source/Sabine_Hark), Claudia Neusüß: *Geschlechterdemokratie – ein Streitgespräch: feministischer Aufbruch oder institutionelle Anpassung?* In: *[Femina Politica](/source/Femina_Politica).* 11, No 2/2002, S. 29–40.

1. [*Feministin Halina Bendkowski hat geheiratet. Frauentag im Standesamt von Schmargendorf.*](http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/archiv/feministin-halina-bendkowski-hat-geheiratet-frauentag-im-standesamt-von-schmargendorf,10810590,9926490.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150924064805/http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/archiv/feministin-halina-bendkowski-hat-geheiratet-frauentag-im-standesamt-von-schmargendorf,10810590,9926490.html) 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine In: *Berliner Zeitung.* 10. August 2001.

## External links

- [Halina Bendkowski: *Das rosa Schaf und die schwarze Familie.*](http://www.lsvd.de/bund/familienbuch/halina.html) Recollection of a lecture as speaker of the LSVD.
- [*Frauen in Bewegung: Feminism in culture, law and politics.*](http://www02.zkm.de/videocast/index.php/aktuell/413-frauen-in-bewegung.html) Panel discussion with [Bascha Mika](/source/Bascha_Mika), Halina Bendkowski, Ulrike Lembke, [Hilal Sezgin](/source/Hilal_Sezgin), 15 April 2011.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Halina Bendkowski](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halina_Bendkowski) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halina_Bendkowski?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.