The office reviews your report and forwards it to the jury for assessment, provided it falls within their area of responsibility. The jury will analyse the submitted case and decide whether the advertisement in question is to be considered discriminatory or sexist.

The jury's options for intervention vary, depending in particular on whether the responsibility for the advertising space lies with the State of Berlin, its districts, the public transportation company BVG, the national railway company Deutsche Bahn or private companies. It is therefore important to provide precise information about the location (and possibly the owner of the advertising medium, e.g. the name on a poster frame). 

The Berlin Senate, as well as some of the city‘s districts have introduced a ban on discriminatory and sexist advertising in their contracts with outdoor advertisers. The assessment of whether an advert is discriminatory or not is carried out by the Berlin Jury Against Discriminatory and Sexist Advertising in accordance with the Berlin framework concept against discriminatory and sexist advertising (german-language PDF file, opens in a new window). If the jury determines that the discrimination is so serious that only the immediate removal of the advertisement from public streets and spaces can provide adequate redress, it notifies the authority responsible for advertising contracts and requests that appropriate proceedings be initiated.

In the case of private advertising spaces which are not covered by public contracts with the State of Berlin, the jury contacts the advertising company directly. It explains how the advertisement is discriminatory, aims to raise awareness and foster sensitivity, and seeks to engage in dialogue with the company.

If requested, the person who reported an advertisement will be kept informed about the steps taken. Under no circumstances will their personal data be passed on to authorities or companies. It is also possible to submit a report anonymously, though this naturally makes it impossible to provide updates on the case.

The jury is responsible for advertising that is aimed at people in Berlin or is visible within Berlin’s territory. This includes, for example, online advertising visible in Berlin, but not advertising on a bus in Potsdam. 

The jury is also not responsible for election campaign advertising, as its legal status is different from that of commercial advertising. It is specially protected under constitutional law, in particular by the freedom of speech and the State's neutrality requirement.

Generally, it is always possible to directly address criticism to those responsible for the advertising.

A less time-consuming way is to file a complaint with the German Advertising Standards Council (Deutscher Werberat). The German Advertising Standards Council is the self-regulatory organisation of the German advertising industry. The Advertising Standards Council is responsible for all media – from posters and advertising in social networks to sponsorships, for example. However, it is not responsible for advertising by political parties, churches, foundations, associations or non-governmental organisations, in which case the only option is to contact the organisation directly. 

Complaints to the German Advertising Standards Council cannot be made anonymously.

The Advertising Standards Council plays an important role in monitoring ethical standards in the advertising industry, but around 70% of complaints are rejected. This is repeatedly criticized. The criticism is aimed less at the Council's assessment criteria than at their interpretation.

What no longer exists: 

Previously, it was possible to report sexist advertisements to the portal „Werbemelder*in“. It was set up by the non-governmental organisation Pinkstinks Germany e.V. with funding from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The „Werbemelder*in“ project focused on monitoring and raising awareness of sexist advertising.

On the Pinkstinks homepage you will find (in german language) the project’s final report, a report on its past actions against sexist advertising, as well as a brochure with tips for non-discriminatory communication in industry, trade and craftsmanship.

The first step whenever you report an advert is your own assessment of what you consider to be discriminatory. The jury will then consider your report, including your explanation of why you consider the advert to be discriminatory.

The jury, whose members bring together expertise on different forms of discrimination, makes its assessment on the basis of a criteria catalogue based on the prohibition of discrimination in the German Basic Law, the General Act on Equal Treatment Act (AGG) and the Berlin State Anti-Discrimination Act (LADG) (PDF-file opens in a new window). It classifies an advert as discriminatory and/or sexist if individuals or groups of people are portrayed in a derogatory or degrading manner or are subjected to insults due to:

• sex/gender
• ethnicity
• racist attributions
• antisemitic attributions
• religion and belief
• disability
• chronic illness
• age
• language
• sexual identity
• gender identity
• social status and social background
• external appearance
• gender expression.

Aspects such as image composition, product reference, stereotypes, body norms, the legitimisation of domination, and intersectionality are taken into account. The jury makes its decision on the evaluation of the advertisement by a two-thirds majority of the participating members.

Other organisations have established similar sets of criteria, such as the Code of Conduct of the German Advertising Standards Council against personal denigration and discrimination (PDF-file opens in new window). The guidelines (german-language PDF-file opens in new window) contain (fictitious) advertising examples to explain the decision-making criteria of the Council.

With regard to sexism, the feminist NGO Pinkstinks has published criteria for classification and illustrated them with several examples (in its final report on monitoring sexist advertising, pp. 6-7).

The current members of the jury can be found on the homepage.

The jury's rules of procedure (german-language PDF-file, opens in new window) state in §4 (1): 

• „The jury consists of up to ten members with relevant expertise. It is multidisciplinary, diverse, independent, non-partisan and at least half of its members are women. Experts from various fields of civil society anti-discrimination work as well as from science, education, administration, and business are represented.“

The jury members are appointed by the senator responsible for anti-discrimination in the Berlin Senate. The jury works on an honorary basis.