After a flyer recently appeared on the west stand at Rot-Weiss Essen that wanted to deny women access to the front rows, there was resistance.
“19:07 minutes of women’s power on the West!” is the headline of an appeal to all RWE fans of the “RWE for Tolerance” alliance. The alliance has only just come together – in response to the flyer campaign at the home game against Schweinfurt on November 2nd, 2025.
The initiators want to remain anonymous: “We are a loose group that initially consisted of female RWE fans“, wrote those involved in response to a written request from the Sportschau. But within a short space of time they had already received a lot of support: “More and more fans are now joining us – regardless of gender or membership in a particular group.“
The initiative is not yet part of the active fan scene, but according to its own statements it consists of people who all like to go to the stadium, some of whom have season tickets and support their club with full passion: “We would like to emphasize that we generally feel comfortable in the stadium, but there have been sexist situations and statements in the past.“A statement should be made against this.
Intensive discussions Club fan dialogue
The fact that, alongside “Red-White Solidarity”, a second fan alliance is now campaigning against sexism in the stadium shows that some in the fan scene do not want to come to terms with the current image of Essen fans in public. The flyer campaign was intensively discussed at the already scheduled club fan dialogue on Tuesday (November 4th, 2025). Alexander Rang, RWE board member, also took part in the event.
The day after the incidents last weekend, Rot-Weiss Essen had already distanced itself from the action, with a reference to the club’s statutes and the stadium regulations: “The rules for visiting the stadium are clearly regulated in the stadium regulations. Furthermore, no one has the authority to issue their own instructions or access rules.“
In addition, Alexander Rang made it clear again at the club fan dialogue that many outraged fans had come forward in the aftermath of the campaign and that “Damage to the club’s marketing value“Besides the bad publicity that RWE has had, sexism is particularly damaging to those who are victims of this form of discrimination.
Sexism most commonly reported form of discrimination
But sexism in the curve is not just a problem at RWE. The rule “No women in the front rows” exists in various fan scenes throughout Germany. Sexism remains”by far the most commonly reported form of discrimination“, says Elena Müller, who is part of the project management of the reporting office for discrimination in football in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Compared to 2023, the number of reports has increased again according to the MeDiF annual report 2023/24. “This runs through all structures, through all leagues, through the entire game day area. So that means everything from the arrival and departure on public transport to the visit to the stadium itself, queues at the concession stands, at the catering stands, at the entrance to sexist incidents on and next to the stands“, says Müller
In order to actively address this problem, appropriate educational work is needed. In the clubs themselves, but also among the fans. Work done, for example, by a Awarenessconcept can be supported. Rot-Weiss Essen is also making efforts to implement such a concept. When asked by Sportschau in May, it was said that the project was at board level due to its great importance.
First progress on Awareness concept
In response to current inquiries about how far the project has progressed, the association is still keeping quiet about specific steps: “We have already made great progress within the awareness concept with all relevant partners – the city of Essen, the stadium operator, the AWO fan project, the FFA and of course the club“, is it[called”However, we do not want to make any further details public at this time.”
Those responsible at Rot-Weiss Essen also see that there is a need for action. In May, after the sexist incidents against referee Fabienne Michel, the DFB sports court imposed a fine on RWE: 20,000 euros, of which 6,500 euros can be used for a preventive measure against discrimination until the end of the year.
“Discrimination Game Day” in conversation
“We plan to hold a discrimination game day that will be financed with these funds“, replies RWE’s press spokesman when asked.”The aim is to make the issue of discrimination visible at a home game in the stadium on Hafenstrasse and to further strengthen awareness within our fan scene and in the entire club environment.“The association leaves it open whether this is specifically a measure against discrimination against women.
Fan work should also be intensified. A working group that meets regularly, which is currently called the “Fans Working Group”, will soon bring together all active institutions and club representatives. The constituent meeting is planned for the short term, it is said. A large-scale online fan survey is also being planned.
Fan initiatives “a great opportunity for the club”
The “RWE for Tolerance” alliance would like to take action independently of the association’s efforts and set an example: “Our focus is deliberately on the fan scene itself, because the mood and the external image are primarily shaped by the fans.“It remains to be seen whether it will actually be possible to fill the first rows of the west stand with female fans at the home game against Cottbus on November 23, 2025. The established fan scenes usually do not allow their place to be disputed that easily.
“RWE for Tolerance” also had to experience this. Because in addition to encouragement and support, there was also “Irony, rejection and warnings about what could happen“, writes the initiative. It is therefore important to them to emphasize that the action is not directed against anyone personally: “We don’t want to argue, we don’t want to take anything away from anyone and we don’t want to cause any provocation – we want to set an example of cohesion and respect together as the RWE family.“
Support from the association could help here, says Elena Müller from MeDiF: “II think that this would be a really, really great opportunity for the club to position itself at that level, to listen to the initiatives and to support these initiatives.“Sustainable change will take more than individual actions. But after the discussions over the last few months, something seems to be moving – both in the fan scene and at the club itself.