Hungarian women are starved of protection from rape and sexual violence, writes Daniel Clarke.

This story was first published in the August/September 2007 issue of the Human Rights Defender, Amnesty International Australia's free bi-monthly publication.

Hungary's government and legal system are failing women, according to a report recently released by Amnesty International (AI).

Hungary: Cries unheard: The failure to protect women from rape and sexual violence in the home (PDF 220Kb), found two thirds of sexual crimes in Hungary are committed by people known to the survivor, yet few of the perpetrators are tried for their crimes.

The report states that there are widespread prejudices that prevent women who have been raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violence from obtaining justice and redress.

Girls and women who have been raped can expect to be disbelieved and stigmatised. In the words of one female judge "I have worked as a judge for 20 years, but to tell you the truth, I myself would not report rape. It is very difficult because of the procedures, the attitudes and social conventions. It is the victim who has to defend and prove everything."

Laws discriminate

Hungary's laws on rape are in need of urgent reform. The Penal Code defines rape and other crimes of sexual violence as "crimes against marriage, the family, youth and sexual morality''. This ignores the survivor and encourages silence, for fear of the damage to a woman's standing in her community simply by making a complaint.

Rozsa, a Hungarian citizen, told AI she received no support from friends or relatives, even though her husband beat and raped her routinely. Instead, they tried to explain and legitimise the violence. "When he started to beat me regularly, his father said that he was right,'' Rozsa said. "When I told the police, they said that he had been quite alright the previous evening in the pub I was ashamed to talk about this to my acquaintances. Everyone thought that women should just bear these things."

More worrying, in the Penal Code's definition, rape must involve force by means of violence or threat of physical harm. This requires the survivor to prove that they physically resisted their attacker; or that the person committing the rape directly threatened the survivor's life or bodily integrity. This fails to provide proper protection from violence.

In one example of this, an appeal court suspended a prison sentence for rape on the grounds that a child had not been able to prove that she did not physically resist for fear of her attacker. Barbera, 15, suffered from epilepsy and a learning disability when she was raped by a 40-year-old man. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, but on appeal his sentence was suspended and reduced.

The appeal court ruled that physical violence "could not be established without doubt from her testimony, but only from that of the psychiatric specialist, who gave the opinion that the determined manner of the perpetrator and his superior strength, restrained her from defending herself effectively".

Another key barrier for women trying to obtain justice for rape and other crimes of sexual violence is the high rate of attrition in such cases Ŗ the large number and proportion of cases that drop out of the legal process, failing even to reach court or not resulting in criminal convictions. The police may not identify the attacker. The survivor or other witnesses may decide to withdraw their statements or not to press charges. The case may be labelled a "false report". The police, prosecutors or judges may decide there is not enough evidence.

And remarkably few cases are reported to the police, largely because of the social prejudices encountered by women who report such crimes. Other factors include poor investigative skills and training within the police, and the lack of official support and services offered to victims.

Taboo subject

Rape in the family is rarely discussed publicly and survivors are not often heard speaking about the physical and psychological injuries they experience. There have been few studies into rape and violence towards women in Hungary, although it has been estimated that nearly one in three women has been subjected to physical violence by their partner.

In the only recent survey of over 1,000 women on physical and sexual violence in the home, 28 per cent reported being beaten and more than seven per cent said they had been forced to have sex by their partners.

A 2006 Hungarian public opinion poll revealed that 62 per cent of men and women did not know that marital rape was a crime. Over 32 per cent believed that women were responsible for being raped: nearly 40 per cent of the men and over 25 per cent of the women.

AI Europe and Central Asia Program Director Nicola Duckworth says rape in intimate relationships is a crime. "Stigma and ridicule from the community and lack of confidence in the criminal justice system and health services officials must not prevent victims from obtaining justice,'' she says. "The government must take the lead in lifting the cloak of silence and denial over this human rights violation that has a devastating impact on women's lives."

UN criticism

Hungary has also come under criticism in recent years for the prevalence of discriminatory and xenophobic attitudes, in particular towards the Romani (or gypsy) population.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women last year condemned Hungary in connection with the sterilisation of a Romani woman without her consent. On 2 January 2001, the woman was sterilised by doctors at the Fehergyarmat hospital.

While undergoing an emergency caesarean, she was asked to sign forms giving her consent without an explanation of what sterilisation is, any possible risk, or what the consequences of being sterilised would be. She was also not informed about other forms of birth control.

It was only after the operation that she learnt she could not become pregnant again. The Committee found Hungary in violation of the Convention on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) for its failure to protect the reproductive rights of the woman, and recommended that domestic legislation be brought in line with the principle of informed consent in cases of sterilisation.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child last year also noted that Romani children were stigmatised, excluded and impoverished in relation to the rest of the Hungarian population because of their ethnicity. Such discrimination was most notable in housing, jobs and access to health, adoption and educational services.

The Committee expressed concern at the arbitrary segregation of Romani children in special institutions or classes. Access to preschools is reportedly limited in regions with predominantly Romani populations and high levels of poverty.

Positive change

The government of Hungary has made some moves in the right direction. In 1997, rape within marriage was recognised as a crime within the Penal Code. In 2003 the National Assembly resolved to establish a national strategy for the prevention and successful handling of domestic violence. Also in 2003, the police issued guidelines on the responsibilities of the police force in responding to domestic violence.

And despite high levels of attrition, Hungary's conviction rate for rape and other sexual crimes is one of the highest in Europe, averaging convictions in over half of all cases. AI is calling on the government of Hungary to respect, protect and fulfil women's rights through changes in the law, by ensuring access to justice, and by providing standards and training for professionals working with survivors of sexual crimes. It must tackle crimes of sexual violence as seriously as other acts of violence against the person.

Fact File

  • Hungary is a landlocked country with a rich mix of peoples a majority Magyars population with German, Slovak, Croat, Serb, Roma and Romanian minorities.
  • Once part of the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires, it joined the Austro-Hungarian empire in the mid 19th century. After World War I an independent kingdom of Hungary was established.
  • Following World War II, the country found itself under communist rule. It later became the first Eastern European country to gain some economic freedom, embracing aspects of the free market.
  • Hungary played an important part in the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe when it opened its border with Austria in 1989, allowing thousands of East Germans to escape to the West.
  • In April 2006 Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's Socialist-led coalition won a decisive victory in parliamentary elections, becoming the first government to win consecutive terms since the restoration of democracy in 1990.
  • In September last year a tape recording was made public of the Prime Minister admitting that the government had lied about the economy during the election. The comments sparked the first violent protests since the fall of communism.
  • Around five million Hungarians currently live in neighbouring countries due to the redrawing of European borders after World War I. Their status remains a sensitive issue, with low turnout invalidating a 2004 referendum on offering them citizenship.
  • Hungary was admitted to Nato in 1999 and joined the European Union in May 2004.

Read the report

Hungary: Cries unheard: The failure to protect women from rape and sexual violence in the home (PDF 220Kb)