- Women’s human rights, including the right to reproductive health care and the right to be free from violence, are not enforced by the Hungarian government, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights and NaNE. The groups have submitted a report on these rights violations to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) to coincide with the official Hungarian government report on March 22. The purpose of the advocates’ report is to supplement the Hungarian government report and fully reveal the dismal state of women’s reproductive rights and violence against women in that nation.
"Hungary has failed to take proactive measures to guarantee women’s human rights, and in fact has moved backwards in the area of abortion, contrary to regional trends towards liberalization," said Christina Zampas, legal adviser for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights.
The report urges the HRC to closely question Hungary on what steps are being taken to comply with the rights guaranteed by the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Under the ICCPR, Hungary has committed to eliminating interference in the exercise of the right to privacy in the area of reproductive health and to promulgating laws that provide protection against rape, sex abuse and violence against women.
The following issues are highlighted in the report:
Contraception. There is practically no coverage for contraception. While Hungary’s health policy provides for free or highly subsidized health services for its population, reproductive health is addressed as maternal health care. Women who use contraceptives must pay for them out-of-pocket, a prohibitive cost for many women.
Abortion. Hungary recently amended its abortion law to make it more difficult for women to access abortion services. Women are required to undergo two biased counseling sessions, to wait a minimum of three days, and are provided with state-funded brochures developed by anti-abortion groups that give misleading medical information on the harms of abortion. The brochure exaggerates the physical effects of abortion, claims that abortion causes breast cancer, characterizes abortion as the killing of babies and includes drawings of babies being mutilated with knives.
Violence against women. The Hungarian Penal Code does not recognize domestic violence as a separate crime and the Minister of Justice has specifically stated that domestic violence legislation is not needed, asserting that such legislation would be positive discrimination and is not required by Hungary’s international obligations. The Hungarian law also does not provide for protective orders against abusive partners. In addition, sexual harassment and stalking are not recognized as offenses under Hungarian law in either the civil or the penal code.
"We urge the Human Rights Committee to question Hungary as to how they intend to close the significant gap between the provisions of the ICCPR and the reality of women’s lives," said Judit Wirth, Executive Director at NaNE.
NaNE is a Hungarian women's rights non-governmental organization dedicated to ending human rights violations and the threat of violence against women and children through advocacy, personal support services and public education.
