WUNRN
Amnesty International
Date
Published: 10 May 2007
Direct Link to Report:
Hungary - Cries Unheard: The Failure to Protect Women
from Rape and Sexual Violence in the Home
"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."
"When he started to beat me regularly, his father said that he was
right…When I told the police, they said he had been quite alright the previous
evening in the pub… Everyone thought that women should just bear these things…
He raped me several times, but this is taboo in villages, I could not tell
anyone."
"Are you the one who has come to talk about the birds brought in here
who say they have been raped?... At least 85 per cent of them are whores. They
want to have sex, but then do not manage to come to an agreement. They are
prostitutes, overtly or secretly. An expert can see this."
"[Accusing someone of rape] can come in very handy for women
when they want to get a divorce and parental rights… Anyone can hit her own
head on a table."
Introduction
The almost insurmountable barrier that confronts girls and women in Hungary
seeking justice for rape is illustrated in these words of a judge, a woman who
has been raped and police officers interviewed by Amnesty International. Crimes
of sexual violence wreck the lives of women in every country in the world, and
the effective prosecution of those responsible poses challenges to all
governments and societies. Yet in Hungary, the government and the criminal
justice system have yet to tackle the widespread prejudices that prevent women
who have been raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violence from
obtaining justice or redress.
Most rapes and other crimes of sexual violence are committed in the home and by
people known to the victim. Husbands and other intimate partners and former
partners are most frequently the perpetrators. The number of studies in Hungary
has been shockingly small, although it has been estimated that nearly one in
three women has been subjected to physical violence by their partner. Of over
1,000 women surveyed in the only recent study on physical and sexual violence in
the home in Hungary, 28 per cent reported being beaten and over 7 per cent said
they had been forced to have sex by their partners.(1)
Rape and other forms of sexual violence are violations of women’s human rights.
The government’s responsibility for criminal acts by private individuals lies
in ensuring that laws and procedures provide a framework of protection, that
such provisions are vigorously implemented to protect women from violence, and
that women who have been subjected to violence are actively supported in
obtaining justice and redress. These obligations on the state are set out in
international human rights laws that Hungary has made commitments to uphold.
The government has made some moves in the right direction. In 1997 rape within
marriage was recognized 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.(2) Also in 2003 the police issued
guidelines on the responsibilities of the police force in responding to
domestic violence.(3)
Yet the discrimination and denial that women continue to face in their struggle
for justice against rapists and domestic abuse reveals the state’s lack of
political will to confront the pervasive prejudices that riddle the criminal
justice system and broader society. The government is still failing to tackle
the legal requirement that physical resistance by the victim must be proved,
the dilatory police responses, and the lack of specialist services in the
justice and health systems, which all provide positive disincentives to
reporting the crime. Girls and women who have been raped can expect to be
disbelieved and stigmatized.
This report demonstrates -- including through interviews with women who have
been raped and subjected to domestic violence, with police officers, judges and
human rights organizations -- the widespread silence and denial about sexual
violence in general and violence by intimate partners in particular. It
provides stark examples of the devastating impact of such crimes on women’s
lives, and of the blatant prejudice and discrimination against women in the
law, criminal justice system and support services. It looks at obstacles
impeding women’s access to justice and redress, and identifies the government’s
obligations under international law.
Amnesty International 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 victims of sexual crimes. The government is urged to set up
support services for victims of sexual violence, to carry out research and
compile data that will inform policy making, and to actively combat social prejudices
through public education. It must tackle crimes of sexual violence as seriously
as other acts of violence against the person. Until effective action is taken,
girls and women in Hungary will continue to be denied their right to justice
and redress without discrimination.
Link to Full Report:
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