Enlargement, Gender and Governance (EGG)
EU Framework 5, Project No: HPSE-CT-2002-00115
Work Package 6: Gender Mainstreaming Case Studies
Executive Summary
HUNGARY
Eva Eberhardt, Queen’s University Belfast and Hungarian Academy of Sciences

In Hungary, most of the current gender policies are the result of EU accession. Gender mainstreaming has not yet been introduced by the politicians, policy makers or other influential actors in Hungarian society as a pivotal concept for the actualisation of gender equality.

One of the main obstacles to gender mainstreaming is rooted in the conceptualisation of definitions, that is, the translation of equal opportunities into Hungarian. A shift in the interpretation occurred when the notion of “equal opportunities” became popularised and lost the conceptual specificity that had been used for decades in the EU and which was understood to mean equal opportunities between women and men=gender equality. In Hungary, this equal opportunities concept came to be understood as equality in general, both at conceptual, political and institutional levels. This move had started earlier and became justified with the transposition of the Equal Treatment Directive, which gave ‘equal opportunities’ a new meaning to encompass not only equal opportunities for women, but also for minorities, such as the Roma and the disabled. From this Hungarian perspective, the EU accession can be seen as a lost chance for the introduction of gender equality. Thus, accession only provided de jure equality measures but failed to promote both the enforcement principle and the need for the harmonization of gender policies

Gender mainstreaming demands a higher level of gender sensitivity. In Hungary, no such gender sensitivity can be detected either in political discourses or in public debates. Moreover, there are NO debates on gender or the position and role of women in today`s society. Politicians are dismissive if not outright hostile when the issue of gender equality surfaces. The media behaves similarly; gender politics are not understood and women who have critical comments to make about inequality or discrimination are ridiculed and discredited. Equally, the media is sexist and sensationalist when discussing prostitution, for instance. And, finally, women themselves lack what one would call a gender perspective. These manifestations are underpinned by the fact that there was not a women`s movement in Hungary.

Hungary’s new equal treatment legislation is a composite law, focusing on three specific disadvantageous groups: women, the Roma, and disabled persons. All of these three groups feel that their special needs are not taken into consideration by the new legislation. According to this legislation, employers should be drawing up plans, based on surveys about the adverse situation of the employees, particularly women, the over 40s, the Roma and the disabled. The institutions and employers need to work out measures that rectify the situation and ensure equal treatment for all their employees. These measures could be at different levels, such as increased income; professional promotion; better work environment or more advantageous maternity conditions. These plans should have been approved and operational by the 1st January 2005, yet no one knows how many institutions have completed this task.

There are still no adequate implementing mechanisms in place. The law provides for the establishment of an Authority, a body with a remit to monitor the application of the legislation, yet this Authority is currently in the process of appointing its members.

Up until recently, there was no awareness, and therefore no measures, to curb trafficking in women in Hungary. Whether the women who were trafficked into Hungary were forced into prostitution, was and is totally indifferent to the population. The main focus of the debate is on prostitution and no one cares about where the women come from.

Trafficking in Hungary was regulated by an UN convention, signed in 1949.

The EU enlargement process brought special attention to the issue of trafficking, smuggling, money-laundering, illegal and unwanted immigration. It was through this process that the government had started legislating on trafficking in human beings, while the problems of prostitution still remain unresolved.

The government, the police authorities and NGOs all agree that the real extent of the trafficking problem is difficult to gauge in Hungary, as the country has a multi-purpose use for traffickers. As a country of origin, many trafficked Hungarian persons are mainly transported to Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the US, and Japan. As a country of destination, Hungary is the target location of Ukrainian, Romanian and South-Eastern European traffickers. And, of course, as a Central European country, it is a constant transit place.

Unfortunately, in Hungary, the issues of combating trafficking in women and the gender perspective have, somehow, never met up. Linking up prostitution and violence against women is entirely missing in the dominant discourse of trafficking. Thus, there are no gender mainstreaming policies in relation to trafficking in women.

But it is only to be hoped that the benefits of enlargement and the mere fact that Hungary is now part of the EU will, in time, influence positively both popular and official thinking about the role of women and thus, gender policies. We must hope in progress, inspired by the examples and good practices of our EU neighbours. At the same time, we must remain alert and continue to fight against all gender-based discrimination and for more gen

der equality in society at large.

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