PHOTOS: Mass demonstration held in Budapest’s Heroes’ Square with 150 thousand partakers – UPDATED
Civil groups organised a demonstration in support of victims of child abuse and for “a healthy society” at Heroes’ Square in downtown Budapest on Friday evening.
The demonstration was organised by online content creators, saying they considered it important to speak out for the protection of victims, transparency, human decency and honest social dialogue.
Activist Márton Gulyás of the YouTube channel Partizán thanked those attending the demonstration for standing up for victims and a child protection reform.
Influencer Zsolt Osváth of the channel ZSHOW Time, who mentioned that he, too, had grown up in a children’s home, said he wanted to raise awareness of “systemic problems … of which the clemency case is just the tip of the iceberg”. He said an institute will never be able to fill the void left by the absence of a family, but the state had to do everything possible to mitigate that absence.
UPDATE 1
According to Szeretlek Magyarország, 50 thousand people took part on the demonstration. If that is true, it has been the largest protest since the demonstration for the abolishment of the Orbán cabinet’s so-called Internet tax proposal.
UPDATE 2
The organizers said in an Instagram post that there were at least 150 thousand people on the Heroes’ Square yesterday evening. Here is the post:
A bejegyzés megtekintése az Instagramon
UPDATE – more speeches
YouTuber Márton Szabó asked what the government would do to make sure that children in institutional care grow up in humane conditions, to make sure they get a quality education, and to make sure they have somewhere to turn if they are abused.
Singer Azahriah (Attila Baukó) addressed the event in a video message, saying that the government “was using parents’ concern to incite against something, which is then converted into political gain”.
He called for improving the safety of children. “It’s time to wake up,” he said, calling for change through joining together.
People who abuse children should be “cut into pieces”
Digital content creator Orsi Tapasztó, who spoke as an adoptive parent, said some 7,000 children in Hungary were living in children’s homes, most of whom will never be taken in by a family. She thanked children’s home teachers for teaching children how to love and giving them back the ability to trust. She asked decision-makers to ensure that all children in institutional care can live in safety.
Influencer Eszter Fancsikai said she agreed with the prime minister that people who abuse children should be “cut into pieces”, but if she did that as a mother, it would be considered vigilante justice. That is why there is a need for real child protection and a well-functioning legal system, she added.
YouTuber Edina Pottyondy, former board member of the Momentum party, criticsed the absence of an independent investigation into the decision behind the president’s pardon. She said real child protection would be the improvement of education, the social and health-care sectors and child protection authorities. She called for a child protection law that protected victims.
“This demonstration won’t change the world, but it can change people’s mentality,” she said.
Read also:
- Mass demonstration in Budapest downtown: traffic, public transport changes – Read more HERE
Here are some photos:
Source: