UN Committee is “extremely concerned” about the situation of women’s rights in Hungary
The Un CEDAW Committee is criticising Hungary regarding the situation of women’s rights. The Committee finds it extremely concerning that the government considers it discriminatory to legislate to protect women against violence.
Hungary had to submit its 9th periodic report to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee of the UN. The UN’s findings find the situation of women’s rights concerning in Hungary, qubit.hu reports.
The Hungarian government’s delegation was headed by Attila Beneda, Deputy State Secretary for Family Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation during the session. During the Hungarian delegation’s oral presentation, the committee’s chairperson, Ana Peláez Narváez, repeatedly called on Beneda to stop talking out of turn and report on how Hungary is living up to the commitments it made.
Read alsoUN Committee is “extremely concerned” about the situation of women’s rights in Hungary
The UN’s final report has condemned Hungary for failing to comply with the international convention adopted in 1979.
Family before career
“The Committee is deeply concerned about retrogressive movements seeking to exclude reference to gender from the political, educational, and social discourse in the State party. The State party’s equality policy is based exclusively on a concept of the family and primarily conceiving a woman’s role as a wife and a mother.”
From the Hungarian government’s point of view “the issue of gender equality for women and men is substantially approached from the perspective of family”. The UN Committee, however “notes with concern the rise in stereotypical attitudes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society”.
Read alsoUN Committee is “extremely concerned” about the situation of women’s rights in Hungary
According to the Hungarian government’s report, the gender gap “is mainly coming from the fact that because of raising children, women are disadvantaged on the labour market and in many other areas”.
“The social equality between men and women should be treated from a family perspective, because the primary difference is not the female or male nature, but rather the fact that they are raising a child or not” – says the Hungarian report.
The UN Committee condemns this approach, as it “overemphasizes women’s responsibilities as mothers and wives”. This is “undermining women’s social status, autonomy, educational opportunities, and professional careers”. The Hungarian stance is also “constituting an underlying cause of gender-based violence against women”.
The UN also condemns Hungary for the recent amendments in the abortion laws, which require women to listen to the foetus’ heartbeat before abortion.
Another noted area is the gender pay gap (17%), alongside the horizontal and vertical segregation in the labour market, as well as barriers to women’s access to management positions, higher-paid jobs and decision-making positions.