Why was this woman invited? ‘Stomach-churning’ – Reactions to the Hungarian President

Katalin Novák Ruanda
Photo: Facebook/Katalin Novák

Katalin Novák, President of the Republic of Hungary, attended a conference on women’s rights in Rwanda. Many disagreed with Novák’s invitation, and the Guardian gives a long list of what the Hungarian president did before taking to the stage to talk about women’s equality.

“We couldn’t understand why such a woman was invited,” Bruna Martinez, a Brazilian feminist activist who was in Rwanda when Katalin Novák took the stage at one of the world’s largest conferences on gender equality, sexual consent and reproductive rights, told the Guardian.

Delphine O, French Special Envoy for the Generation Equality global initiative, wrote on Twitter: ‘Novak’s so-called “family-friendly” values are at odds with what the 6,000 feminists in the room stand for. “We fight for diversity, bodily autonomy, LGBTQ rights, comprehensive sexuality education and abortion rights”.

Equality activist Beeirne Roose-Snyder said it was “stomach-churning” that Novák was also on stage, as she was “normalising rights-destroying actors”.

Even the President of the Women’s Rights Conference was discouraged by Novák’s invitation. She also stressed that Novák was not invited by the organisers but by the host country, Rwanda, hvg.hu points out.

The Guardian article describes Katalin Novák’s work in the field of Plitika at length.

  • As Viktor Orbán’s Minister for Family Affairs, she played a key role in the implementation of the government’s pro-birth policy;
  • stated that Hungarian women “cannot compete with men” and expect to earn the same;
  • formerly head of the Political Network for Values, an international organisation campaigning against abortion and same-sex marriage.

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