TRANSITION TO MARKET ECONOMY IN HUNGARY HAMPERS ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN THERE, ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE IS TOLD
Press Release
WOM/894
TRANSITION TO MARKET ECONOMY IN HUNGARY HAMPERS ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN THERE, ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE IS TOLD
19960130 Hungary's Representatives Say Poverty, Prostitution, Pornography up since Socialism's EndThe transition to a market economy in Hungary had a negative impact on women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was told this morning by representatives of that country introducing its third periodic report. The 23-member expert Committee monitors compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Reporting to the Committee on Hungary's implementation of the Convention, Erzsebet Kardos-Kaponyi, Professor, Budapest University of Economics, said the transition process had resulted in difficult economic times which adversely affected the lives of women and had led to an increase in unemployment, poverty, prostitution and pornography.
She said the quota system, which had resulted in larger numbers of women in politics during the socialist regime, had not been continued by the 1990 democratically elected Parliament. Currently, there were no laws on marital rape and sexual harassment, she said, but added that new legislation would soon be adopted on those matters.
Also addressing the Committee, Istvan Nathon, Permanent Representative of Hungary, said in the short-term, economic stabilization measures had adversely affected economic, social and cultural rights. He added that new legislation had recently been adopted to protect minorities.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue consideration of Hungary's report.
Committee Work Programme
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this morning to consider the third periodic report of Hungary (documents CEDAW/C/HUN/3 and Add.1). The report describes the situation of women in Hungary in relation to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, implementation of which the Committee is mandated to monitor.
The report notes that Hungary has witnessed fundamental changes since its last report. The communist one-party system has been replaced by a new, representative democracy, and legislation has been changed. The amended Constitution expresses the primary importance of the protection of citizens as individuals and the enjoyment of their rights. Legislative acts by Parliament afford legal guarantees for women's equality through strengthening the general equality of citizens rather than by special laws and regulations relative to women. Article 66 of the Constitution states "The Republic of Hungary ensures the equality of men and women in respect of all rights, civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural".
The report states that Hungary has no separate government organ that is concerned solely with the advancement of women. Government organs, in general, are responsible for implementation of the advancement and equality of women, but they exercise these functions as part of their duties rather than in execution of special decisions. A debate continues on whether to establish a national machinery, with that proposal receiving the support of the Association of Hungarian Women, the country's largest women's non-governmental organization.
According to the report, the articulation of women's interests in political life has been "low-key and ineffective". There are hardly any political parties that have a special programme for women. In fact, women's representation in Government has decreased during the democratization process. The parties have low ratios of female members, and only a few women are party leaders. Women comprise 8.5 per cent of the Parliament membership. As of 1990, women comprised 6 per cent of Secretaries of State, and 7 per cent of Deputy Secretaries of State. Over the past 10 years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has employed 88 female diplomats, or 8.6 per cent of staff.
The report states that the de facto rights of Hungarian women have been hampered by economic constraints induced by the transition process, which has led to economic instability, long-term and widespread unemployment and an increasing scarcity of resources available for social services for women.
Women are at a disadvantage to men in the labour market, the report states. Since 1990, the number of citizens employed has dropped by 1,460,000, a decline of over 25 per cent. Half of the reduction has concerned women,
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which has brought down the female employment rate from 49.5 per cent to 38 per cent. Reasons for declining women's participation in the labour market include massive unemployment, recent measures aimed at encouraging labour force outflows, and the displacement of female pensioners from the labour market.
Women dominate the public service sector, which offers low pay but sheltered employment, the report continues. The fact that women are better educated than men does not ensure them the same advancement opportunities. There are fewer female than male managers, and a disproportionate number of women in clerical and unskilled jobs. In addition, women in blue-collar jobs earn 30 to 40 per cent less than men, and in white-collar jobs, 50 to 60 per cent less. According to the 1990 census, 26.5 per cent of households were headed by women. Rising unemployment has resulted in women having to shoulder burdens previously unknown to them.
Regarding education, more males attend vocational schools than females. However, 28 per cent of women continue their education at the university level compared to 14 per cent men. In the 1993-1994 academic year, 52 per cent of university and college students were females. There is a marked segregation by gender of various occupations, with girls prevailing in health care and in secondary commercial studies, and boys dominating heavy industry and construction occupations.
According to the report, addiction to alcohol and drugs is rising among women. Over the past 15 to 20 years, alcohol consumption by women has doubled. The proportion of young women on drugs stands at about 30 to 40 per cent. In general, the health insurance system is struggling with severe funding constraints. A nation-wide network of institutions exists to help women before and after childbirth. Expectant mothers enjoy special protection at work. Mothers are entitled to pregnancy allowance from the fourth month of pregnancy, maternity leave for 20 weeks at full pay, and a child-care allowance until the child is two years old. However, the report states that reforming the family support system is high on the Government's agenda. Intended reforms will bring about substantial changes, placing an increased emphasis on households' financial standing.
According to the report, the new women's organizations are weak and have inadequate finances. The social problems affecting the social status of women are closely related to the country's prevailing economic situation and the impact of the transition on the society as a whole. The worsening economic situation and the extra work done by men have increased women's burdens in attending to the family and performing traditional female roles.
The report describes amendments made in 1989 to the Constitution, labour code, and social security act. Child-care benefits have been lengthened; the system of widows' pensions has been streamlined; and the family allowance is
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now financed from the State budget rather than being a social insurance benefit. In addition, the amount of unemployment benefit is now 80 per cent of minimum wages, and its ceiling is three times the amount of minimum wages. The Family Act is also being revised.
The report states that by the late 1980s 73 per cent of women used some kind of contraception. In 1992, there were 73 abortions per every 100 live births. Since the introduction of the Embryo Protection Act, which allows for abortions in crisis situations, there has been a further drop in the number of induced abortions.
According to the report, about one fourth of all women crime victims above the age of fourteen are victims of domestic violence. Figures for sexual crime are relatively low because the penal law does not identify marital rape as a crime. The first service to support victims of sexual violence was started in 1994. There is a shortage of organizations and a total lack of information and training on the issue. Also, sexual harassment at the workplace is not covered in the penal code.
Regarding prostitution, the report says that the growth of tourism, the appearance of private enterprise, and the spread of pornography have led to an increase in the practice.
Introduction of Report
Introducing the third periodic report of Hungary, ISTVAN NATHON, that country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said his country wanted to pursue a constructive dialogue with the Committee in order to ensure the implementation of the Convention. One of the main driving forces behind democratic changes in Hungary had been the quest for human rights. Human rights education provided at all levels of the school system had been found to be a useful tool in eliminating discrimination against women.
Before the phase of transition to a market economy, the question of equal rights for women had been embodied in the notion of full employment, which encompassed the right to work, he said. Another cornerstone of female equality had been the right to study. Many of the rights enjoyed by women had been ensured through an extensively subsidized system of child-care institutions. However, the economic stabilization measures of the current socialist-liberal government had adversely affected the enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights in the short term.
After the democratic elections of 1990, which had resulted in a change in the political system in the country, the political and civil rights of women which existed de jure had become a reality, he said. Among those rights was the right to free assembly.
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Commenting on other measures taken to fulfil obligations arising from the Convention, he said the Government had accepted a modification of the family support system which would positively affect 15 per cent of the families. The measure would come into force in April of this year. Additionally, the female retirement age would be raised from 55 to 60 years by 2003.
He stressed that the government of Hungary had welcomed a project of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) aimed at educating female employees about their rights. Discrimination in the field of labour relations was punished by fine under the provisions of a government-enacted Decree on Inspection of Labour Relations.
Women belonging to the Romany minority represented one of the most vulnerable groups of the Hungarian population, he said. The elections held in the country in December 1994 had been representative of the minorities, and an act on the rights of national and ethnic minorities had been adopted. The act granted the Romany people the right to participate effectively through their representatives in decisions concerning their affairs.
Reply to Committee's Questions
Another member of the delegation, ERZSEBET KARDOS-KAPONYI, Professor, Budapest University of Economics, said problems of women were general problems and could be overcome only in partnership with men. The current situation in Hungary, as in other transitional countries of eastern Europe, was a particularly difficult one. Therefore, an extra effort was required to further women's rights.
Speaking on the national machinery for women in Hungary, she said that following a change in the political system, a government resolution, of November 1995, had established a national mechanism for a women's secretariat which operated within the framework of the Ministry of Labour and whose main aim was to promote overall equality of men and women. Hungary intended to implement the provisions of the Convention. However, keeping in mind the financial, economic and social situation of the country, that would have to happen gradually. Also, although the country supported the objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, so far it had been unable to implement major measures recommended by it.
The economic decline in central and eastern Europe had reached critical proportions, she said. As a rule, unemployment affected women more than men, but in Hungary men outnumbered women in those registered for unemployment. However, many women did not register their unemployment. Moreover, the reluctance of employers to hire women with small children had further worsened the women's situation. In more than 50 per cent of the families there was
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only a single earner or no earner at all. Elderly women and those on limited old age pension had been forced to subsist below the poverty line.
Answering a question on article 2, by which States parties agree to combat discrimination against women in various ways, including the adoption of laws prohibiting discrimination, and ensuring that public authorities and institutions refrain from discrimination, she said the Hungarian Constitution established an obligation for implementing de jure equality. The Government was not aware of different interpretations by lawyers, lawmakers or women's organizations. In case of violation of such obligation the victim was entitled to bring criminal, civil, family, administrative and labour law actions before the court, depending upon the nature of the violation.
She added that although no changes had occurred in the legislation since the consideration of the last periodic report, the courts now tended to give increased consideration to the equality of men and women.
She said statistics did not exist on the number of court cases involving discrimination. There were several anti-discriminatory provisions in labour law. Women were underrepresented among the unemployed because most job losses occurred in male-dominated industries and unemployment in female-dominated industries was low. Special measures to improve the position of women in the labour market were envisaged. Plans had been drawn up to produce gender disaggregated statistics, to enforce prohibition of discrimination against women in the labour market and to upgrade vocational training and retraining of women.
There were no preventive measures taken in the field of violence against women, she went on. While sexual harassment was publicly debated, there was no legal or institutionalized measures in that domain. However, a law was currently being considered. Local family welfare services had some preventive effect on domestic violence by helping families to resolve conflicts and by providing financial assistance in certain cases.
Regarding rape, she said protection was provided in the criminal code. Rape committed under aggravated circumstances was punishable with 10 years of imprisonment. Rape within marriage was not covered in the penal code. A complaint was recently lodged with the Constitutional Court to change the law. There was no State-organized system to help victims of violent crimes. A few crisis centres were established by non-governmental organizations but they had limited resources.
Reliable statistics on prostitution were not available, she continued. Since 1993, prostitution did not constitute a crime, only a minor offense. However, procuring and exploiting prostitutes were criminal offenses. There was a recent increase in the number of young persons engaged in prostitution and, since the transition to a market economy, prostitution has become more
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visible on city streets. Efforts were under way to rehabilitate prostitutes and prevent prostitution.
On the issue of HIV/AIDS, she said the problem was not as serious in Hungary as in other countries. However, the increased availability of injectable drugs required continued vigilance and prevention activities. Increased attention was given to vulnerable groups such as sex workers, and there were AIDS hotlines and special medical centres that provided free and anonymous testing.
The last five years had seen an increase in pornography, she continued. Some materials were produced in Hungary with children and legal action had been taken against that practice. The publication of pornographic materials was prohibited by the criminal code.
She said there were some 50 women's organizations in Hungary. The participation of women in politics was low due to the long-standing traditions in the society and the increasingly difficult situation of families and women. However, the role of women in the Hungarian parliamentary parties had recently started to grow. A sub-commission on women's issues had been set up last November to address that issue within the Parliamentary Commission on Human Rights.
She said the country's political leadership did not pay adequate attention to the issue of female equality, and party interests tended to prevail over women's issues. Political parties failed to ensure a wider scope for female participation. Under socialism, Hungary had had a quota system in politics and women's participation had been higher, but the new democratically elected Parliament in 1990 did not want to introduce that system again. Quotas could be a good technique but society was against them. With worsening economic conditions, women again tended to be preoccupied by managing households. The proportion of female state secretaries and under-secretaries was 9.2 per cent.
Over the past 10 years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had employed 88 female diplomats, which was about 8 per cent of the personnel, she continued. During the reporting period, only two women had made it to the top diplomatic corps.
Regarding education, she said laws prohibited any discrimination. In primary schools, the proportion of girls was equal to boys. In the 1993/94 academic year, 52.6 per cent of students were young women.
She said that the Constitution guaranteed mothers support and protection before and after childbirth. The State assumed a share of child-care costs. Family income did not play a role in determining the amount of unemployment benefit, which was calculated by total employment time in the four years
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preceding unemployment. Unemployment benefits had changed in recent years. In 1991, the maximum benefit was three times the minimum wage, whereas in 1992, it had been reduced to twice the minimum wage.
Special training programmes existed for young people and the unemployed, she went on. However, there were no training programme for employees threatened by unemployment. Also, the labour market position of women seemed to be better than that of men at present. In 1994, more than 90,000 unemployed persons had participated in training courses of which 57 per cent had been women.
Commenting on the modification of the family court system, she said the Constitutional Court had provided that the modification would not have a retroactive effect. The modification provided that the granting of most forms of financial support was to be based on family income, taking into consideration the number of children as well as marital status.
The labour market had been undergoing dramatic changes in the 1990s, she said. The female employment rate had dropped from 49.5 per cent in 1990 to 38 per cent. Many female pensioners had been displaced from the labour market as a result of shrinking employment.
Speaking on article 12, which provides for measures to be taken to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care, she said pregnancy could be terminated during the first 12 weeks if the embryo endangered the life of the mother or if it had serious disability. Also, the pregnancy could be terminated if it was the result of a criminal act. Under certain other circumstances, the pregnancy was allowed to be terminated until the eighteenth or twentieth week. The number of abortions in the country had remained relatively high, although in recent years it had decreased by nearly 15 per cent. However, the proportion of teenagers seeking abortion had doubled in the last few years, from 9 to 18 per cent.
The Government had established the Family Welfare Network to spread knowledge of contraception, she said. Currently 50 per cent of families and women did not use any form of protection against unwanted pregnancies. A National Core Curriculum had been established which emphasized sex education in schools.
She added that the transformation of the health care system had resulted in the curtailing of subsidies for many health care facilities serving women.
On article 13, which states that women shall have the right to family benefits, bank loans and mortgages, and participation in recreational activities and all aspects of cultural life, she said women in Hungary had access to credit under the same conditions as men.
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