The opposition parties on Tuesday marked International Women’s Day, and said that women still suffered from discrimination in Hungarian politics and the economy. Socialist co-leader Ágnes Kunhalmi slammed Katalin Novák, the ruling parties’ candidate for president, for supporting a government that “does not do everything in its power to eliminate domestic violence”.
“Fidesz has enshrined in the constitution the family model they want and the role they want women to play… But Fidesz politicians themselves do not adhere to that model,” she said. The general election on April 3 will decide “whether an authoritarian system will consolidate in Hungary or Hungarians will be able to revive democracy”, she said.
Socialist co-leader Bertalan Tóth presented the united opposition’s policy for women, and said that equality between men and women would be part of the school curriculum. If the opposition comes to power, women will be encouraged to take part in political decision-making, and wage discrimination will be punishable by law, he said. The opposition will introduce a policy of “cooperation, warning and shaming” to push companies to pay women equally if they want to preserve their reputation, he said. The opposition will also support remote work and will acknowledge as employment the work of those caring for a family member at home, he said. They would maintain women’s early retirement after 40 years of employment, and take steps against the assault and sexual exploitation of children and women, he said.
Márta V Naszályi of Párbeszéd called the Orbán government an “abusive government”. “In the past 12 years, Fidesz has created a society where everyone, and especially every woman, may feel assaulted, with bystanders staring and nobody helping.” Fidesz’s female politicians are “used as an excuse to oppress hundreds of thousands of women and to reject ratifying laws that would save those of whom one a week on average dies as a result of violence,” V Naszályi said. As a leader of the united opposition’s working group for women’s policy, V Naszályi called the opposition’s programme a landmark as it contains a chapter on women’s policy. She said no other programme had contained such a chapter since 1990.
Referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zita Gurmai, who heads the Socialist party’s women’s branch, said Hungary’s leaders were “supporting a monster” and “undermined a united EU policy regarding Russia”. “This is a sad Women’s Day because we are celebrating in the shadow of hell,” she said. The women’s branch awarded the work of Catholic theologist Rita Perintfalvi, Gábor Iványi, the founder of the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship, actor Tamás Jordán, and Márta Pardavi, the co-leader of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.
Commenting on the opposition policy for women, ruling Fidesz said in a statement that “the pro-migration policies the leftist opposition” are risking the security of Hungarian women, and its economic policy would jeopardise family support. “Their irresponsible behaviour would drag the country into war, risking the security of Hungarian families, and would sacrifice the energy security of Hungarians.”
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