Implementation of central concepts

• Author: Lídia Hermina Balogh
• Pages: 11-26

11

3 Implementation of central concepts

3.1 General (legal) context

3.1.1 Surveys on the definition, implementation and limits of central concepts of gender

equality law

According to the conclusions of a 2018 study undertaken on the case law of the Equal

Treatment Authority relating to gender stereot ypes, relevant decisions do not necessarily

significantly impact the general public’s awareness of the issue. However, the Authority

has made an apparent effort to abolish gender ste reotypes in order to promote equality,

especially in cases relat ing to access to employment, where is sues of ‘manly’/‘womanly’

jobs and the ‘masculine’/‘feminine’ look of applicants were disputed. 43

3.1.2 Other issues

There are no fu rther issues to mention regarding the central concepts of gender equality

law.

3.1.3 General overview of national acts

The concepts of (gender) equality law, e.g. direct discrimination, indirect discrimination,

harassment, unlawful segregation and instruction to discriminate are defined in the Equ al

Treatment Act, and all anti-discrimination provisions in various laws must be int erpreted

in accordance with this Act.44

3.1.4 Political and societal debate and pending legislative proposals

In Hungary, the government itself has started to mobilise against ‘gender ideology’ during

the last few years, unlike in other countries, where the ’anti-gender’ mobilisation was

initiated by civil society and religiou s organisations. According to an an alysis published in

2020, since 2017, a key focus of the governme nt’s ’anti-gender’ agenda is the Council of

Europe’s Istanbul Convention (signed but not ratified by Hungary): ‘The main argument

against the Istanbul Convention was that it uses the non-consensual and ambiguous term

“gender”.’45

The other target of the governmental anti-gender campaign has been Gender Studies at

universities: in August 2018, it was announced that the government plans to abolish the

Gender Studies MA programme at the (public) Eötvös Loránd University and to withdraw

accreditation of the MA in Gender Studies at the (private) Central European University in

Budapest.

The European Parliament’s resolution from Sept ember 201846 claimed that a

misinterpretation of the concept of gender dominates the public discourse in Hungary, and

the European Parliament deplores the wilful misinterpretation of the t erms ‘gender’ and

43 Sipos, A. (2018), ‘Eladónt keresünk! Az Egyenl Bánásmód Hatóság nemi sztereotípiákkal kapcsolatos

döntései’ (‘Saleswomen are needed! Case law of the Equal Treatment Authority relating to gender

stereotypes’), Fundamentum, no. 1, pp. 73-86, available at:

http://fundamentum.hu/sites/default/files/fundamentum-18-1-06.pdf.

44 Act CXXV of 2003 on Equal Treatment and the Promotion of the Equality of Opportunities (2003. évi CXXV.

törvény az egyenl bánásmódról és az esélyegyenlség elmozdításáról), 28 December 2003, Article 2.

45 Kováts, E. (2020), ‘Post-Socialist Conditions and the Orbán Government’s Gender Politics between 2010

and 2019 in Hungary’, in Dietze, G., Roth, J. (eds.) Right-Wing Populism and Gender: European

Perspectives and Beyond, Bielefeld, Transcript Verlag, p. 91.

46 European Parliament (2018), Resolution of 12 September 2018 on a proposal calling on the Council to

determine, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union, the existence of a clear risk of a

serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (2017/2131(INL)), P8_TA-PROV

(2018)0340, Brussels, 12 September 2018, available at:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2018-0340_EN.html?redirect.

12

‘gender equality’.47 However, in October a govern ment decree was passed, according to

which MA programmes in Gender Studies will no longer be available in Hungary from the

academic year of 2019/2020 onwards.48

3.2 Sex/gender/transgender

3.2.1 Definition of ‘gender’ and ‘sex’

Neither the concept of ‘gender’ nor ‘sex’ is defined in national l egislation or case law. It

should be noted that the Hungarian language does not differentiate between these

concepts; the same noun (nem) is used to refer to both.49 In Hungarian social science

literature, the adjective ‘social’ is attached to this noun ( társadalmi nem) to refer to

gender, and the adjective ‘biological’ is attached to the same noun to refer to sex (biológiai

nem); however, this differentiation is not reflected in legal interp retation.

3.2.2 Protection of transgender, intersex and non-binary persons

Transgender, intersex and non-binary person are protected from discrimination under the

category of ‘gender/sexual identity’ (nemi identitás) under Article 8(n) of the Equal

Treatment Act.50

3.2.3 Specific requirements

Protection against discrimination based on gender/sexual identity is provided without any

specific requirements.

3.3 Direct sex discrimination

3.3.1 Explicit prohibition

Direct disc rimination is defined in Hun garian law, but not specifically ‘direct sex

discrimination’. Direct discrimination occurs if a person or a group is/are treated less

favourably on the ground of his/her/their protected characteristic than an y other pe rson

or group of persons in a comparable situation.51

47 The European Parliament’s Resolution from September 2018 does not elaborate this claim, i.e. does not

explain how these terms/concepts are misinterpreted in public discourse. However, a study launched by the

FEMM Committee of the EP a few weeks earlier (in June 2018), addresses this issue: ‘The first news about

misinterpreting the word “gender” and creating the concept “gender ideology” that undermines families and

cultures shocked and surprised feminists, gender studies scholars, gender equality experts and civil

servants who worked with gender mainstreaming in the first years of the millennia, especially as they were

said to be the main proponents of such an ideology.’ See: European Parliament (2018), Backlash in Gender

Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Rights, PE 604.955– June 2018, available at:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/604955/IPOL_STU(2018)604955_EN.pdf.

48 Government Decree No. 188/2018. (X. 12.) on the amendment of Government Decree No. 283/2012. (X.

4.) on the System of Teacher Education, on the Rules of Choosing a Major, and on the Registry of Education

Majors; and of Government Decree No. 139/2015. (VI. 9.) on the Registry of Higher Education Degree

Programmes and on the Application of New Programmes to the Registry (A Kormány 188/2018. (X. 12.)

Korm. rendelete a tanárképzés rendszerérl, a szakosodás rendjérl és a tanárszakok jegyzékérl szóló

283/2012. (X. 4.) Korm. rendelet, valamint a felsoktatásban szerezhet képesítések jegyzékérl és új

képesítések jegyzékbe történ felvételérl szóló 139/2015. (VI. 9.) Korm. rendelet módosításáról), 12

October 2018, Article 3.

49 See e.g.: Vasvári, L.O. (2011) ‘Grammatical Gender Trouble and Hungarian Gender[lessness]. Part I:

Comparative Linguistic Gender’, Hungarian Cultural Studies, Vol. 4, pp. 143-170, available at:

https://ahea.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/ahea/article/download/40/31.

50 Act CXXV of 2003 on Equal Treatment and the Promotion of the Equality of Opportunities (2003. évi CXXV.

törvény az egyenl bánásmódról és az esélyegyenlség elmozdításáról), 28 December 2003, Article 8

Point (n).

51 Act CXXV of 2003 on Equal Treatment and the Promotion of the Equality of Opportunities (2003. évi CXXV.

törvény az egyenl bánásmódról és az esélyegyenlség elmozdításáról), 28 December 2003, Article 8.