Justice for Victims of Sexual Violence in Hungary

• In Event: Roundtable: Gender-based/Sexual Violence - Cultural Values and Organizational Reasons for Underreporting and Under-prosecution

Abstract

This project focused upon leveling the dynamic interplay between the criminal justice system and victims of violent sexual crimes, principally rape, in Hungary, which has the lowest number of reported rape cases in Europe, though not the lowest incidence. Practically, the components of this project investigated why rape is underreported and why reported rapes are under-investigated, and to develop recommendations for law enforcement and the courts to remedy these gaps in the Hungarian criminal justice system. Theoretically, this project considered what is called rape myth acceptance (RMA) – where accountability for rape and other crimes of sexual violence is directed toward victims instead of perpetrators. The frequency of reporting of rape and other sexual violence to police has been linked to the degree of likelihood that a victim perceives that the first person or entity to whom she turns for justice and support will believe her. Underreporting as a trend, and unreported violent sexual crimes as a hidden social scourge, therefore, must be seen as products of rape myth acceptance, wherein shame, guilt, blame, and fear supersede the rule of law, as well as the workings of a system intended to protect and maintain civil behavior with respect to the sovereignty of the body.

Authors

• Katalin Parti, Virginia Tech

• Robin A. Robinson, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth