The opposition Socialists have proposed the government should set up a fund for the prevention of violence against women and to include the fight against domestic violence as a subject in the national curriculum, the party’s parliamentary deputy group leader said on Monday, marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
In Hungary, between 10,000-12,000 instances of domestic violence are reported to the police each year, Zita Gurmai told MTI in a statement, adding that more than one-fourth of the women become target of physical abuse even if they are pregnant.
“It is shocking, but still a fact that one woman dies in Hungary every week because of domestic violence.”
Authorities often attribute less than required importance to violence against women, said Gurmai. As regards sex crimes, investigations too often turn into “blaming the victim” with the authorities focusing their attention to “how the victim’s behaviour could have motivated the crime”.
According to the United Nations” website, women’s rights activists have observed 25 November as a day against gender-based violence since 1981. This date was selected to honour the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were brutally murdered in 1960 by order of the country’s ruler.
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