Study shows Hungarian gender equality worst in region

Gender inequality is worse in Hungary than any other Central Eastern European country and even some Asian and African states, writes mfor.hu, based on the United Nations' 2006 "Gender Gap" index. The study points out that Hungarian women receive on average half of the salary men are given for the same work, and experts say the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace is not dealt with.

The UN looked at the following four categories when examining the equality of men and women in the given countries: participation and opportunities in the economy, educational achievements, health and life expectancy, and participation in political decision-making. Hungary came in 55th of the 115 countries examined in the study, behind Russia (49th) but ahead of China (63rd) and Brazil (67th).

At the top of the list is Sweden, where women have 80% of the opportunities open to men, while Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen languish at the bottom of the chart. Of the new EU member states, Latvia (19th) and Lithuania (21st) come highest, while Greece (69th), France (70th) and Italy (77th) are the worst of the longer-term members. The United States (22nd) cannot be proud of its position either, mfor.hu comments.

Hungary ranked 48th in the economy category and 49th in education. In the politics category, the country fares exceptionally badly in 82nd.

Even worse are the country's results in the ratio of salaries of women to men, which is 52% and was only enough for 95th place. Hungary was ranked 59th for participation of women in the workforce. However, the ratio of female law-makers, leading officials and managers is relatively high (52%), putting the country 22nd on the list. Unusually, there are more Hungarian women (56%) working in scientific fields than men.

Miklós Hadas, co-director of the gender research center of Corvinus University, told the portal that while there had been positive changes regarding gender equality, there is no reason to feel proud. On a scale of one to seven to represent how effectively institutions step up against with sexual harassment at the workplace, Hungary recently ranked 2.5. There are still no solutions to how the law and police should deal with domestic violence either.

According to an annual study published by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) and the ministry of social affairs and labor entitled "Women and Men in Hungary" ("Nők és férfiak Magyarországon"), while 54% of people participating in higher education are women, only 8% of university teachers are female. Men are also more successful at the workplace, as they still fill most leading positions. In addition, although women are better educated and speak more languages than their male counterparts, they find it more difficult to climb the career ladder, and only 35% of managers are women.

The percentage of women working part-time is much less in Hungary (4.6%) than the European average (25.9%) because of the lack of opportunities for part-time and remote employment.

Another problem typical to multinational companies is that women are afraid to go on maternity leave because they do not want to risking their position at the firm. Not many Hungarians know that men are also entitled to paternity leave.

Irén Dunai Ádámné, assistant department head at the SZMM, believes one of the government's most important tasks is achieving "same pay for same work" and effectively dealing with violence against women. In 2006, the European Commission decided that member states are required to launch a campaign against domestic violence. The SZMM has started developing a network with the help of non-profit organizations. A 24-hour hotline supports victims of domestic violence, and a so-called "secret house" (titkosház) was established last year where victims can find shelter. However, these organizations not only protect women - in Szabolcs-Szatmár County, research has begun to determine to what extent men are abused within their families.

Achieving gender equality has always been an important issue in the EU. Even before Hungary's accession, co-operative research had started in the country, and in May 2007, Budapest will host a conference where experts from member states as well as future member Turkey will discuss the status of women in society.

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