25 November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
It was 1973 when the expression “domestic violence” in a modern context was first used formally. This happened in the United Kingdom Parliament, where the world’s first domestic violence services federation, Women’s Aid, was established some months later. Almost 40 years have passed since then, but the need for providing practical and emotional support to women and children experiencing violence has sadly not diminished.
However, the United Kingdom is far from the only European country suffering from this issue. The numbers are horrifying. Reports indicate that not only 30% of all women in Europe have suffered physical violence at least once during their lives, and that more than 10% have been a victim of enforced sexual violence – but that in 80% of the cases the abuser was someone the victim knew.
In Hungary, an estimated 400 000 women suffer from domestic violence annually and at least one of them dies from it in every week. It is even more worrying that the trend of not reporting this violence is one of the most pronounced in the EU. But following a recent well-publicised case, tensions around domestic violence have risen. Tabloids and popular TV programmes were busily retailing the juicy details, but human rights activists warned that the real issue was being missed. Violence, they say, is still considered a ‘private matter’ and action only happens when ‘blood is running’. Victims are afraid of being judged by their neighbours and prefer to suffer in silence rather than face what they fear will be a humiliating and drawn-out legal procedure.
There is clearly much work to be done in this area, in many countries. The British Government is committed to work on women’s rights and on combating violence against women and girls overseas. Their action plan can be found on the Home Office website. And the British Embassy in Budapest is currently preparing an awareness-raising project that plans to generate professional discussion in Hungary and enhance bilateral co-operation in this field. It will come to fruition after I leave this beautiful country and start a new job as British Ambassador to Ethiopia. But I hope you will hear more from my colleagues very soon.