September 18, 2022

THIS WEEK IN HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS

Hungarian state report targets women in higher education

Sources: Euractiv, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, The Guardian (1, 2), The Star  

A state report from Hungarian officials has targeted women in higher education by stating that the country’s education system is ‘overrepresented’ by women. 

Euractiv reported that the state body who issued the report is seen as in alignment with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has been known for his extremely conservative views on gender.

Euractiv also noted that the Hungarian state body wrote that the presence of more women in education is ‘too feminine’ and would favour ‘feminine traits’ such as ‘emotional and social maturity’. Men, the report claimed, would be at risk of becoming less ‘entrepreneurial and risk-taking’. 

The report insinuated that women in higher education were to blame for the country’s lower birth rate, despite Hungary enforcing draconian abortion laws. This month, Hungary’s government, led by political strongman Viktor Orbán, decreed that medical providers must force a woman to listen to the heartbeat of a baby before receiving an abortion. 

The state report was criticised by other politicians. Hungarian opposition lawmaker Endre Toth responded to the report by writing, ‘It’s time to remove your glasses from the last century.’ 
Hungary is not alone in normalising gender barriers in higher education. In 2018, medical schools in Japan were revealed to have manipulated exam results so that men had a lower pass mark than women. The reasoning, similar to the state report from Hungary, was that ‘women mature faster mentally than men’. The scandal included Juntendo University and Kitasato University in Tokyo, as well as Tokyo Medical University.