(Amnesty International).Introduction - The almost insurmountable barrier that confronts girls and women in Hungary seeking justice for rape is illustrated in these words of a judge, a woman who has been raped and police officers interviewed by Amnesty International. Crimes of sexual violence wreck the lives of women in every country in the world, and the effective prosecution of those responsible poses challenges to all governments and societies. Yet in Hungary, the government and the criminal justice system have yet to tackle the widespread prejudices that prevent women who have been raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violence from obtaining justice or redress.

Most rapes and other crimes of sexual violence are committed in the home and by people known to the victim. Husbands and other intimate partners and former partners are most frequently the perpetrators. The number of studies in Hungary has been shockingly small, although it has been estimated that nearly one in three women has been subjected to physical violence by their partner. Of over 1,000 women surveyed in the only recent study on physical and sexual violence in the home in Hungary, 28 per cent reported being beaten and over 7 per cent said they had been forced to have sex by their partners...