- Target:
- Government of the Republic of Hungary
- Region:
- Hungary
- Website:
- www.gopetition.com
Please only sign this petition if you have not signed its Hungarian version at http://www.gopetition.com/petition/42744.html"
("10 pont a gyermekprostitúció ellen")
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Child prostitution is unacceptable.
It undermines the safety of children, their future and their relationships with adults – this is true even for those who are not personally victims of child prostitution but just know about it. Child prostitution is the worst form of inequality and exploitation. It causes serious and almost irreparable damage, basic human rights violations and psychological, physical and social harm.
Nowadays, underage and young prostitutes who have been “prepped” in Hungary are arriving to Western European sex markets not just occasionally, but systematically and en masse. While the Hungarian State has for a long time now averted responsibility for the issue, consumers of the local sex industry and prostitution are exploiting their victims to the greatest extent possible.
As the average age of entering into prostitution – according to international surveys – is 14 years, overcoming this phenomenon is unimaginable without the cooperation of society and the acceptance of responsibility on behalf of the State.
In our opinion, the State, as the trustee of the common good, cannot shift its responsibility to the victims. It cannot act as if this serious phenomenon does not exist or is just a peripheral problem. Now that a leading state official has made a declaration to this effect [1.], we regard it as our duty to raise our voices in defence of child victims and to protest against the cynicism and indifference that has been elevated to the level of state politics.
No democratic society can stand idly by in the face of child prostitution. We must fight against it.
Our demands:
1) We demand that Article 202/A of the Hungarian Criminal Code, the law prohibiting child prostitution, is effectively implemented by punishing the users of child prostitutes more severely, irrespective of whether the perpetrator was aware of the fact that the prostitute was under 18 years of age. In the case of child prostitution, the principal perpetrator of the crime is the “client”.
2) We call upon legislators to modify the law currently in force so that the name of the crime reflects its weight and essence. To this end, the crime in question should not be called “corruption of a minor” but “sexual exploitation of a child”.
3) At the same time, we also demand the implementation of the other acts in the Hungarian Criminal Code related to prostitution. The beneficiaries of prostitution – brothel owners, procurers, pimps, those who live off the earnings of another’s prostitution and human traffickers – must be tracked down and duly punished.
4) We demand that the Hungarian Government, recognising its responsibility for the welfare of children, initiates effective programmes for the prevention of the prostitution of those under the 18 years of age, for the rescue of child victims and for their social and psychological reintegration, applying the regulations set out by international norms – among others, the now 60-year-old UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others [2.] and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography [3.]. The relevant sections of Hungarian legislation are also in need of thorough revision.
5) We demand that the profits gained from crimes related to prostitution and trafficking be confiscated and used entirely for financing the support and assistance of victims.
6) We demand that those officials who let the real criminals guilty of child prostitution off the hook and instead harass its minor victims and submit them to civil proceedings for misdemeanours be held criminally responsible.
7) We demand the appropriate modification of legislation so that, in the case of crimes related to child prostitution – which include having a sexual relationship with a minor in exchange for compensation, as well as the maintenance of a brothel, living off the earnings of another’s prostitution, procuring, pimping and human trafficking, if these are committed against minors –undercover instruments of investigation can also be applied in order for these crimes to be more efficiently investigated.
8) Contradictory to the provisions of the Hungarian Criminal Code (and the regulations of binding international norms) that prohibit the entire system of prostitution, the Hungarian Act on Misdemeanours stipulates that the most vulnerable participant in prostitution, namely the prostitute, should be punished, recently – due to a modification made a few months ago – even if the person in question is still a child. Therefore, the Act on Misdemeanours must also be modified so that it complies rather than conflicts with the relevant regulations of the Criminal Code, and also so that it ceases to strengthen the association between the perpetrator and the victim but rather facilitates support for the victim and the tracking down of the perpetrator.
9) Furthermore, we demand that the State reviews its obligations stemming from international instruments on the prohibition of child prostitution and immediately initiates the modification of the relevant laws, sets out the tasks necessary for their transposition into practice, and defines mechanisms for the monitoring of this process [4.].
10) We call on the adult population not to tolerate in their everyday lives the actions of “clients” who exploit vulnerable and broken children – as these buyers are the perpetrators of serious crimes and must be handed over to the police.
7th February 2011
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Issuers of the petition:
Alternatal Alapítvány (Alternatal Foundation)
BOCS Alapítvány (BOCS Foundation)
Budapesti Szociális Forrásközpont (Budapest Social Resource Centre)
Család, Gyermek, Ifjúság Egyesület (Family Child Youth Association)
Család-Vár Alapítvány (“Család-Vár” Foundation)
Emberiség Csoport Magyarország Közhasznú Egyesület (Humanity’s Team Hungary Public Interest Association)
Független Bábaszövetség Közhasznú Egyesület (Hungarian Federation of Independent Midwives Public Interest Association)
Gyerekesély Közhasznú Egyesület (Chance for Children Foundation)
Magyar Asszonyok Érdekszövetsége (Hungarian Women’s Alliance)
Magyar Női Érdekérvényesítő Szövetség és alábbi tagszervezetei (The Hungarian Women’s Lobby and the following member organizations):
* FIONA - Fiatal Nőkért Alapítvány (FIONA Foundation for Young Women)
* HARKE - Hallássérültek Rehabilitációjáért Küzdők Egyesülete (HARKE Association for the Rehabilitation of the Hearing-impaired)
* Jól-Lét Közhasznú Alapítvány (Wellbeing Public Interest Foundation)
* MONA - Magyarországi Női Alapítvány (MONA Foundation for the Women of Hungary)
* NANE Egyesület (NANE Women’s Rights Association)
* NŐTÁRS Alapítvány (Sisterhood Foundation)
* Patent Egyesület (PATENT Association of People Challenging Patriarchy)
* REGINA Alapítvány (REGINA Foundation)
* Sex Educatio Kiemelten Közhasznú Alapítvány (Sex Education Public Interest Foundation)
* Veszprémi Nők Kerekasztala Egyesület (Veszprém Women’s Roundtable Association)
Mátra Nagycsaládos Egyesület, Markaz (Mátra Association of Large Families, Markaz)
Méltóságot Mindenkinek Mozgalom (Dignity for All Movement)
Miria Alapítvány (Miria Foundation)
MTA Gyerekszegénység Elleni Program (Hungarian Academy of Sciences Programme Against Child Poverty)
Növekvő Hold Alapítvány (Growing Moon Foundation)
OSZABISZ – Orvosok a Szabad és Biztonságos Születésért (OSZABISZ – Physicians for the Freedom and Safety of Childbirth)
Pesterzsébeti Szociális és Gyermekvédelmi Központ Pince Ifjúsági Információs és Tanácsadó Iroda (Pesterzsébet Social and Child Protection Centre “Pince” Youth Information and Counselling Office)
Stop-Férfierőszak Projekt (Stop Male Violence Project)
Születésház Egyesület (“Születésház” Association for Free Birth Choices)
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References:
[1.] http://nol.hu/belfold/20110127-alkotmanyellenes_a_barcarendelet
[2.] In Hungarian: http://jab.complex.hu/doc.php?docid=WKHU-QJ-XML-0000095500034TVR; in English: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/trafficpersons.htm
[3.] In Hungarian: http://www.complex.hu/jr/gen/hjegy_doc.cgi?docid=A0900161.TV; in English: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc-sale.htm
[4.] A collection of recommendations in the Hungarian version of the publication Legislation, Rights Protection and Assistance: Development of Inter-disciplinary Cooperation in Hungary to Combat Prostitution and Trafficking for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation and to Support Victims. MONA – Foundation for the Women of Hungary, 2010, (in Hungarian: Jog, jogvédelem, ellátás: Szakmaközi együttműködés kiépítése Magyarországon a prostitúció és szexuális kizsákmányolás céljából folytatott emberkereskedelem leküzdése és az áldozatok segítése érdekében) serves as the background for this demand. Recommendations for the establishment of a system based on intersectoral cooperation for the purpose of combating prostitution and trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and assisting victims are to be found on pages 25 to 35, while recommendations for comprehensive legislative amendments start on page 45 of the Hungarian publication. http://www.mona-hungary.hu/kepek/upload/2010-11/Jog_jogv%C3%A9delem_ell%C3%A1t%C3%A1s_Hun.pdf , English version (without detailed proposals) : http://mona-hungary.hu/object.d0fe3c67-7e5e-4080-8d53-3d7a5749fe37.ivy
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The 10 points against child prostitution in Hungary petition to Government of the Republic of Hungary was written by civilek a gyermekprostitúció ellen and is in the category Children's Rights at GoPetition.