Xpat Opinion: Getting It Wrong On Purpose: Human Rights Watch & Domestic Violence In Hungary
- 15 Nov 2013 8:00 AM
Last week, Human Rights Watch published a report on domestic violence issues in Hungary and that report has received some coverage, drawing attention to an important problem. But based on the report, some media channels published articles directing criticism at how the Hungarian system fails to address the problem. They don’t have all the facts.
The report – as usual – is misinformed, misleading, and at times simply mistaken, as press releases from the police (available in Hungarian) and the Ministry of Human Resources (available here in English) have pointed out.
I’ve written on this blog about Human Rights Watch’s reports on Hungary several times before (see here, here, here, here and here) but to no avail. You see, the problem is that Human Rights Watch, at least its correspondent covering Hungary, are simply not interested in providing a full and balanced picture. Why do I say so? Because the author of the report essentially said so herself.
The Ministry of Human Resources spoke with Human Rights Watch about the report. When they confronted the correspondent with the incomplete information and factually incorrect data cited in the report, the HRW correspondent apparently responded something to the effect that Human Rights Watch did not attempt to provide a comprehensive view of the Hungarian legal environment, but, through some clear examples, to encourage the Government to introduce further measures.
Ah, I get it now. Human Rights Watch, at least its local correspondent, has an agenda with Hungary. If certain information or data don’t fit the narrative they want to tell, well, then those points don’t make it into the report.
If Hungary’s latest legal reforms detract from the story, then never mind. Keep driving the point to push that agenda. It seems Human Rights Watch is getting the facts wrong on purpose.
The Hungarian government and civic groups are on the same page about this issue. This is a serious problem and the plight of victims of domestic violence must be improved. The government, in fact, has done a lot since 2010, for example, making ‘domestic violence’ a potentially criminal offense.
I hope one day we can get to a point where the facts inform the conclusions rather than the other way around.
By Ferenc Kumin
Source: A Blog About Hungary
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