The Hungarian Women’s Lobby and the Dignity for All Movement organised a press conference on Friday 17 June at 10 a.m. in Budapest (Center for Independent Journalism, 1088 Budapest, Vas utca 6. I. em. 5.) on the occasion of the launch of the European Women’s Lobby’s campaign “Together for a Europe free from Prostitution.”
At the press conference, the EWL’s campaign clip was introduced, as well as the demands of a petition backed by 1.000 signatures entitled “10 points against child prostitution in Hungary,” initiated by the Hungarian Women’s Lobby and the Dignity for All Movement.
The signatories of the petition are of the position that child prostitution is not free choice, but the result of serious coercion. It undermines the safety of children, their future and their relationships with adults. Child prostitution is the worst form of exploitation. It causes serious and almost irreparable damage and psychological, physical and social harm. Nowadays, underage and young prostitutes who have been “prepped” in Hungary are arriving on Western European sex markets not just occasionally, but systematically, and en masse. All the while the Hungarian state remains silent regarding this issue.
The signatories of the petition demand that the Hungarian government finally begin to utilise the possibilities provided to it in law, and instead of persecuting the prostitutes to punish the client. It should amend the penal code and increase the penalties for the users of underage prostitution.
The press conference gathered a dozen journalists and was a great catalyst for the video clip of EWL campaign, which has been seen more than 30 000 times.
The full text of the petition can be read in English or Hungarian.
The invitation to the press conference in Hungarian can be found here.
