A Romani woman was subjected to verbal harassment and discrimination on the basis of ethnicity by hospital staff while giving birth at a Hungarian public hospital. The national Equal Treatment Authority found the hospital had violated the claimant’s dignity and right to equal treatment based on ethnicity.
The hospital has already implemented the decision: it paid the fine and published the decision for 60 days on their website. In terms of wider outcomes, there was a great deal of media attention surrounding the case so it reached the general Hungarian public. According to Judit Geller (ERRC), “most of the media reported the case sympathetically and with sensitivity. The hospital, however, remained mostly silent and refused to speak to the media.” ERRC continues to monitor the situation in the region in order to determine whether or not similar discriminatory practices continue.
This is the first case in Hungary where a decision-making body found a violation of the right to equality – specifically, discrimination in the form of harassment based on ethnic stereotypes – in connection with statements made to a Romani woman based on her ethnicity in a health institution, in connection with reproductive health rights. This decision also highlights the attention paid by the Authority to the vulnerable situation of women giving birth alone in hospital.
As stressed by Judit Geller (ERRC), the decision should be understood in the wider context of continued widespread discrimination against Roma communities across Europe, as well as in relation to State obligations within the international legal framework to adopt a substantive equality approach to ensuring non-discrimination and equality for all persons in all situations. This approach requires consideration of, and positive measures in response to, statements and actions based on stereotypes (for example, see Article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women). It also provides useful guidance of a concrete situation involving overlapping identities, namely ethnicity and gender, leading to instances of intersectional discrimination.
European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)