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IZOLDA TAKÁCS: THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY today reguires women to have an ethical attitude that has long been outmoded at the level of society as a whole.°® It is true that the law states that (a) the offending conduct of the victim does not, in itself, mean that resistance to violence is not serious (BH 1993, 281). At the same time, the law also states that: “The alleged involvement of the victim is an attenuating circumstance. This may include gross, violent, defiant or grossly abusive behaviour or unlawful conduct; violation of the rights of the victim; light-hearted, defiant behaviour in relation to sexual freedom and sexual crimes.” The problem, in this case, can only arise from the fact that in the relevant section it mentions frivolous defiant behaviour, which can be assessed as “subjectively objective”. The latter implies that the interpretation of the law often conceals the traditionally based value judgment (sexism) of women in society, so that the judiciary practice directly or indirectly reflects the aforementioned social beliefs. As Andrea Sebestyén wrote referring to this: “a decent woman does not dress provocatively, does not walk alone on dark streets, or does not go to clubs where there is a significant majority of men etc.”*” Argumentation of this nature identifies with the viewpoint of the male utilizing the opportunity, and women are blamed for being a victim. This is a serious mistake in her view, and also raises the suspicion that women’s freedom of sexual self-determination is not recognized. The expectation may violate a fundamental right, all things considered. The traditional requirement for women in this sense is restraint, passivity and abstinence.* This is also confirmed by the statement that “tricks” of the authorities include a procedure aimed at the “disappearance” of the abuser and the redirection of the investigation onto the victim. As Olga Toth has pointed out, this mechanism makes use of all possible means of victim-blaming, with the investigation ultimately focusing on the victim’s behaviour rather than the perpetrator and the act. Not infrequently, they focus on investigating how the victim’s habits prior to the crime may have caused the particular tort. Moreover, abused women find themselves confronted with a situation where law enforcement officers do not even believe them because of the gender stereotypes. It can thus be concluded that there are clearly structural causes of violence against women, which reflect the archaic male-female relationship (manifestations of male-dominance), unequal power relations between the sexes, and shed light on long-overdue habits even to this day. Since similar opinions have 5° Sebestyén: Kisérlet a hazai joggyakorlat..., 260-268. 57 Ibidem, 265. 58 Cf. ibidem. + 32e
