Services4SexWorkers
Sex Work

According to a decree of the Constitutional Court of Hungary, prostitution is now a legal enterprise throughout the nation, but there are several laws and regulatory norms that govern this activity. The most important ones are the law adopted by the Hungarian Parliament, which concerns organised crime, and the decree emanated by the Minister of Health, which requires sex workers to undergo mandatory regular health checkups every three months for sexually transmitted infections, such as chlamydia, hepatitis B, HIV, syphilis, and so on.

The law requires that a sex worker must work on a self-employed basis, that she pay taxes and that she makes regular contributions to the social security and healthcare programmes. In order to obtain a licence for this business activity, the sex worker must demonstrate that she has no criminal record, has a current lease for a flat, written approval from the local government, and she must provide a formal school report and a birth certificate.

Although the legislation concerning prostitution has become less rigid, given that sex work is no longer a criminal act, there are still cumbersome obstacles to overcome¾protected zones and degrading mandatory medical checkups, which have proven problematical in their application. In fact, the legal status of all sex workers, including migrants, is now filled with uncertainty. The effects and consequences of the official change in policy are yet to be determined by in-depth research.

There are police rules and regulations too. The “Sexual Moral Protection Squad”, which works within the Department for Combating Organised Crime at the Budapest Police Headquarters. This squad investigates crimes directly related to prostitution, and it deals with street prostitutes, brothels, nightclubs, and migrant prostitutes. Law forbids trafficking in human beings, and it is a crime specified in the Criminal and Penal Code, under the title Crimes against Personal Freedom and Human Dignity. New amendments are in force, which harmonise the definition of the term “trafficking in human beings” in accordance with new developments and international treaties.

Violation of the rules and regulations governing sex work are considered as a contravention of public order, which is sanctionable pecuniarily, by a fine. There is strong police control over street-prostitution, regardless of whether it is practised by migrant or non-migrant sex workers. Providing the ways and means for the practise of prostitution, such as maintaining a brothel or providing the financial means for the functioning thereof, or making a building available for the prostitution of others, as well as the exploitation of the prostitution of others, constitutes a crime that is sanctionable under the Penal Code. The offering of sexual services in a way that offends others is also punishable under the Penal Code. Exercising prostitution without a valid medical certificate is also punishable under the Penal Code. (A recent survey indicates that most sex workers lack the medical certificate.

The workplace is divided into two zones: protected zones¾where prostitution is forbidden¾and zones of tolerance¾where prostitution can be practiced. Local governments determine these zones. Within the territory of protected zones, prostitutes are prohibited to provide sexual services in blocks of flats, which are jointly owned or used by tenants, in vehicles, or in a place other than a flat. Prostitutes, as well as the clients, are prohibited from offering or accepting sexual services within protected zones. Furthermore, the offer of sexual services is forbidden to persons less than 18 years, or the acceptance of such an offer, or the offer of sexual services in a way that is offensive to others. Legally, sex work may be practised only outside protected zones. Sex work may be exercised only after having undergone mandatory health checkups. Sex work in brothels, sex clubs, or massage parlours is strictly forbidden.

Wherever the phenomenon of prostitution manifests itself in public places within a settlement that has more than 50,000 inhabitants, the local government must designate a protected zone. These so-called protected zones comprise the following:

Those parts of public roads that are used for the transit of vehicles, to include the territory within a 100-metre radius of a motorway

The carriageway or other public road that is marked by a one- or two-digit number outside an inhabited area

The territory within a 50-metre radius of the principal road of inhabited settlements

The buildings in which parliamentary, public administration, judicial bodies, prosecution services, diplomatic and consular missions, or international organisations are located

The buildings serving as places for public and higher education, child welfare, child care, social services or public culture

Terminals used for passenger traffic

The places used for the services of registered churches

The bases of the armed forces

Cemeteries and other places of memorial

All public spaces within a 300-metre radius of all the aforementioned places

Side streets in which institutions, which serve as places for education, medical treatment, permanent accommodation of minors, as well as child welfare, child, care services are located or operated.

Those parts of public roads that are used for the transit of vehicles, to include the territory within a 100-metre radius of a motorway

The carriageway or other public road that is marked by a one- or two-digit number outside an inhabited area

The territory within a 50-metre radius of the principal road of inhabited settlements

The buildings in which parliamentary, public administration, judicial bodies, prosecution services, diplomatic and consular missions, or international organisations are located

The buildings serving as places for public and higher education, child welfare, child care, social services or public culture

Terminals used for passenger traffic

The places used for the services of registered churches

The bases of the armed forces

Cemeteries and other places of memorial

All public spaces within a 300-metre radius of all the aforementioned places

Side streets in which institutions, which serve as places for education, medical treatment, permanent accommodation of minors, as well as child welfare, child, care services are located or operated.

The so-called zones of tolerance are virtually inexistent; therefore, most sex workers work illegally. Indeed, it is very difficult to find a legal workplace outside the protected zones. Moreover, there are no maps that indicate the boundaries of protected zones nor is it clear, with regard to whom? and How? such zones are determined.