For nearly fifteen years, Hungary has been drifting away from its democratic foundations, transforming under Viktor Orbán’s rule into an increasingly authoritarian state. While the façade of democratic institutions remains—elections are held, courts still exist—the reality tells a different story: power is centralised, the media muzzled, and civil society suffocated. Even more remarkably, this democratic backsliding has occurred within the European Union, an institution founded on the very principles Orbán is now dismantling.
But change may be on the horizon. On March 15, 2025 tens of thousands rallied in Budapest, waving Hungarian flags as MEP Péter Magyar, leader of the surging opposition Tisza Party, - named after Hungary's second biggest river - vowed to end Orbán’s 15-year rule. Once an insider within Orbán’s Fidesz party, Magyar has rebranded himself as the face of dissent following a high-profile split with his ex-wife, the former Justice Minister Judit Varga, who resigned over a disputed sex-abuse pardon case. With the elections looming in 2026 and Hungary’s economy struggling, Peter Magyar is emerging as a major voice of dissent in Hungary, signalling growing frustration with Orbán’s grip on power.
Why Do Authoritarians Fear Women?
History shows that women's movements can effectively challenge authoritarian regimes. In Argentina, in 1987, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo exposed the military junta’s brutality and catalyzed a successful pro-democracy movement that helped topple the regime. Similarly, the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers in the Soviet Union raised awareness of corruption and human rights violations, contributing to the system's collapse. In Poland, women took to the streets during the COVID-19 pandemic to protest the ruling Law and Justice Party's crackdown on reproductive rights. In Iran, the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, ignited a global movement against repression.
Time and again, women have been at the forefront of resisting authoritarianism—when "gender-based power structures are challenged by everyday citizens, profound societal change becomes possible.
That is precisely why strongmen seek to silence women. Controlling women means controlling society. By dismantling gender rights, regimes reinforce subjugation, suppress dissent, and consolidate power. Orbán’s Hungary is no exception.
Orbán’s War on Gender Equality
Since returning to power in 2010, Orbán’s government has systematically dismantled women's rights under the guise of "family values" and demographic concerns. His rhetoric leaves little room for ambiguity— demographics, he insists, "stand or fall on women," reducing women’s bodies as instruments for achieving national population goals rather than as autonomous individuals with equal rights.
The broader ideology at play here is unmistakable. By constitutionally enshrining in 2013 the "traditional family" as the foundation of Hungarian identity, Orbán has fused nationalism with patriarchal control. In 2018, his government banned Gender Studies from the list of accredited subjects at both Masters and PhD levels. Zsolt Semjen, Hungary's Deputy Prime Minister, claimed gender studies programs "ha[ve] no business in universities “as they represent "an ideology, not a science.”
Although abortion remains legal in Hungary for up to 12 weeks, access has been increasingly restricted through procedural barriers. Women seeking abortions must undergo mandatory counselling sessions, designed to dissuade them. These barriers have resulted in many Hungarian women travelling to neighbouring Austria for abortion services that offer more supportive and less invasive procedures.
In 2022, the government restricted abortion access by requiring women to listen to "foetal vital signs" before an abortion — this essentially means that women must hear the fetal heartbeat as part of the mandatory medical process. It’s a psychological tactic straight out of the far-right playbook designed to coerce women into continuing pregnancies.
This aligns seamlessly with the far-right’s obsession with the “Great Replacement” theory—the idea that Western elites are engineering the decline of white Christian populations through immigration and declining birth rates. In a 2022 speech, Orbán stated, "We [Hungarians] are not a mixed race and we don't want to become a mixed race." This framework provides justification for both anti-immigration policies and patriarchical values that pressure that pressure women into motherhood for the sake of the nation.
These developments have positioned Hungary as one of the most regressive European countries regarding women's rights, with far-reaching consequences for Hungarian society and influence on global far-right movements. In such a toxically misogynistic atmosphere, it comes as no surprise that according to the European Institute for Gender Equality, of all the EU Member States, Hungary only ranks second from the last just above Romania on the 2024 Gender Equality Index. On the power index that measures gender equality in decision-making positions across the political, economic and social spheres, Hungary ranks last among the EU countries.
But here’s the paradox: despite pouring 5% of Hungary’s GDP into pro-natalist policies—tax breaks, subsidized loans, financial incentives—birth rates continue to plummet. According to Bloomberg, in 2024, Hungary recorded 77,500 births, a 9.1% decrease from the previous year.
Why? Economic and social uncertainty plays a role, but the broader reality is that Hungarian women, like their European counterparts, are prioritising education, careers, and autonomy over state-imposed reproductive expectations.
Targeting LGBTQ+ Rights
Orbán’s war on gender rights doesn’t stop with women—it extends to LGBTQ+ communities. Their representation in media and education has been systematically censored under laws modelled after Russia’s "gay propaganda" ban. In 2020, Hungary's Parliament passed legislation that ended legal recognition for transgender people. Since Hungarians are frequently required to produce identity cards in everyday situations, transgender people are effectively forced to "out" themselves in daily interactions, a form of state-sanctioned humiliation. While the government claimed to merely be "clarifying sex within the law," this disingenuous justification masks the ideological agenda of reinforcing rigid gender categories in service of Orbán’s vision of a "white, Christian nation.
Global Far-Right Connections
This crackdown isn’t happening in isolation. Orbán has positioned himself as the ideological leader of the global far-right, hosting the U.S. Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest and embracing figures who advocate for ultra-conservative social policies. His government promotes the “Great Replacement” theory—a racist conspiracy claiming Western elites are replacing white Christian populations with migrants.
His playbook is a case study in 21st-century autocracy. As historian Anne Applebaum argues in her book Autocracy Inc., modern authoritarianism is no longer about a single dictator—it’s about networks. These networks stretch across borders, sometimes in democracies too, linking autocrats through shared propaganda, kleptocratic financial structures, and security forces.
Orbán is not just dismantling democracy in Hungary—he’s exporting the model. His regime demonstrates how gender oppression, nationalism, and democratic erosion go hand in hand. But if history has shown us anything, it’s that when women challenge these systems, real change becomes possible. Women tend to be more resilient, creative, and ultimately successful—which means the future of democracy and the future of women’s empowerment in this pivotal historic era may go hand-in-hand. And that is precisely why men like Orbán are afraid of them.
Notes:
Why Dictators are Afraid of Girls: Rethinking Gender and National Security - War on the Rocks
Donno, D., & Kreft, A. K. (2019). Authoritarian institutions and women’s rights. Comparative Political Studies, 52(5), 720-753. (Gated)
https://populationmatters.org/news/2025/01/viktor-orbans-hungary-the-erosion-of-reproductive-rights/
https://www.boell.de/en/2018/07/04/family-and-gender-viktor-orbans-hungary
'Hungarians will not become a mixed race': Orbán's latest tirade sparks new row
Resisting Genderphobia in Hungary https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/5528
The Hungarian Ban on Gender Studies and its Implications for Democratic Freedom https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jlg/2019/01/the-hungarian-ban-on-gender-studies-and-its-implications-for-democratic-freedom/
Hungary | Index | 2024 | Gender Equality Index | European Institute for Gender Equality
Hungary Births Drop to Record in Blow to Orban’s Family Policies - Bloomberg
Hungary requires doctors to present women with fetal vital signs before abortion https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o2260
https://www.vox.com/22547228/hungary-orban-lgbt-law-pedophilia-authoritarian
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