Samenvatting

This dissertation's primary objective is to analyze the lack of gender-balanced parliaments within the European Union. Worldwide, women continue to be highly underrepresented in the legislature, and only five countries globally have reached gender parity in parliaments. The European Union offers comprehensive recommendations through the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025. These outline strategies for achieving gender equality across the economic, social, and political sectors of its Member States. Hungary has consistently lagged behind other Member States regarding female representation in parliament, reaching barely 14%. The research paper aims to provide a practical recommendation to the client organization Hungarian Women ́s Lobby to improve the issue. Therefore, the central research question of this paper is: “How can the Hungarian Women ́s Lobby improve female participation in the Hungarian Parliament through the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025? “.

The paper focuses on a descriptive and explorative case study using qualitative and quantitative sources to answer the question. A mix of academic, journalistic, and institutional sources has been integrated, providing the paper with primary and secondary data. Moreover, field research consisting of five interviews has been undertaken to address the limited currency of various sources. The results have shown that three main reasons can show Hungary ́s underrepresentation of female lawmakers. Firstly, the electoral system disadvantages women entering or advancing in politics. Secondly, sexist language, traditional gender roles, or online threats present psychological barriers. Ultimately, the absence of political initiatives by the Fidesz government to implement gender mainstreaming measures contributes to low levels of female political participation. The paper ́s framework defines four toolkits from the Gender Equality Strategy and the European Parliament ́s resolution of women in decision-making. These are the limitations of gender stereotypes, work-life balance in parliament, gender equality training, and electoral reforms. The paper's analysis concludes that Hungary has fulfilled no criteria of the framework. The main factor is the illiberal and conservative Fidesz government, which restricts discourse on women's rights and obstructs initiatives aimed at addressing the issue. Therefore, the recommendations for the Hungarian Women's Lobby are confined to collaborating with opposition parties, engaging with Hungarian society, and lobbying at the EU level to enhance the representation of female lawmakers in Hungary.