Due to workplace abuse and inequality, the former employees of Amnesty International Hungary turned to the public
The notice was sent to 444 as well Open Democracy’s newly published article former employees of Amnesty International Hungary. In it, the former employees of the organization’s Hungarian section reported that they experienced systemic workplace abuse and discrimination. They went public, they said, because they had exhausted all internal forums and options, without success. “As a private person and as a woman, I told them it was their duty to speak out against violations of the law. I would like to get the membership of the organization to hold the management and the presidency accountable and start a dialogue, which can lead to inequality in the workplace everywhere. Workplace abuse is a common phenomenon in Hungary, but it is particularly worrying and problematic when it happens within the walls of the world’s largest human rights organization, one of whose priority topics is women’s workplace equality,” the announcement states.
They added: “At their former workplace, they experienced serious injustices, abuse and discrimination for years, and they also witnessed the fact that a pregnant dormitory declared its contract because it did not want to extend the management because of her pregnancy. All of them left the organization behind due to the abusive and toxic work atmosphere, but at the cost of serious internal struggles, because they loved their work very much and the common goal, the mission, was able to provide comfort in difficult and undeserving situations for a long time.”
“He said it was particularly hypocritical that, according to his own admission, AI HU is currently working to create gender equality and holds workplace trainings on discrimination – they also wrote in the statement – possibly female employees and gender equality experts (three so far, for the same reasons) are leaving one after the other, indicating the treatment experienced within the organization as the direct cause of this.”
Another staff member reported regular psychological terror, baseless accountability, gaslighting, and demeaning and sexist comments, often perpetrated by staff members, normalizing this treatment in the human rights organization.
Between the beginning of 2019 and March 2021, five female employees left the organization for the same reasons. They expressed their concerns several times to Amnesty International’s staff, direct superiors, members of the board, and the president, but the board did not deal with their complaints in any meaningful way, and the independent expert investigation requested by the complainants was not conducted.
The former employees turned to the International Board and Secretariat of Amnesty International, but they unsuccessfully tried to influence the Hungarian presidency, according to the statement. At the beginning of December 2022, the international secretariat of the AI, which had proved to be cooperative until then, suspended the work of the conflict management group, CMAG, which also acted in the Hungarian complaint, and dissolved the group with immediate effect. They have not been officially informed about the suspension of the group’s work and what will happen to their complaint, as well as the further fate of their restorative justice process. After that, they had no other tool left than the public, they wrote. The announcement was made by four former employees, Vera Mérő, Zsófia Nagyné Gere, Zorigt Burtejin and dr. It is written by Ágnes Szalóki. THE Telex asked Amnesty International Hungary about the casewhich wrote, among other things, the following in its response letter:
“Ensuring and promoting gender equality is not only one of the main strategic goals of Amnesty International Hungary, but also one of the most important core values of the organization. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment or abuse, we take all complaints and feedback very seriously and investigate them as thoroughly as possible.”
When a former employee filed a complaint in 2021, the presidency first launched an internal and then an independent external investigation in May: “Former employees regularly work overtime, do not respect the separation of work and private life, the use of communication channels, occasional incomplete respectful communication and they objected to the non-transparent and fair salary and reward system.”
Three members of the board, one member of the supervisory board and the president of the association took part in the internal investigation, the external investigation was carried out by two independent experts, a lawyer-researcher specializing in labor law and workplace harassment and a psychiatrist, EMDR therapist and HR expert.
“The experts reviewed all related documents and records and conducted a total of twelve interviews with board members and employees,” but none of the investigations found evidence that the complaint was founded. Independently of this, the external experts formulated some organizational development proposals, “which we have continuously implemented or are in the process of implementing. Transparency is a serious achievement, which is why we made the investigation and the summary of the proposals made available to everyone on our website,” Amnesty wrote to Telex.
“Furthermore, in a letter sent to the presidency, all the employees of the association stood up for the organization and its operational manager, and unanimously believe that Amnesty Hungary is an equal and safe workplace,” the letter also reads. They continue to write they sympathize with their former employees and regret that there was a situation that affected them badly or was traumatizing during their employment. (Cover photo: Amnesty International Hungary’s truck at Budapest Pride 2022, photo: Tamás Botos)