There has never been a judgment in Hungary where the court had to put a price tag on a woman’s genitals. The victim of the case, known as the lye attack, initiated a legal action for damages against her assailant, a former hospital director, in 2017, but the civil law procedure was set aside until the final decision in the criminal case had been reached. The hearings were held almost completely behind closed doors but the announcement of the first instance judgment took place publicly.

Following an almost four-year legal dispute, the Budapest Metropolitan Court pronounced its judgment on the 25th of November in the compensation case of the victim of the lye doctor.

“Krisztián Bene shall be obligated to pay 25 million Forints punitive damages to Erika Renner for infringement of her rights to health and physical integrity”,

- stated judge Enikő Bakos.

She justified her decision with the expert opinion, according to which claimant Erika Renner has suffered second and third degree burns, she could not look after herself; providing for the most basic physical needs has caused difficulty and pain for her and the treatment of her injuries is accompanied by pain to the present day. The Court found the expert opinion to be substantiated, which on the other hand Krisztián Bene, the defendant, considered “unsuitable” because in his opinion, preparing an expert opinion without the personal examination of the claimant is not practicable. The defendant argued that the photographs of the victim’s injuries taken in 2013 and 2015 are not suitable to assess her present condition, therefore requested a supplementary expert opinion. The Court, on contrary, has found that sufficient evidence was available; therefore it has not ordered further evidentiary proceedings.

“In its decision the Court has taken into account that the claimant is still forced to face the consequences of the attack on a daily basis and that her sense of security has vanished, and she is now incapable of having any more children”,

- the judge listed.

The Court also considered it to be a substantial detriment that Erika Renner’s femininity and sexual life have gravely suffered. Thus the Court has not found it exaggerated to prescribe the non pecuniary damages of HUF 25 million – equivalent to the Erika Renner’s claim – to the assailant.

Following the announcement Erika Renner told Telex that she was relieved and even though she knew that she would have been entitled to a much higher sum, these were the possibilities the Hungarian civil legal system had to offer,

“That’s how much my body is worth in Hungary”,

- she said. However, in her opinion, this judgment also has an important social message. “It’s not worth abusing others because it may not only have criminal law consequences but also some serious financial effects as well”, she stated.

Erika Renner was attacked in her home in 2013 by her ex-boyfriend, who was the director of a hospital in Buda (Budai Irgalmasrendi Kórház) at the time; he poured caustic alkali on her genitalia and the genital area. Five years after the attack, the Court sentenced Bene to 11 years’ imprisonment in 2018. The criminal procedure was still in process when, in 2017 Erika Renner filed an action for damages against her attacker, but the civil law procedure was set aside until the final decision in the criminal case was reached, so in effect the trial only began in December 2018. The fact that received a lot of attention was when the judge of the compensation case requested the victim to submit herself once more, seven years after the attack, to gynecological and psychological examinations even though multiple such examinations had been carried out in the course of the criminal procedure.

Institutional abuse, painful sex

This June Erika Renner attended a four and a half-hour interview conducted by three female experts at the University of Pécs. A 50 page joint expert opinion was prepared which contained serious allegations but expressed very clear statements.

The experts unequivocally established that neither the multiple surgical procedures nor any further treatment could restore the original conditions of her genitals.

“The functions of the genital organs have been impaired, a fulfilling sexual life is not possible in such situation.”

According to this document, following the attack a natural pregnancy could be precluded in her case, “only by way of follicular aspiration with laparoscope and embryo transfer could she have been impregnated” and she could only have given birth by caesarean section. But this “meant no realistic option for Erika Renner and its success would have been doubtful too”, - stated the gynecologist.

According to the surgeon specialist, she would have to conduct a personal examination on Erika Renner to determine whether another plastic surgery may be performed. The surgeon added that even if there were to be further operations,

“their success cannot be guaranteed, and her sex life is likely to remain limited and painful”.

The expert opinion also explained that Erika Renner had suffered traumas over and over in these last years. Namely, she had become a victim of institutional abuse as a result of the prosecutors’ office intending to terminate the investigation at first, then because during the prolonged procedure, she had to talk about her urination and menstrual problems, the state of her genitals and the changes in her sexual life in front of courts largely composed of men. This presumably contributed to her being diagnosed with “post traumatic stress disorder with severe symptoms” even seven years after the attack. And this means she has not yet processed the trauma, merely learned to live with the symptoms.

(Translated by Dóra Horváth)