Zooming in on the Czech Republic
By Andrea Veselá
In the Czech Republic, much like in the surrounding Eastern and Central European countries, there is increasing polarisation between the conservatives and the “woke” liberals. There is not necessarily the same right-wing/left-wing divide as is seen in many other European countries, because due to the country’s Communist history, the left is very weak, and is represented mainly by communists from the times of the USSR, while centre-right and right is where most “progressive” parties place themselves. Often, a party, which will market itself as centre-right in the Czech Republic, would actually correspond to a left-wing party in a Western European country. However, due to the collective trauma of the Communist dictatorship, parties shy away from associating too much with the left, even if many of their beliefs and opinions do objectively fall on the left side of the political spectrum. There is also increasingly more support for the ultra right-wing party, SPD (Freedom and Direct Democracy party) or the populist party Ano (Yes).
The main themes in hate speech used both online and offline in the Czech Republic correspond to sexism, misogyny, and hatred of minorities, namely the Roma people and Muslims, and to a lesser extent, yet still not negligible, LGBTQI+.
The Czech Republic continues to be a highly sexist country, in which women experience discrimination in the workforce, positions of power, as well as in the home and in other areas of their lives. According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, in 2021 the Czech Republic scored 56.7 out of 100 in their Index, with the EU average being 68.0. Furthermore, the Czech Republic is one of the five EU countries who have not yet ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence Istanbul Convention, better known as the Istanbul Convention. Due to the Communist past of the country, many Czech people believe women have equality (as they were required to join the workforce) and that feminism is not needed - indeed, feminism has long been considered as unnecessary, useless and almost a “dirty” word. This lack of seriousness about women’s issues, is one of the reasons why much of Czech culture and humour is highly sexist and misogynistic, with women and other people who are unhappy with this status quo often deemed too sensitive, Westernized and focusing on unimportant things, thus being publicly gaslit. There is a major issue with women in power, and other famous women, receiving threats of sexual assault. New initiatives and organisations who are trying to bring attention to the problem of sexism in the country, such as Konsent, are becoming more popular, but in Czech society, their job is very difficult, and they also receive online hate for the job they do.
Other trends amongst topics of hate in the country include hate speech targeted at minority groups such as LGBTQI+, and, in most part, Roma people and Muslims. Most hate speech on the internet goes unnoticed, but in some severe cases, it is possible to bring its perpetrators to court. In the period of 2016 to 2019, there were 47 cases of online hate speech in district courts. The most common victims were Muslims (23%) and Roma people (49%). In 94% of these cases, the perpetrators were male and white.
The history of Roma people in the Czech Republic is long, complex and difficult, and they are one of the biggest ethnic minorities in the country. Muslims, however, are not at all a big minority group, and so it seems that most of the hate against them is generated through political discourse of the ultra-right, which instils fear and hatred of Muslims in people.
LGBTQI+ do not experience as much hate as in neighbouring countries, which may in part be due to the atheist nature of the Czech Republic. Although 67% of Czech people support marriage for all, at the moment only heterosexual couples are legally allowed to marry. Although there is general support for equal rights, many people still live with the mindset that non-heterosexual people should keep their lives away from the public sphere, and especially around the times of the Prague Pride, hate speech targeting LGBTQI+ people always increases. Even if this sort of apathy does not generate as much hate speech, discrimination of LGBTQI+ people is still a major issue in the country.
Overall, hate and hate speech in the Czech Republic is mostly battled by smaller organisations and initiatives, which are trying to bring awareness to the issues in society. The Public Defender of Rights also has the duty to focus on online hate speech, although this also largely depends on who holds the position. The themes of hate speech in the Czech Republic mirror its society and people, and the main issue to overcome in the future will be for problems such as misogyny or discrimination based on ethnicity to be taken seriously, so that hate speech in these areas can diminish.
Sources:
https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2021/country/CZ
https://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention