Hungary police 'blaming victims' of sexual assault

Safety advice from police in Hungary said that flirting by young women can "elicit violence"

Police in Hungary have been accused of victim blaming after releasing rape prevention advice that warns women of the risks of flirting.

They had already faced heavy criticism for a rape awareness film that seemed to partly blame the victim.

Safety advice from Vas county police on Tuesday said that flirting by young women could "elicit violence."

Women's groups and civil rights organisations have condemned the statement.

The safety advice was published to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Reka Safrany, of the Hungarian Women's Lobby, said she was shocked by the "unprofessional" campaigns that "very much blame the victims".

The incident comes four days after Hungarian police were heavily criticised for releasing a public safety film with the slogan: "You can do something about it, you can do something against it."

The film features a group of young women drinking and dancing with men at a nightclub after which one of them is sexually assaulted by a stranger.

The video was called "harmful and dangerous" by Keret, a group of Hungarian women's rights organisations, in a statement (in Hungarian) published on social media on Monday.

"It's not clothes that cause victims," the statement said.

The group urged the police to take down the film and to change the angle of its safety campaigns.