The government plans to open a national 24-hour phone line for information for victims of domestic violence and to set up temporary shelters for them, according to the Program for Prevention and Protection from Domestic Violence, which was adopted today.

The development and introduction of educational programs for children, including those living in specialized educational institutions, are part of the measures for prevention outlined in the Program, said Blagorodna Makeva, a senior legal adviser at the Ministry of Interior /MI/. Another set of programs and trainings targets specific groups of personnel at specialized institutions, police officers, law enforcement agencies etc.

According to the plan, each district centre will have shelter rooms for victims of domestic violence, said Makeva. She explained that BGN 270,000 has been set aside for these shelters. For the time being, the telephone line for victims of domestic violence remains the police call number. It is the ambition of experts from the MI  to have a separate number soon. Another commitment made by the Ministry is to draft a guide for protection against domestic violence that will provide advice to victims on how to receive quick and effective protection in case of domestic violence. Initially, the guide will be issued at 15,000 copies.

The Program provides a plan for raising public awareness about the problem, for primary and secondary prevention, and for establishing a basis for developing recovery programs for people who have suffered domestic violence.

The Program envisages amendments to laws concerning incrimination in case of breach of a court order that is imposed to protect victims, or the regulation of the procedure for taking action in case of breach of a court’s order, by specifying the prerogatives of the police, prosecution and court. Heavy fines are to be imposed in case of a repeated act of domestic violence. The establishing of a mechanism for archiving and indexing previous cases of domestic violence with records of the imposed fines etc. is currently under discussion.

The Program for Prevention and Protection from Domestic Violence has been drafted by an interagency group consisting of experts from the Ministries of Interior, of Justice, of Labor and Social Policy, of Health, of Finance, of Education and Science, as well as experts from the Social Assistance Agency and the State Agency for Child Protection.

Cited in: Council of Ministries website, Temporary shelters for victims of domestic violence will be set up, 19 October 2006