Contributed by: Genoveva Tisheva, Bulgaria National VAW Monitor, Bulgarian National VAW Monitor 

On 29 November 2007, a regional roundtable on domestic violence took place in the National Assembly. The meeting was convened and chaired by the parliamentary focal point for the Campaign of the Council of Europe, Mrs. Darinka Stancheva. The participants included MPs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from neighboring countries, such as Albania, Croatia, etc. The roundtable was attended by representatives of the executive in Bulgaria, including the Vice-Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Mrs. Ivanka Hristova, a Senior Legal Adviser of the General Police Directorate, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science and of the Ministry of Health, etc. Representatives of the three major NGOs working in the field were invited, as well; these included the organizations “Animus,” Center “ Nadya,” and the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation.

Mrs. Marina Dikova, the MP who introduced and promoted the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence, spoke about the legislative process and the crucial role of NGOs. The representative of the Police Directorate introduced suggestions to improve legislation for more effective protection for victims of violence by the police.

Although the roundtable was announced in the media and the media were invited, there was no interest from their side and the event was not sufficiently reflected in the press and electronic media. The main reason was that the leading news during those days focused on the split of the parliamentary represented party--the National Movement Simeon the Second--which took priority over the human rights issue of domestic violence.

An interesting event was organized on 29 November 2007 in Plovdiv through a joint effort of “Diva” Foundation and the branch of the BGRF. Data from the work of the two organizations were presented, as well as statistics from the court in Plovdiv on domestic violence cases.

On 30 November 2007, the press conference during the experts’ roundtable of the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation and “Demetra” Association was attended and covered by journalists from the newspaper “ Novinar,” Bulgarian Telegraphic Agency BTA,  BG NES and others. It means that for the media, the issue of VAW is more related to NGO work and news than to news from the government.

The roundtable was attended by representatives of the Agency for Social Protection, the Sofia municipality, the Open Society Institute in Sofia, and NGOs, etc. During the meeting, the results of the UNIFEM-funded project of BGRF and “Demetra” on the coordinated efforts for effective and sustainable implementation of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence were presented. Another important focus was on the monitoring of the law’s implementation by partners and the elaboration of indicators for this monitoring- an activity implemented under the UNIFEM project and also in cooperation with the partner Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. The monitoring--from Haskovo, Targovishte, Gorna Oryahovitza, Pernik, Kurdjali, Sofia District Court--were carried out through in-depth interviews by a monitor-journalist and results presented. Statistics from the work of the court in Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Haskovo, etc. was presented. Monitoring results found by practicing lawyers were presented, too. The news, which was largely reflected in the media, was the establishment by the partners and other NGOs in Bulgaria of an independent Observatory on VAW which will be based in the beginning on the results of the monitoring of the implementation of the domestic violence law by the partners and The Advocates during 2007. “SOS- Families at risk”- Varna and “Diva” Foundation- Plovdiv expressed their interest in participating in this initiative.

Another focus of the press conference was the Youth Programme of BGRF, which highlighter the environment for combating VAW in Bulgaria, specifically the unfavourable environment created by the advertisements of alcoholic beverages which use sexual and humiliating images of women. This part of the press conference was not reflected by the media, perhaps because they are dependent on the corporate interests behind these advertisements.

On 4 December 2007, two events took place. The first one was the seminar in Blagoevgrad on the need for coordinated efforts to combat domestic violence, organized by “Demetra” Association. At the seminar, the news for opening a branch of  “Demetra” in Blagoevgrad was announced. Regional police and social services were broadly involved in the event which was covered by the local media.

The other event was a seminar organized by the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings on the pros and cons of the legalization of prostitution in Bulgaria. Representatives from the Netherlands, the UK, and the U.S. Embassy in Sofia expressed their opinions, as well as officials from the prosecutor’s office and from the Ministry of the Interior. The majority of the speakers and of the NGOs which attended the meeting expressed an opinion against the legalization of prostitution in Bulgaria, because it would increase the sexual exploitation of women. Despite that, conducting such a seminar two months after the very successful conference of the Institute for Democracy and Stability in South-Eastern Europe, described on the Bulgaria Country Page of StopVAW, was not a very appropriate move on behalf of the state. Placing the issue with the title “pros and cons” on the table was covered by the media with labels such as “the opponents of the legalization of prostitution emerged again..”, etc. The media, which are connected with some business circles, were waiting for this opportunity to reopen the public debate by questioning the clear position expressed previously by the President of Republic of Bulgaria, the Chief Prosecutor and the Minister of the Interior. The debate continues.               

Press conferences, participations in the media of NGOs and experts are continuing, such as the participations in “Nova TV”, the Bulgarian National Radio, the newspaper “Novinar,” etc.

December 2007 marked the deadline for applications for the Regional Conference on Legal Reform on Domestic Violence organized by The Advocates and BGRF on 12-14 February 2008. Over 60 applications from NGOs and governmental institutions from the region of CEE and FSU were received and are being reviewed by the partners. This is evidence of the increased interest in the issue throughout the region.