Bulgaria Passes New Law on Domestic Violence
Thursday, March 17, 2005 9:00 AM
On 16 March 2005, the Law on Domestic Violence passed in the Bulgarian Parliament. The law is one of the first of its kind in the region to include Order for Protection provisions and is modeled after a similar law passed in Minnesota in 1979. The law allows victims of domestic violence to seek civil orders from the court that direct abusers to leave the home and stay away from victims. Moreover, the law provides immediate protection to victims of domestic violence without requiring that they pursue criminal remedies against or divorce from their abusers. The Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) has been working for years on this law, and this event marks a landmark victory for them and for all the advocates in Bulgaria who have worked on this law. It is hoped that this new legal remedy will make a difference in the lives of domestic violence victims.