The name of this-year 16 Days Campaign – Advance Human Rights – End Violence Against Women focuses public attention on the state’s responsibilities for implementing the international documents in the field of prevention and fight with violence against women.

Together with continuing the tradition of collecting information about the Bulgarian initiatives dedicated to the 16-days campaign and their promotion in Bulgaria and abroad, the Center of Women’s Studies and Policies (CWSP) initiated new activities within the 2006 campaign.

On 24 November 2006 – on the eve of the 16 Days Campaign against Violence against Women, CWSP organized a National Academic Conference “Gender and Transition”, which became an important meeting for researchers and activists from the women’s non-governmental sector, working on a broad range of issues connected to gender equality.

CWSP demonstrated its engagement with the problem of violence against women by dedicating a separate issue of the TV program it develops in cooperation with the TV Europe aimed at discussing gender equality issues in Bulgaria. The issue about the 16 days campaign was broadcast on 21 November 2006 and the guests in the studio were Liliya Sazonova – Program Coordinator at CWSP and Dimitar Sotirov – Vice-President of the Bulgarian Media Coalition who presented the goal and focus of the Campaign in 2006 as well as the problems connected with the implementation of the legislation regulating violence against women. Furthermore, the role of the media in creating non-aggressive models of behavior in society and the necessity of both printed and electronic media to be more sensitive and well-informed when presenting the issue “violence against women”.

Finally, in its capacity of being the Bulgarian partner in the international website StopVAW, on 25 November CWSP officially opened the long-expected Bulgarian version of the Bulgarian page of the website. Thus the 16-days campaign registers the transformation and enhancement of the Bulgarian page on violence against women making it more easily accessible and readable for Bulgarian audience. Every user of the page will be able to read in Bulgarian information about the Bulgarian legislation regulating violence against women, the NGO’s working in the field, the ongoing news on the problem, etc.

The festival “Beyond the apparent – trafficking in women and the world cinema” took place in the House of cinema from 24 to 26 November 2006. The event was organized on the occasion of 25 November – the international day against violence against women and showed movies all over the world dedicated to the issue of trafficking.

The aim of the festival was to show the problem of trafficking in human beings in an original way attracting people from different ages, interests and professions. During the event informational and preventative materials with the number of the hotline of Animus Association Foundation (AAF) were disseminated.

Source: AAF’s website (in Bulgarian)

With a Decision №653 of the Sofia Municipality Council on 27 July 2006 a building for shelter for women and children survivors of violence has been provided to BGRF for 10 years. In order the shelter to start functioning properly a repair is needed. 

For those who would like to donate money for the repair the bank details are:

United Bulgarian Bank (OBB)

Account holder: Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation

5 Sveta Sofia Str, Sofia 1040, Bulgaria

IBAN: BG64UBBS80021092086119 in BGN

SWIFT: UBBSBGSE,

Source: BGRF’s website

The Press-conference follows the Agreement signed by Sofia Municipality and Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) for join actions directed to prevention and protection of domestic violence. In July Sofia Municipality donated to BGRF a building to open a shelter for women and children – victims of violence. Additionally, BGRF with the active cooperation of Sofia Municipality and the Ministry of Interior opened 3 centers for free of charge consultations for victims of domestic violence in Sofia.

Source: Sofia municipality’s website; BGRF’s website

Bulgarian Fund for Women organized a charity dinner for the shelter for survivors of domestic violence in BGRF’s favor. During the charity dinner a charity auction of contemporary Bulgarian artists’ paintings took place. The donations from the charity auction will contribute to the fund for the reconstruction of the building for shelter for victims of violence provided by Sofia municipality.

Source: Bulgarian Fund for Women

“The Law on countering trafficking in human beings is not effectively implemented” – said Antoaneta Georgieva, Executive Director of Face to Face at a seminar about violence against women taking place on 26 November in Blagoevgrad.

A proof that there are still no concrete measures to implement the Law are the changes in the Penal Code that let one of the first convicted for trafficking in human beings in the country – Vanko 1 to be realized.

Only 240 Bulgarian victims of violence managed to come back in the country for the last three years. Bulgarian women and girl who became sexual slaves are victims of trafficking in more than 15 countries – mostly in Western and Eastern Europe and South Africa. The experts suggest before going to work abroad to investigate the company that hires you, to inform your relatives and to be in touch with them all the time.

During the seminar representatives of the non-governmental organizations discussed how they can coordinate their efforts to combat trafficking in human beings.

This year P.U.L.S. Foundation joins again the 16 days campaign together with the Social assistance service of the Municipality in Pernik. Their cooperation aimed at the conduction of an informational campaign from 29 November to 1 December 2006. During this campaign leaflets and information materials about the 16 days campaign and the women’s right to live life without violence were disseminated. In the above-mentioned information campaign representatives of the Child Protection Department in Pernik took part.

Source: P.U.L.S. Foundation