Domestic violence manifests itself in all levels of society and in all societies around the world. Accurate statistics on victims of domestic violence in Bulgaria are lacking. NOEMA statistics from 2001 show that every fourth Bulgarian woman is a victim of domestic violence. Data from seven district courts in the period 2012-2014 show that 91% of murders of women were committed by men, 7% - with the complicity of men and women, and only 2% - only by women. In 35% of cases, murders and attempted murders of women were committed by the victim's current or former intimate partner, in 31% by another known man, and in only 9% of murders by a stranger. Two-thirds of the killings took place at the victim's home. In 2018 alone, 33 women / according to the Ministry of Interior / were killed by their intimate partners. For the first three months of 2019, 10 women were killed.
According to statistics, only for January, 2019, 29 new clients turned to our organization for support. For the whole month of January, 70 / seventy / clients of victims of violence used the services of the Center for Social Rehabilitation and Integration. 92% of the clients of our organization have suffered from domestic violence. These are, above all, severely injured women and children who systematically witness or are subjected to various types of violence, including sexual violence at home.
Even sadder are the statistics on the criticality of people who have committed violence - only 0.5% of them have reached our organization. These are cases of perpetrators of violence who persecute "their victim" or are sent by the Court, the CPD or the Police, as a mandatory measure for "return to the family environment" of their already "taken away" children due to systematic violence against them. In fact, hidden domestic violence is in much higher limits and adolescents in our country grow up in these conditions of insecurity and fear, leading to irreversible consequences.
For more than 19 years, the team at the organization has been working to solve the problem of "domestic violence".
Our team works to provide comprehensive services and protect the rights of victims of violence, regardless of gender and age, and to optimize counseling programs for people who have committed or continue to commit violence at home.
Despite the possibility of accommodation in crisis centers and the issuance of a court order for protection, a large percentage of victims continue their lives in fear due to constant persecution and inability to live freely.
In response to the great need to support the victims of violence and partnership between institutions, the PULSE Foundation launched the project "Family without violence - take an active part!", which is implemented under a grant agreement with reg. № 93-00- 150 / 21.05.2019, concluded with the Ministry of Justice.
The project sets the following goals, in line with the national program for prevention and protection from domestic violence for 2019. And the need for support for victims, work with perpetrators and cooperation between institutions:
- To optimize the work of the Regional Program for 24-hour protection, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of domestic violence in the direction of effective work of the Center for Social Rehabilitation and Integration, Crisis Center and construction of Transitional Housing - Pernik Region.
- To create conditions for interrupting the model of reproduction of violence in communication in the family and society, by including in Programs for counseling the perpetrators of violence.
- Monitoring the implementation of the new changes in the Penal Code, their integration and optimization in the human rights and law enforcement system.
The project "Family without violence - take an active part " will be implemented within six months and will provide free support to victims of violence and perpetrators.
02 December 2019: PULSE Foundation finalizes the project "Family without violence - take an active part!"