Ivaylo Mirchev, MP from „We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria“ commented on the adopted amendments to the Domestic Violence Protection Act. He published the following post on Facebook:
„One endlessly late but crucial step forward has remained in the shadows among the news of recent days: the adopted amendments to the Domestic Violence Protection Act. Important because the statistics we have are absolutely unacceptable: since the beginning of the year, 12 women in Bulgaria have lost their lives to domestic violence, and that’s just for 2023. It is important because the statistics we have are absolutely unacceptable: since the beginning of the year, 12 women in Bulgaria have lost their lives due to domestic violence, and this is only for 2023.
It is late, because our country should have taken care of providing adequate protection and real prevention a long time ago. These 12 women could be alive today. And all the other victims of recent years – too. It could, if some politicians were not too busy guarding themselves from the non-existent „gender“.
The changes are already real and I would like to express my special gratitude to Nadezhda Yordanova – one of the authors of the bill. Without her efforts and perseverance, we would not be here today. I am also grateful to Tatyana Kamburova, who stood with her face in Parliament and fought for years to protect other women from what she experienced.
What amendments we adopted on Friday:
- We are easing access to justice and introducing free legal aid for victims of domestic violence.
- The protection order for victims of domestic violence will now be subject to immediate enforcement, with no right of appeal. The abuser will be removed from the shared residence for a period determined by the court and will be prohibited from contacting the victim, including by phone, email and all other possible means.
- We are making it easier for victims of domestic violence to be protected, who will now have the right to seek immediate protection within three months, instead of one, as before.
- We are expanding the range of victims who can seek protection, and adding to the perpetrators: those who are entrusted with the child or are entrusted with the care of the child; relatives in the direct and consanguineous line up to the fourth degree; partners in a de facto cohabitation, as well as the spouse or former spouse of the parent.
- We are creating a National Council for the Prevention and Protection of Domestic Violence, which will work at the level of ministers and directors of state agencies to define and coordinate policies and evaluate the implementation of measures.
- A national information system established by the National Council will collect information on domestic violence cases in the country. It is difficult to deal with a problem, if we do not know its exact dimensions, so the system will collect data on victims, on perpetrators and the relationship between them, the type of violence and its history, including reports and requests. With the collected data, the National Council will be able to develop better policies and measures to keep more people alive.
For me, this is an extremely important step towards our transformation into a mature, democratic, modern society. I am ashamed that it took Bulgaria so many years to introduce reasonable protection for the health and lives of families. It is humanly unacceptable to pay the price for political manipulation in lost lives.“
