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Meeting, organized by Marina Dikova, MP and Anelia Mingova, MP, who introduced the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence, and by the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation

On 31 March 2006 in the National Assembly was held a meeting between the MPs who introduced the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence, representatives of the executive, judiciary and local governance and non-governmental organizations, working on domestic violence issues. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of the Law during its first year of its enforcement.

Since the enforcement of the Law on 1 April 2005 there has been a positive change in the attitude and more clearly expressed intolerance towards domestic violence, show the results from the new survey of the National Center for Public Opinion Surveys, compared to the results of the one used in the law drafting process. However, Bulgarians are not aware of the Law and its mechanisms.

The court practice also shows positive changes and the law is considered by the judges as a working one, while the police is among the most efficient and quickly reacting institutions with regard to the implementation of the law in collaboration with the NGOs.

However, still the Program for prevention and protection of domestic violence has not been developed yet, as it is required by Paragraph 2 of the Final Provisions of the Law. Although some NGOs have already received financial support for their separate projects, the state has not developed any mechanism for providing such support for NGOs’ and local governments’ initiatives aiming at initiatives for the efficient application of the Law. It was stated that local governments have become very active and involved in different initiatives like the agreement between BGRF and Sofia Municipality for establishing intervention centers for people, victims of domestic violence. The project is financed by the Ministry of Finance.

This event is extremely important because for the first time the legislator monitors the implementation of a social law and seeks, together with the judiciary and the non-governmental sector, accountability on the part of the executive power. The intention of the organizers is such meetings to be held regularly.