site.btaOne in Four Women in Bulgaria Has Experienced Violence

One in Four Women in Bulgaria Has Experienced Violence

Sofia, November 25 (BTA) - One in four women in Bulgaria, or one million women, have experienced physical or sexual violence, National Assembly Deputy Chairman Dimiter Glavchev said at the opening of an information campaign in Parliament, entitled "One in Four: See the True Face of Violence".

The initiative is part of the global campaign of the UN "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence" taking place from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day.

The information campaign in the National Assembly is organized by ABV MP Mariana Todorova and the Bulgarian Fund for Women.

Glavchev noted that people are reluctant to discuss the issue and it is often not commented at all. He said violence has different faces and that the most important thing is to be recognized and disclosed by the victims so that it can be stopped on time. Domestic violence affects children because it does not only harm the young child and cause psychological trauma but is often perceived as a model of behaviour. Domestic violence also causes violence outside the home.

"Regretfully, in the 21st century we are still talking about gender-based violence. The problem is serious and affects millions of women and children in the worlds whose human rights are violated," Glavchev said.

British Ambassador here Emma Hopkins said that the focus of the debate should be shifted and directed not just to the victims of violence but to those who perpetrate it.

Nadezhda Dermendjieva of the Bulgarian Fund for Women said that the fact that one in every four women in Bulgaria is a victim of violence means that probably, one in every four men is an abuser. Dermendjieva called on men to be intolerant to acts of violence they witness.