site.btaOne in Four Bulgarians Has Experienced Violence

Every fourth person in Bulgaria has experienced violence, according to a study under a project, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism, and implemented by the Women's Association Ekaterina Karavelova in partnership with the University of Veliko Tarnovo.

The study lasted 30 months on the territory of 28 districts in the country and covered 3,500 people, using different methodologies and focus groups, Galya Ivanova told a BTA-hosted news conference in Veliko Tarnovo on Friday.

There is a difference in terms of domestic violence between people who live in small towns and in big cities, said Associate Professor Ivan Ivanov from Veliko Tarnovo University. According to the findings of the study, Bulgarians are tolerant of verbal and partly of  emotional forms of violence, while they accept the physical dimension as the main form of domestic violence.

Men between the ages of 29 and 40, as well as those over 50, adhere more to patriarchal stereotypes, while women are more flexible in their perceptions, he noted.

Another finding is that in both large and small towns, the power of the child in the family is increasing. At the same time, the absence of parents in the family due to various economic reasons - mostly working abroad - creates strong emotional problems in children and this increases the risk of violence, the data show.

In poorer areas based on ethnicity or religion, gender-role stereotypes are more pronounced. In larger cities there is less tolerance of different forms of violence, so there is more sharing and more talking about the problem. The results and conclusions of the study were presented to the Bulgarian MEPs and MPs.