MEPs insist on a pan-European protocol against violence against women

Create a pan-European protocol on violence against women in times of crisis, including protection services.

Create a pan-European protocol on violence against women in times of crisis, including protection services. MEPs insist on this because of the increase in domestic violence against women and children since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. MEPs again called on all member states to ratify the Istanbul Convention and urged the EU Council to add violence against women to the list of community crimes.

Reports of violence against women have increased across member states from 20% to 60% in the last year.

The MEP from "Renew Europe" Atidje Aliyeva-Veli explained the parameters of the startling statistics:

„Around 50 women across the EU lose their lives every week as a result of domestic violence. According to unofficial data from the Animus Association, cases of domestic violence have increased by nearly 30% since the beginning of the pandemic, and all these data are not surprising, but they are very worrying. We also have to account for the violence that is happening on the internet and the digital space, magnified by the pandemic. The World Health Organization also says there is a shadow pandemic of domestic violence against women and children.“

The Bulgarian MEP explained what the EU has done in this direction:

„Increase funding for these hotlines, provide hotel rooms for women at risk and introduce mechanisms to allow victims to report abuse confidentially, because the main problem in reporting these cases is actually the fear of reporting.“

„In Bulgaria, where the problem of domestic violence has reached startling dimensions, there are still no official statistics on the cases", pointed out Teodora Petrova from the Bulgarian Fund for Women and added:

„The current data at our disposal was attached to the proposals to amend the Domestic Violence Act. ¾ of all cases of violence in Bulgaria are precisely domestic violence. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, there has been an increase in the number of calls to the 112 emergency number. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 3,584 calls have been received. There has also been an increase in the number of deliberate murders of women, with the perpetrator being a relative, cohabitant or spouse. From March to May 2020, 9 women were killed. This means that every 2 weeks a woman in Bulgaria is killed by her partner, relative or acquaintance. This should lead to real measures to deal with the situation, which unfortunately we are not witnessing. The bill to amend the Domestic Violence Protection Act was never brought to a successful conclusion and is once again somewhere in limbo“.

„Although there are many responsible institutions, there is a lack of coordination between them," noted Teodora Petrova as the main weakness of the system.

„A national body should be created to be responsible for all domestic violence policies and prevention should be strengthened, working with children from school age to recognize, not tolerate and not allow violence when they become victims or witnesses. It is necessary to improve direct work with victims, including establishing and funding sufficient crisis centers“.

Victims of domestic violence can seek help on the hotlines of the Animus Foundation on tel. 0800 1 8676 and on the line of the Alliance for Protection from Gender-Based Violence - 0 800 9 77. If the injured person is in Sofia, they can sought assistance at "Pirogov" hospital, where a 24-hour specialized office was opened.