The initial meeting. Representatives from Partners Bulgaria Foundation, Centre for the Study of Democracy and Human Rights Academy

The Human Rights Academy (HRA) is partner in an extensive project that aims at mapping the situation on domestic and gender-based violence in Bulgaria.  One of the goals is to develop tools to support the victims. The cooperating Bulgarian organisations are Partners Bulgaria Foundation and Center for the Study of Democracy. The first partner meeting took place in Sofia August 19^th.. Representatives from HRA were Gunn Bjørnsen and Lillian Hjorth.

The project is funded by the EEA Grants and Norway Grants.

Awareness raising and victims' support

During the next ten months there will be conducted surveys with more than 500 respondents as well as qualitative interviews with victims, police-officers, social workers and others in Bulgaria. Tools for victims´ support and activities to raise awareness in the population and among stakeholders will be developed.

The Human Rights Academy´s role in the project is to report on Norwegian experiences, including lessons learned and good examples. We will contribute with developments taken place in legislation, policy making, institutional structures and research. We will also be responsible for conducting a seminar in Sofia in November 2015 about domestic and gender-based violence in a human rights perspective. Participants will be activists, social workers and police-officers.

The HRA will eventually communicate from the project´s results in newspapers, articles and journals.

Follow us on our website and Facebook on the development of the project.

Read more about the project in Bulgaria here.

From left: Gunn Bjørnsen, Chair of the Board ,Human Rights Academy and Daniela Kolarova, Director, Partners Bulgaria Foundation

Sofia, Bulgaria