So much to do in Bulgaria

by Andrés Alsina

Rome. Bulgaria has no laws against domestic violence, but as important as getting legislation passed is the challenge of achieving a change of attitude within Bulgarian society. Just under two years ago, a public awareness campaign was carried out to promote the idea that in domestic violence cases, women should have access to free legal representation; it will be quite another matter to achieve the recognition of free legal protection as a right. The idea was to raise awareness and understanding of the seriousness of violations of women’s human rights in this society, with a view to achieving full enjoyment of those rights by educating and training women’s groups, the press, police and lawyers on the issue.

The project not only produced campaign materials, and, it is hoped, some changes in people’s attitudes towards these problems. The following year, a second project was launched, of “advanced strategies to combat violence against women”, consisting in a pilot programme to provide legal aid and medical treatment for abused women. Currently there is another “really exciting” project underway with another NGO to educate adolescent and adult males and make them more sensitive to the issue, as well as a pilot programme to treat violent men.

“But it’s difficult, very difficult,” says Genoveva Tisheva, shaking her head, as if she were ready to give up. But she is unable to do that. She is a lawyer, undoubtedly a fearsome opponent in a court of law. She speaks quickly, softly and precisely; she focuses on her objective and it is clear that she is not easily distracted. It is a well-known fact that she asks a lot of herself, but evidently she also achieves a lot.

The Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) was founded almost three years ago. In the beginning, there were only three lawyers and now there are seven, so it has more than doubled its forces. Its main objectives are to promote the goal of gender equality in Bulgarian society, based on equal representation of men and women, to achieve a change in attitudes by providing information and raising awareness about the specific nature of the situation of women in Bulgaria, and, through lobbying, to bring the country into line with European and international standards and with universally recognised democratic values on gender issues.It would not seem a lot to ask, but in practice, it is proving to be an uphill struggle that requires total dedication from Genoveva Tisheva and her colleagues.

When they decided to join forces in June 1998, they were all women with experience in the fields of law, education, human rights monitoring, lobbying for legislative reforms, preparing publications and networking. But as they discussed their setbacks and moments of despair, they discovered that they also needed to study and research, because it was all new and they were, in fact, starting from scratch. Now that they have a few years’ experience, they are the experts and a permanent source of advice to others on the issue. In addition, they are now a national organisation, and proud of it. They also know how to work collaboratively, using individual contributions, and have become part of the international scene through their participation in several networks, among them Social Watch.

They were the only organisation from so called Eastern Europe to attend the Social Watch assembly in Rome, but their country’s communist past is not a burden and they had no problems in forming the NGO, Genoveva explains. What does seem to weigh heavily are the prejudices and conservatism that float like a dense fog in the country’s streets and homes. The issues they are tackling “are still very new in Bulgaria. They are difficult to work on and are regarded as controversial in our society”.

In addition, they are concrete problems and many are centred on the country’s southern border with Greece. That is the route for the trafficking of women as cheap labour or through the prostitution networks; after passing through Greece, they end up scattered in unknown destinations. The members of BGRF are confronting these problems without legislation to back them up, because there simply are no laws regarding these issues, so that is another battle. The country also lacks legislation on domestic violence, so they have to fight for that too. Genoveva says that it is worth the effort, “of course it’s worth it, it has to be done”.