Closing Meeting of the PROTECT Project

On March 29, 2024, the final meeting of the PROTECT project was held at the National Investigation Service. The participants - investigators, prosecutors, representatives of civil society - were welcomed by the president of the Chamber of Investigators in Bulgaria (KSB), Mrs. Preslava Petkova. The event gave the opportunity to the partners from KSB and the Research and Training Point Foundation to present the main activities and results of the project. Over 160 investigators participated in trainings on gender-based domestic violence and crime investigation; over 60 people took part in round tables on the project. In addition, as part of the project's information campaign, meetings were held with young people in the 37th "Raina Knyaginya" Secondary School and the Arete Youth Foundation. Through meetings and social media, over 60 representatives of the target groups were reached.

At the closing meeting, important conclusions were made related to crime prevention, the need for education and work with young people (an important message in this respect was shared by Mr. Rafailov, educational mediator from the 37th school). The project's research team, which also includes representatives from the University of Oslo, in its report outlined important trends in the development of crime and the actions taken both within the criminal justice system and by non-governmental organizations, researchers, trainers, to widely inform society on the subject. Representatives of the Ministry of Justice also shared the importance of such projects and the need to support and continue the achieved results.

Informational Meeting with Young People - Project PROTECT

As part of the information campaign of the PROTECT project, members of the RTP team met with young people, participants in the Academy for Leaders of the Arete Youth Foundation on March 4, 2024 .

During the meeting, the representatives of the youth council of the foundation discussed issues related to domestic violence in Bulgaria. The growing number of cases of domestic violence is a social problem that does not find an adequate solution, both in terms of legislation and prevention. According to young people, it is necessary for the media and society to pay more attention to socio-economic conditions, which are a critical factor in domestic violence against women. At the same time, they also shared concerns about the often one-sided presentation of cases of domestic violence among vulnerable groups, which reinforces existing stereotypes and attitudes in society related to the perpetrators and victims of the crime. But all participants are convinced that education is the most important way to overcome these prejudices and to create a social and cultural environment in which everyone is equal and has an equal chance for development.

Informational meeting at the 37th Secondary School "Raina Knyaginya", Sofia

"Someone can't just hit you and claim to love you"

For all the students who filled the classroom, this is a long accepted, unquestionable rule. Yesterday they also learned how this rule is reflected in domestic violence legislation.

With the kind hospitality of the director and teachers from the 37th secondary school "Raina Knyaginya" in Sofia, on December 11, 2023, RTP and the Bulgarian Chamber of Investigators organized an informational meeting with students from 9 to 11 grades. Our goal was to find out what the students of a Sofia school, with mostly Roma children, think and know about this increasingly serious and increasingly visible problem in our society. By the end of the meeting, our skepticism had successfully turned into optimism: they were aware of many common myths about domestic violence (e.g. that if someone hits you, it is an expression of love, that men cannot be victims of violence, that it it only happens in poor families...). Equally important, they were also extremely inquisitive and wanted to know more from the investigators, who explained specific cases involving domestic violence and outlined the steps to report the crime when it occurred.

This meeting is part of the information campaign under the PROTECT project.