On March 14, 2023, an opening meeting will be held in the conference hall of the National Investigative Service on the project Inform-Investigate-Protect: Fighting Violence Against Women (PROTECT). The meeting is organized by the project leader - the Chamber of Investigators in Bulgaria, the Research & Training Point Foundation (Bulgaria), and the University of Oslo (Norway).
The meeting will be opened by Mr. Borislav Sarafov, director of the National Investigation Service and deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mrs. Maria Pavlova, Deputy Minister of Justice and Mr. Petko Petkov, Chairman of the Chamber of Investigators in Bulgaria.
During the meeting, the general framework of the project, which is implemented with the financial support of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, will be presented. With the planned activities, the participants aim to improve institutional cooperation and interaction in cases of domestic violence and violence against women. Particular attention will be paid to access to institutions and the protection of persons below the poverty line, with a focus on women and the Roma community.
Violence against women continues to be an acute problem affecting various social groups. PROTECT's initiatives come in response to the growing need for heightened and informed public attention on the subject and will create conditions for increasing the capacity of the Bulgarian authorities to investigate and counter domestic violence and gender-based violence.