Country Profile Bulgaria

General Country Information

Summary

There is one national women’s helpline in Bulgaria which is free of charge and operates 24/7 but does not offer multilingual support. There are 13 women-only shelters with 150 available beds as well as 20 women’s centres supporting all survivors of violence, predominantly survivors of domestic violence. There is one sexual violence referral centre for survivors of sexualised violence, which also runs a specialised helpline. Measures related to primary prevention are not included in official documents like the National Action Plan and there is no specific budget allocated to primary prevention activities. The state does collect data on women’s specialist services, and this data is publicly available. However, data collected relates mainly to social services offering support to women survivors of violence, and separate statistics are not available for specialist services for survivors of domestic violence.

Women’s Specialist Services

There is no national women’s helpline in Belarus. The only national women’s helpline was the There is one national helpline in Bulgaria which is run by Animus Association and is called the National Hotline for Victims of Violence (Национална гореща телефонна линия за пострадали от насилие, tel.: +359 80018676/+359 29817686). The helpline is free of charge and available 24/7 but does not offer multilingual support. Bulgaria therefore does meet the Istanbul Convention minimum standards for the provision of a national women’s helpline. The helpline provides support to survivors of domestic violence, sexualised violence, human trafficking, as well as other types of violence. Funding for the helpline comes from the state and the telecommunications company Vivacom. The most common form of violence reported by callers to the helpline in 2024 was domestic violence. Over 2,800 people called the helpline in 2023, 81% of which were women survivors of domestic violence.

There are also other helplines supporting survivors of violence against women run by members of the Alliance for Protection against Gender-Based Violence and also other helplines run by other NGOs. There was a second national helpline run by the Alliance for Protection against Gender-Based Violence (Алианс за защита от насилие, основано на пола) which was available 24/7 and free of charge, but is no longer active.

There are 13 women-only shelters in Bulgaria with 150 available beds. All the women-only shelters offer 24/7 access, and women are not expected to pay for their accommodation in shelters. On average, women are allowed to stay in the women-only shelters for up to three months. The types of in-house services most often provided by women-only shelters are casework, counselling/psychological support, referrals/collaboration with other services, practical advice, and legal advice.

All women-only shelters are equipped to support homeless women and older women (65 years and above). Most women-only shelters can accommodate unaccompanied girls under the age of 18. Some can be accessed by and are accessible to refugee women, women with physical and/or sensory disabilities, women with older sons (14 years and above), and women with children with disabilities. However, none of the women-only shelters can accommodate women with uncertain residence permits/undocumented women, women with substance abuse issues, and transgender women. There are also no specialised shelters supporting particular groups of survivors nor women survivors or those at risk of specific forms of violence.

Funding for women-only shelters in Bulgaria comes predominantly from the state. Eleven women-only shelters are run by NGOs, including women’s NGOs with a gender specific and feminist approach, while two are state-run shelters. Women-only shelters are located only in major cities, or in locations close to major cities. The main reasons why women-only shelters had to decline referrals were no space/capacity to support the survivor and the shelter not being adequately equipped for the needs of the women/children. The most common forms of violence reported to women-only shelters in 2024 were domestic violence, physical violence, and violence directly/indirectly affecting children. Approximately 200 women and children were accommodated in women-only shelters in 2024, although there is no official data.

In addition to the women-only shelters, there are other shelters for survivors of human trafficking and crisis centres for abused children, including girls. It is estimated that there are nine such additional services, but their overall bed capacity to accommodate survivors is unknown.²

There are 20 women’s centres in Bulgaria, for all survivors and predominantly supporting survivors of domestic violence. Centres usually provide both non-residential and residential support as they sometimes provide emergency accommodation as well. All women’s centres provide counselling/psychological support as well as referrals/collaboration with other services, and 15 centres offer financial and social welfare support/advocacy. Additionally, ten centres offer legal advice, and approximately ten centres provide housing advice and employment. Some centres offer representation at court/police/social services. The counselling services provided by women’s NGOs are open to all survivors of domestic violence, even if there is a focus on women survivors. Women’s centres also provide specialist support for survivors of sexualised violence including specialist forensic and medical care, needs assessment, specialist psychological care, specialist sexualised violence advocacy services, community awareness and education for prevention, and legal advice.

All women’s centres are equipped to support older women (65 years and above). Most women’s centres can be accessed by and are accessible to refugee women and women with physical, cognitive or sensory disabilities. Some women’s centres can be accessed by women with uncertain residence permits/undocumented women, transgender women, and unaccompanied girls under the age of 18. There are no specialised centres supporting particular groups of survivors nor women survivors or those at risk of specific forms of violence.

Funding for women’s centres in Bulgaria comes from the state, donations, as well as international funding. Twelve women’s centres are run by women’s NGOs, five by other NGOs and three by the state. Women’s centres are located just in major cities. In 2024, approximately 700 women accessed counselling services from women’s centres run by women’s NGOs.

There is one sexual violence referral centre for survivors of sexualised violence in Bulgaria, Center “Vselena”, which is located in Burgas. The centre opened in 2016, and available support includes specialist forensic and medical care, needs assessment, specialist psychological care, specialist sexualised violence advocacy services, community awareness and education for prevention as well as legal advice. The service is funded by the state and through donations and is accessible to all survivors of sexualised violence. The centre also runs a 24/7, nationwide specialised helpline for survivors of sexualised violence (tel.: +359 80018017) which is based at the Burgas University Hospital Crisis Intervention and managed by trained psychologist-consultants. The helpline also provides assistance in contacting the Burgas Ministry of Interior Department to receive access to a forensic doctor.

Public authorities in Bulgaria do not collect data on primary prevention activities and provisions on primary prevention are not included in official documents like the National Action Plan on violence against women and girls for 2020-2025. There is no official definition of primary prevention in Bulgaria, and the state does not allocate a specific budget to primary prevention activities, nor does it evaluate the impact of such activities. Available activities include empowerment activities for girls and women, primary prevention activities specifically targeted to men and boys, school-based primary prevention programmes, training for primary prevention practitioners, and awareness-raising campaigns or programmes.

1. This figure is for 2023. ↩︎
2. Information from the WAVE Country Report 2021. ↩︎