,The long-awaited Coordination Mechanism for Assistance and Support for Victims of Domestic Violence is already a fact. This was stated at a briefing after a meeting of the Council of Ministers by Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov. In his capacity as Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Council for Prevention and Protection from Domestic Violence, Zafirov indicated that he was satisfied with the adoption of a working instrument that organizes the entire path of the victim - from the first signal to permanent protection and support.
According to him, in recent years, data from the courts, the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Interior show a sustained and alarming increase in cases of domestic violence and cases for protection - in a number of regions, cases under the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence are growing by over 20-30% annually, including in relation to children. “These are not just numbers – behind each case there is a specific person, a specific family, a specific trauma“, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Atanas Zafirov noted that the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence has set clear rules – what domestic violence is and what measures the court can impose. “Our task as the executive branch was to make this law work in practice as a unified system. That is exactly what the Coordination Mechanism does“, he explained.
“The Mechanism regulates the basic procedures for interaction between all involved parties – "the executive authorities, local authorities, social services, crisis centers and non-governmental organizations that provide protection and support," added Zafirov, emphasizing that the goal is for their actions to be synchronized in each specific case, to have quick, effective and adequate protection, without the victim being sent from institution to institution and telling their story several times.
„The interaction is clearly outlined when children are affected – "This way, every child at risk is treated not only as a witness, but as an independent victim, with specific protection and the involvement of child protection authorities," Deputy Prime Minister Zafirov also said.
He specified that the coordination mechanism was developed by an inter-institutional working group, which included representatives of ministries, independent bodies and organizations with many years of experience in working with victims of violence, and the text was discussed at two meetings of the National Council and went through public consultations and two inter-agency consultations.
„Yes, this delayed its submission to the Council of Ministers. But today we can say that we are adopting not just a document „to have a mechanism“, but a truly precise instrument in which different points of view, including critical ones, have been heard. This is the responsible attitude that society expects from us on such a sensitive topic,“ said Deputy Prime Minister Zafirov.
The adoption of the Coordination Mechanism also fulfills a specific commitment in the Program for Governance of the Republic of Bulgaria for the period 2025-2029 in the “Justice“ sector - institutional upgrading and consistent state policy in the field of domestic violence, he added.