Parliament adopted changes in the Criminal Code related to sexual violence
"The changes were in the right direction, because this is a directive from 2011 that we had to fully transpose by 2013, but we had done it halfway. At some point, the European Commission checked how far we had come and it was seen that further changes were needed. The changes are in the direction of increasing the penalties for sexual crimes committed with minors, as well as increasing the statute of limitations for prosecution," lawyer Yordanka Bekirska said in the studio of "The Day ON AIR".
She explained that until now the punishments were from 2 to 6 years, and now they will be from 2 to 8 years.
"We are talking about sexual abuse of children, child pornography. The matter is extremely sensitive when we have an injured person up to 14 years old. From the point of view of evidence and from the point of view of interviewing witnesses, collecting DNA material, it is much more difficult. The only thing that is aimed at is prevention, because only in this way can we have a more serious protection of the injured children", added Adv. Bekirska for Bulgaria ON AIR.
In her words, children under the age of 14 easily and unknowingly expose their naked bodies on the Internet.
"This is pornography without realizing it. There are entire channels where these materials are exchanged without parents even knowing. Children are ashamed to share with them. Many times everything happens under pressure and sometimes from their peers because once you send a nude photo to your classmate, he spreads it to other classmates. After that, the respective girl becomes the object of ridicule and attacks," comments Yordanka Bekirska.
In her practice, she has a case where a 15-year-old girl attempted suicide after her nude photos were freely distributed.
"School seems to have the second most important influence on children. Parents at some point lose their advantage and in the first place are the classmates, in the next place is the school and in the third place - the parents. This is a very serious danger that is looming, but not only in Bulgaria. This is a global trend," the lawyer emphasized.
Adv. Bekirska clarified that it is difficult to seek responsibility.
"We don't know what our kids are doing on their phones. There are statistics that a large number of children supposedly go to their rooms to spend the night there, but it turns out that after midnight they are on social networks. This is very difficult to control. The topic of sexual violence is taboo. At the moment, it happens that children learn about sexual relations not from their parents, but from the Internet. They have a very distorted idea of intimacy," she is emphatic.