The European Union is changing the mentality around domestic and gender-based violence in Bulgaria.
– Milena Kadiev, DA Foundation – United Against Violence, Bulgaria
“The European Union is changing the mentality around domestic and gender-based violence in Bulgaria,” says Milena Kadieva, a human rights lawyer in the city of Plovdiv. When she started her law practice some 23 years ago, “nobody understood why I was bothering with the ‘personal problems’ of couples, of families,” she recalls. Today, Milena and the survivors she represents meet with support where they used to find indifference.
Milena got her start volunteering with a civil society organisation in the 1990s. Back then, hers was the only organisation bringing human rights litigation in the southern half of Bulgaria. But there were huge gaps in the group’s work. “I realised that 100 percent of the cases we brought were men’s cases,” Milena remembers. “I began to wonder what was going on in Bulgaria. Were the women and children in my country completely fine?”
In fact, reported cases of domestic and gender-based violence was, and is, on the rise in Bulgaria. But as Milena explains, “It’s not because there is now more violence against women and children. It’s because people have more information and more services.” They can now turn to a protection system that works—and quickly. Milena credits Bulgaria’s membership in the EU with building this system up.
“Once we became a member of the EU, we had completely different standards. Our legislation changed, courts, prosecutors, and police were trained to provide support in a proper way, and crisis and counseling centers were developed and funded.”
As a result, survivors of domestic and gender-based violence are more willing to seek help, and to receive it. Milena described the recent experience of one of her clients: “Within 24 hours [of going to the authorities], she received everything she needed. She was physically safe, along with her children. She was counseled legally, psychologically, and socially.”
“I see victories like this almost every week.”
Still, the system is far from perfect, Milena acknowledges. For one thing, although Bulgaria is bound by EU law on domestic and gender-based violence, judges and lawyers in the country sometimes fail to implement or even recognise these obligations. For another, domestic corruption in the criminal justice system prevents programmes funded by the EU from fully realising their potential.
Most troublingly to Milena, new political forces in Bulgaria have human rights advocates in their sights, accusing them of undermining the country’s image or even being “enemies of the state.” Now more than ever, she and her colleagues need the backing of the EU.
Despite these headwinds, Milena is still optimistic. “Things are still going in the right direction,” she says. “I can see it.”
Milena Kadieva is a human rights lawyer and activist and serves as the Managing Director of the DA Foundation–United Against Violence. Her main interest is in international human rights law, particularly women’s human rights protection, and the European system of human rights protection. She litigates before the European Court of Human Rights and the CEDAW Committee.
