site.btaOn Women Non-Violence Day, Bulgaria Stresses Legislative and Institutional Progress

Bulgaria, as a member state of the United Nations and the European Union and current member of the UN Human Rights Council for the 2024-2026 period, remains committed to combating all forms of violence against women and girls, the Foreign Ministry said on its website on Tuesday. The statement was occasioned by the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, observed worldwide on November 25.

According to UN Women, one in every three women in the world has experienced an act of violence at least once in her life, the Foreign Ministry said. Research shows that women have often been subjected to violence online, with the most widespread forms being the sharing of false information and defamation. These data clearly highlight the need for sustained and coordinated efforts in the fight against violence, both at national and international level, the statement says.

The Foreign Ministry noted that in recent years Bulgaria has undertaken a number of legislative initiatives and institutional steps that have contributed to more effective prosecution of offenders, and to ensuring better protection and support for victims.

Promoting the full exercise of the rights of women and girls in all spheres of public life, and their empowerment, remains a lasting priority of Bulgaria's foreign policy in the field of human rights. Bulgaria actively supports international initiatives aimed at establishing equality between women and men and at eradicating all forms of violence against women and girls – phenomena that have no place in a modern 21st-century society, the Foreign Ministry said.

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women has been marked since 2000 under a resolution of the UN General Assembly from December 17, 1999, according to information from the Reference Department of the Bulgarian News Agency. From 1981 to 1999 it was marked by activists from women's organizations. The theme of the day in 2025 is: "Digital violence is real violence. There is #NoExcuse for online abuse".