site.btaCommission for Protection against Discrimination Reports Threefold Increase in Discrimination Proceedings in 2025

A total of 508 proceedings for protection against discrimination were initiated in 2025, nearly three times more than the previous year, when 179 proceedings were registered, said Elka Bozhova, Chair of the Commission for Protection against Discrimination (CPD), at a press conference in Lovech on Friday.

According to Bozhova, the increase in proceedings is due to the introduction of an electronic service for submitting complaints and reports, launched in the summer of last year.

“Complaints and reports cover a wide range of areas of public life, as the CPD’s powers are quite broad. Nearly 60% of the complaints and reports from citizens relate to the exercise of labor rights. People encounter different life situations and consider that their employer or the appointing authority has discriminated against them in various forms - harassment, persecution, and others,” Bozhova said.

In Lovech District, over the past three years, more than 50 proceedings have been initiated, with a significant portion related to complaints from prisoners, as the region hosts a prison and prison dormitories in Lovech and Troyan. “The complaints concern living conditions in the prison or dormitory, as well as the opportunity for prisoners to take leave to which they are entitled or access other social services,” the CPD Chair added.

Bozhova was in Lovech as part of a series of informational campaigns organized by the CPD in provincial towns and localities with heightened sensitivity to unequal treatment. In the city, she met with Mayor Stratsimir Petkov and Regional Governor Dora Stoyanova. An open reception for citizens was also scheduled for Friday.