site.btaPresident Iotova Meets with Ambassador for a Day Initiative Winners

Meeting with the winners of the Ambassador for a Day initiative,  President Iliana Iotova said that combating violence against girls and women requires not only legislative measures, but also strong public intolerance that encourages victims to overcome their fear and seek help, the President's press secretariat reported on Thursday. The meeting was attended by UK Ambassador Nathaniel Copsey and the diplomat and future British Ambassador to the European Union Caroline Wilson.

For the ninth year in a row, the British Embassy in Bulgaria has organized a competition that encourages Bulgarian girls to express their views on a wide range of topics of importance to society. Since its inception, the initiative has been held under the patronage of Iliana Iotova. This year, the topic, on which nearly 150 girls from all over Bulgaria wrote essays, was “If you were an ambassador for a day, how would you help make Bulgaria a safer place for women and girls - at home, online, and in public life?”. The best performers among them were Kalina Barneva from Varna, Mima Simeonova from Sliven and Yana-Maria Gagova from Silistra.

"Your texts show that, unfortunately, you are not only informed about the risks facing women, but you also experience them. This is a serious diagnosis for our society, it also shows the huge dimensions of the problem," Iotova told the winners.

The conversation focused, among other things, on early marriages, typical of certain communities in the country. "They take away the youth, the dreams, the future of girls," the President said, emphasizing that the state and society must work hard to eradicate this practice.

Iotova stressed the need of greater public awareness of violence against girls and women. "This is not a personal or family problem, it is a public one," Iotova pointed out.