BULGARIA
Second and third periodic
reports dated 3 November 1994
The material on domestic violence in this report is a summary
of "Domestic Violence in Bulgaria," produced in March 1997 by
the Minneapolis-based Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights (MAHR),
a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the promotion and
protection of human rights. It is based on a fact-finding mission
to Bulgaria. The material on employment discrimination is based
on a report provided by the Media Research Group, a Sofia-based
NGO.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN - Convention Articles 3, 5, 6, 12,
15, and 16
Women in Bulgaria are reluctant to discuss domestic violence.
The United Nations Development Programme in Sofia reports: "It
is easy to understand why women beaten by their husbands keep
silent on the matter. They feel shame, humiliation and lack
of understanding even on the part of their relatives and friends,
and finally, the hopelessness of the situation." Several Bulgarian
women explained that another important reason for failure to
report domestic assault is the view in Bulgarian society that
the family is the highest priority-more important than women's
personal safety.
The Bulgarian legal system does not provide an effective remedy
for women who have been assaulted by their husbands. In fact,
the Penal Procedure Code provides that assault perpetrated by
family members will not be prosecuted by the state unless they
result in grave injury. Assault perpetrated by a stranger, however,
is prosecuted if it results in either "medium" or "grave" injury.
The practical result of this policy is that if a woman is stabbed
with a knife by a stranger on the street and receives serious
injuries that do not result in death or permanent injury, the
state will prosecute the assailant. If the same woman is stabbed
in her home by her husband and receives the same injuries, the
state will not prosecute the man.
There are no government programs designed to address the problem
of domestic violence. Several government administrators reported
that issues such as domestic violence, that are perceived to
be gender specific, are not a priority for the government.
Evidence of Domestic Violence from the Health Care Community
The Minnesota Advocates delegation met with health care professionals
in Sofia, including staff of the National Centre for Health
Promotion, psychologists, doctors from the Emergency Hospital
and doctors from Criminal Medicine Department at the Medical
Academy in Sofia. The hospitals and the Criminal Medicine Department
do not keep official statistics of women who have been assaulted
in their homes. The doctors, however, reported that domestic
violence is a serious problem in Bulgaria. Health care professionals
see first hand the physical injuries resulting from domestic
violence. Many were concerned that the problem appears to be
getting worse.
Reported examples are familiar to those experienced with domestic
violence reporting and advocacy:
- A man who beat
his wife to the point that she required care by a team of
doctors-pieces of the stick were embedded in her body, her
kidney was ruptured-was not prosecuted for the assault.
- A doctor who treats
children at the Emergency Hospital described a case in which
a man tied his wife to a chair to restrain her while he beat
their child. When the woman brought her child into the Emergency
Room for treatment, she had rope burns on her wrists and a
hand mark on her face. The child had many bruises at different
stages of healing which, the doctor explained, indicated a
pattern of abuse.
- A psychologist
described the case of a woman who had been beaten by her husband,
resulting in a broken arm, after her infant child had died
from a cardiac illness. The husband had accused the woman
and her family of being cursed (citing her sister's previous
death from a train accident). In one nine-month period, this
same psychologist had counselled two other women with babies
in the cardiology clinic whose husbands had beaten them because
they blamed them for their children's illnesses. One husband
abandoned his wife and their child after beating his wife
and taking all the household goods.
- A physician in
the Criminal Medicine Department estimated that since 1989,
approximately fifteen women per year have been killed by domestic
violence in Sofia. The doctor described a case where a man
who stabbed his girlfriend eleven times after she told him
she wanted to end their relationship, escaped from prison
and has not been prosecuted. In another case, a man broke
into his former girlfriend's apartment and stabbed her twenty
times when she ended their relationship. (This perpetrator
is currently in prison). Another physician noted the common
saying among men in Bulgaria that a woman is "better dead
than alive with another man."
- A psychologist
reported that she counselled a couple for five months before
the women stated that she had been beaten. She noted that
it is very common for girls as young as 16 to 19 years old
to be beaten by their boyfriends. Many girls she treats are
afraid to be in relationships because of the amount of violence
that is accepted as normal in Bulgarian society.
- According to staff
of the Criminal Medicine Department of the Medical Academy,
which provides the necessary documentation of injuries for
evidence in court proceedings, thirty to fifty percent of
the cases in the Criminal Medicine Department involve injuries
resulting from domestic violence. Many women who have been
repeatedly assaulted by their husbands have obtained several
certificates from the Criminal Medicine Department. Some women
try to use the medical certificates to persuade their husbands
to stop the violence. After a period of time, many women give
up this process and accept their situation without ever using
the certificates in a court proceeding.
- One doctor stated
that a building "bigger than the Sheraton Hotel' would be
needed to provide shelter to all the women who are assaulted
in Sofia. He believes that women are more likely to be injured
by domestic violence than any other type of injury.
The Legal System
1. Criminal Law
- Implementation
For a variety of reasons, domestic violence cases rarely
reach the criminal court system. One prosecutor noted that
when a woman is battered, she usually does not contact the
police or state prosecutors. A family therapist noted that
she had several female patients who were victims of domestic
violence, and not one had ever attempted to prosecute her
batterer. For those women who do seek to prosecute their
abusers, the Bulgarian Criminal Code presents unique and
significant problems.
The code establishes three levels of criminal assault
based on the severity of the injuries caused by the assault:
grave injury, medium injury, and light injury. The state
does not participate in the prosecution of assault resulting
in "light" injuries, so any victim, including victims of
domestic assault, who receives only "light" injuries must
personally file a complaint and proceed through the criminal
system alone.
The Penal Procedure Code provides for state prosecution
for "medium" and "grave" injuries only where the victim
and the perpetrator are not related. Domestic assault victims
must proceed through the court system without the assistance
of a prosecutor. Although the law on its face applies equally
to men and women, it has a disparate impact on women because
women are most commonly the victims of domestic assault.
Several legal professionals suggested that this distinction
between an assault by a relative and one by a relative reflects
the societal view that the family's interests must be protected
above that of the individual. One prosecutor stated, "a
woman must decide for herself whether she wants to harm
the family relationship through prosecution; the state will
not damage the family by assisting her."
A victim of domestic violence who attempts to prosecute
her batterer on her own encounters significant hurdles at
every step of the process. She must obtain a medical certificate
from the Department of Criminal Medicine documenting her
injuries. She also must also find her own witnesses, and
police officers, who are often the only witnesses, frequently
refuse to co-operate. She can ask the state prosecutor or
the judge to help, but they are not obligated to do so,
and the prosecutor does not participate in the proceedings.
The Penal Procedure Code allows the prosecutor to intervene
when the victim is in a position of dependence or is in
a vulnerable position, but such intervention is rare. If
a victim can afford it, she may hire a private attorney.
One Regional Court judge explained the many difficulties
that a victim may face while pursuing a case on her own.
Even if a woman is able to overcome all of the obstacles
to prosecuting her abuser and obtains a conviction, he will
likely receive a light fine or a suspended jail sentence.
Judges are generally reluctant to punish a man convicted
of a domestic assault because, as one judge explained, "these
men do not pose a danger to society in general." Additionally,
a victim of domestic assault may file an action against
the batterer for civil damages.
- Criminal Court
Records
Minnesota Advocates reviewed 43 criminal cases filed in
the Sofia Regional Court between 1990 and 1992, of which
many were startling in their brutality and in the court's
reluctance to punish the perpetrator. The courts frequently
were satisfied if the parties agreed to reconcile. The cases
demonstrated the difficulties women face when they must
prosecute their batterers without the assistance of a state
prosecutor. A Bulgarian attorney who assisted with the review
observed: "I never supposed things were so bad... women
who really want to prosecute their violent husband do not
get any support." Only seven cases (16 percent) resulted
in a conviction. Two cases received a not-guilty verdict
(5 percent) and thirty-four cases (79 percent) resulted
in an abandonment of the criminal procedure (because of
absence of the plaintiff at the hearing, or because plaintiff
and defendant reconciled).
The Penal Code provision limiting prosecutorial support
to cases of "grave" injury in itself victimises women by
allowing for extreme prosecutorial discretion in determining
the level of injury. In one case a woman asserted in her
complaint that her husband beat her severely, resulting
in a concussion and a week's hospitalisation, when she tried
to move out of their apartment with her child. She received
no assistance from the state prosecutor's office. In another
case, a divorce complaint described a history of assaults
by the husband, continuing after the couple separated. In
one incident, the man beat his wife with a movable wooden
door sill all over her head and body and according to a
medical certificate she sustained "a large number of massive
bruises on both arms, on the body . . . and fracture of
the fifth bone of the right palm." But her injuries were
categorised as light and medium level so she was not entitled
to the expertise of the state prosecutor's office. She tried
to prosecute the case on her own but the court found that
she did not meet the six-month statute of limitations and
declared that the criminal procedure must be abandoned.
In both cases, the court asked the parties to reconcile.
The abusers promised the court they would have "polite relations"
with the women they abused and they had to pay light fines.
The courts often are reluctant to convict the abusers
despite the evidence. In one case, the medical certificate,
offered as evidence at trial, documented serious facial
injuries and bruises all over a women's body. Even though
there were no procedural issues to support a dismissal,
and there was also evidence that the abuser acted aggressively
against the police who arrived at the scene, the court dismissed
the complaint. In another case, the appellate court reversed
a lower court murder conviction of a man who systematically
abused his girlfriend. On the night of her death, he had
beaten the woman for an hour. Despite abundant evidence
the appellate court reversed the decision stating that the
systematic violence and harassment of a victim could only
be the basis for a conviction if the victim was materially
or otherwise dependent on the accused. The court also referred
to victim's "liberal life" and pointed out that she had
"had sex with many men."
2. Police Response
to Domestic Violence
The police do not
receive any specialised training in responding to incidents
of domestic violence. Virtually all of the men and women interviewed
express the opinion that the police would not respond effectively,
if at all, to a call from a woman who has experienced a domestic
assault. One human rights advocate explained, "women will not
turn to the police in cases of domestic violence. When they
do call, the local police will only call the husband with a
warning." A representative of the National Police acknowledged
that police do not pay much attention to "domestic disputes."
The representative explained that often when a neighbour calls
the police neither the man nor the woman co-operates with the
investigation when the police arrive.
Even in cases of
assault resulting in grave injury, which the law requires the
state to prosecute, police may fail to investigate. A surgeon
at the Emergency Hospital in Sofia described several cases of
domestic assault injuries that he had treated that were not
investigated by the police. In one case, a man stabbed his wife
in the abdomen and chest causing liver, bladder and intestinal
damage. The man came to the hospital and apologised to this
wife for his behaviour. The woman was afraid to prosecute her
husband because she thought he would kill her if she tried.
Because the woman did not file a complaint, the police stopped
the investigation.
3. Informal and
Administrative Procedures
In some cases, police
and prosecutors become informally involved in domestic violence
cases. If a battered woman complains to the police about an
incident of domestic violence, it is common practice for the
police to call the batterer and warn him to stop assaulting
the victim. The police create a record of these complaints and
warnings. The prosecutor may also call the batterer to stop
the abuse and documents the discussion in a record of warning.
The prosecutors explained that the purpose of the warning is
to appeal to the batterer's social or moral conscience. These
warnings, however, are not used as a basis for prosecution nor
are they used as evidence against a batterer in court if the
abuse continues.
The law provides
for involuntary treatment for alcoholism in cases where domestic
assault appears to be connected with alcoholism. The prosecutors
noted that a significant number of men who undergo involuntary
treatment continue to abuse their partners. However, involuntary
treatment is usually they only remedy prosecutors are willing
to seek in cases of domestic assault involving alcohol abuses.
In Bulgaria, there
is no procedure similar to a protective order or an injunction
to prohibit an abusive spouse or partner from making contact
with the victim of a domestic assault.
4. Divorce Laws
A couple may divorce
by mutual consent under Bulgarian law and, in that circumstance,
the court does not inquire into the reasons for the breakdown
of the marital relationship. If only one of the parties is seeking
a divorce, that party must establish fault. Even in divorce
proceedings, women are reluctant to discuss violence and will
often cite other reasons for the divorce when their husbands
are physically abusing them. Therefore, when violence is the
cause for divorce, the court may never be aware of it and thus
may not adequately consider it in its resolution of a case.
CAUSES OF DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
There is no simple
explanation for violence against women in the home. Research
indicates that domestic violence has its roots in the subordinate
role women have traditionally held in private and public life.
It is a function of the belief that men are superior and that
women are possessions to be treated as men see appropriate.
An observer has noted that in this region, "if a husband beats
his wife in the presence of neighbours and children, it is considered
that he has thereby gained a point to the advantage of his authority.
A husband is the master of his wife and its is his right to
beat her."
In Bulgaria, many
sources reported that domestic violence seems to have increased
since Bulgaria's transition to democracy in 1989. They attributed
this increase to serious economic problems which create tension
in the family. Sources also reported that increased alcoholism
since the transition from Communism aggravates the problem of
domestic violence.
EMPLOYMENT - Convention
Article 11
Job Advertisements
The Sofia-based
Media Research Group analysed job offers in specialised classifieds
columns in two Bulgarian newspapers: 24 Hours, a national daily,
and Trud, published by the German publishing group VAZ. Both
have the highest circulation in Bulgaria. Trud publishes identical
job offers in the daily and in Courier , the most popular specialised
advertising publication. The Media Research Group analysed 8,180
advertisements over a two-month period from May to June 1997
which provided a representative sample of advertising that appears
throughout the year. They found gender and age restrictions
in 2,534 advertisements (31 percent of all analysed ads) out
of which 354 were for employment abroad.
Job offers for traditionally
female occupations, such as cooks and hairdressers, show a clear
priority for women, while traditionally male occupations, such
as welders and crane-operators, show a clear priority for men.
Some traditionally women's/men's occupations do not explicitly
mention gender, but they have an age limitation which differs
by gender, and is "up to 25" for women, and "up to 35 for men."
The offers for qualified labour show a preference for men (104
to 76) and 30 percent of them have an additional age limit.
The Media Research
Group found that a large number of offers do not list job characteristics
(97 ads). These jobs may contain hidden offer for another type
of labour, such as sexual obligations, or contain some type
of illegality. Some contained phrases such as "housemaids without
prejudices," "intelligent girls for work on the telephone,"
or "high income for ambitious person." On the other hand, some
ads list requirements that are not typical or obligatory for
a given profession. For instance, some ads for a secretary do
not mention computer skills, but list a requirement of attractiveness
and indicate an age level. Although direct statements concerning
sexual obligations appear only sporadically in the employment
ads, requirements of attractiveness and appeal, including humiliating
requirements of descriptions and photos, are common. Descriptions
and photos also were required in 52 ads for women to work inside
Bulgaria, and in 25 ads for employment abroad.
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