We are seeing an escalation of domestic violence after the coronavirus epidemic, a survey on gender-based domestic violence shows. One of the main conclusions is that Bulgarian families only regard physical violence as a problem, and all other forms of violence are downplayed.

“There is a difference in the way this phenomenon is perceived in small towns and villages, as compared to big cities,” says Prof. Krasimira Petrova from the University of Veliko Tarnovo. In smaller populated places the rule is prevalent that whatever happens inside the family should stay inside the family. “There, the stigma and the shame still exist and this is having a durable effect on children,” comments Assoc. Prof. Ivan Stoyanov from the University of Veliko Tarnovo.

The authors of the survey say that amendments to educational and social policies, legislation, as well as a change of political rhetoric offer a way out of the situation with regard to domestic violence. 

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