Dignita Empowers Girls in the Village of Galiche to Recognize Gender-Based Violence

Dignita Foundation is leading a violence prevention training in the village of Galiche, aimed at empowering young girls and women to recognize and respond to gender-based violence and human trafficking risks. Through this program, participants will gain the tools they need to protect themselves and contribute to a safer community

The COVID-19 crisis has heightened the risk of gender-based violence, with the most vulnerable being girls and women from marginalized groups and ethnic minorities. According to UNICEF data, one in three women worldwide has experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by another perpetrator. In most cases, this violence is committed by an intimate partner.

In Bulgaria, just in the first five months of 2021, six women were killed by their partner or spouse. Although there is no official statistic on domestic violence cases, NGOs working with victims report that cases of physical and verbal domestic violence have increased by 80% since the pandemic began. The most significant rise was recorded during the restrictive period from mid-March to mid-May last year.

One of the severe forms of gender-based violence against women is human trafficking for sexual exploitation. In Bulgaria, 87% of trafficking victims are women, and 95% of those trafficked for sexual exploitation are girls and women, often from small towns with high poverty, unemployment, and marginalized minority populations. The economic impact of the pandemic, along with rising domestic violence, has increased the risk of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

However, in small communities, topics such as “gender-based violence” and “human trafficking for sexual exploitation” are often taboo. Although these issues are rarely discussed, girls and women are not protected from these severe forms of violence.

Galiche is a small village in the Danubian Plain, with around 1,700 residents and a rich history filled with ancient tales and Thracian treasures that indicate the area was a crossroads in Roman times. However, its modern history is marked by one of the most severe cases of gender-based violence when a girl was raped and killed by a fellow villager in 2020. The shocking events, as well as the pandemic’s negative impact on gender-based violence, motivated Dignita Foundation to seek cooperation with local representatives to support girls and women in the area.

As part of an initiative funded by the French and Dutch Embassies in Bulgaria, Dignita Foundation aims to work with girls and young women from the Galiche community to help them recognize early signs of gender-based violence. Alongside informal youth leaders from the village, Dignita’s team will identify girls and women motivated to deepen their knowledge on gender-based violence and trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Through a “training of trainers” model, the project aims to empower young women and girls from vulnerable groups in Galiche to recognize gender-based violence, focusing on a specific form: human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Using specially developed training modules, the initiative seeks to educate trainers and equip them with the skills to recognize early signs of violence. It also prepares them to understand and utilize support mechanisms for girls and women who are victims of gender-based violence and human trafficking for sexual exploitation. The project aims to build the knowledge and skills of girls and women in Galiche, empowering them to protect themselves and their relatives from potential violence and trafficking. The training will include 20 girls and women from Bulgarian and Roma backgrounds, aged 18-35, residing in the village of Galiche.

Following the training, Dignita will continue working with the girls and women in Galiche, addressing and consulting on specific cases related to gender-based violence and trafficking for sexual exploitation. The planned consultations aim to support individual cases of gender-based violence through highly qualified social, psychological, and legal assistance. As part of the project, a short documentary video will be created to showcase the training and highlight the potential of young girls and women to resist gender-based violence.

The project, with a budget of 12,801 BGN, is carried out with the financial support of the Embassy of the French Republic in Bulgaria and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bulgaria.

According to the 2011 Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, gender-based violence against women is considered a human rights violation and a form of discrimination against women. The term refers to all acts of violence based on gender that cause, or could cause, physical, sexual, psychological, or economic harm or suffering for women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, regardless of whether it occurs in public or private life.