"The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MLSP) will work to create a network of specialized services for adults and children who are victims of violence, which will be accessible to all victims. It is necessary to have at least one such service in every region of Bulgaria". This was said by the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Maya Vasileva, at a briefing in the Council of Ministers, at which Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Science presented measures to reduce aggression and violence in society.

Social services can offer different prevention and support packages to victims of domestic violence, which include medical, legal, social, and psychotherapeutic activities. Their creation should be planned in the National Map of Social Services, which is expected to be prepared by the end of 2023, Maya Vasileva explained. She clarified that currently these services are not sufficient and are not evenly distributed throughout the country.

MLSP plans to prepare a National Program for the prevention of violence against children and women. "Measures are also needed to increase the expertise of specialists from the Directorates of Social Assistance, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and social services through additional training in order to provide adequate support to the victims," said Deputy Minister Vasileva.

"We propose to create 6 expert highly specialized teams in the six planning regions in the country to assist the teams at the municipal and regional level in planning prevention measures and providing specialized support. Actions are also needed to increase public awareness. It is important that victims of violence also have access to clear and accurate information about where and what kind of help they can get," said Deputy Minister Maya Vasileva.

She emphasized that it is necessary to speed up the work on the creation of a Unified Information Base for victims and perpetrators of violence and a coordination mechanism for action in the case of violence against adults of all responsible institutions.