What are abuse, violence and crimes in the name of honour and why they are a problem not just for individual communities, but for the society as a whole?
What are abuse, violence and crimes in the name of honour and why they are a problem not just for individual communities, but for the whole of society? This continues to be an open question and task before the Bulgarian legislation and the responsible institutions. According to the results of a nationally representative survey conducted under the project “Countering Abuse in the Name of Honour in Social and Legal Terms” in July 2020, between half a percent and 13 percent of Bulgarians recognize that in their family or other known families they know about cases of violence in the name of honour. The most common are limiting contacts with friends, relatives and others “to prevent the risk of someone spoiling or tarnishing the family’s honour”.
Norwegian experience points to the complexity of what is behind the term “abuse in the name of honour,” and that finding solutions requires experience-based knowledge and expertise. “You can find a lack of knowledge and experience in the institutions and the police, which manifests itself as a weakness in the work of identifying, detecting and preventing honour-based violence. This prevents victims of abuse in the name of honour from being appropriately assisted, something that can at worst lead to serious and even fatal consequences.’ In 1998, the Norwegian Parliament was the first in Europe to introduce an action plan against forced marriages. Experts warn that in Bulgaria, crimes in the name of honour, like hate crimes, remain hidden and do not enter the statistics, and the Bulgarian legal system does not provide great guarantees for their prevention. What’s more, in many instances the rejected model is confirmed by institutions as a tradition and it may be considered by courts as mitigating circumstances.
At the same time, the question of how to tackle this significant problem without prejudice and without further stigmatisation of the affected communities is extremely serious. “This is not a Roma tradition. This is a tradition of any conservative community – it was observed in Bulgarian and Turkish communities as well.” And in fact, the processes in Roma communities are a reflection of the problems in our entire society, says Teodora Krumova from Amalipe Center. „ Tradition is just one part of the problem of early marriage. These cases are no longer as much about honour violence as they are happening where communities are strongly marginalized, simply because there is no other perspective.” Read more on the topic here.
The project „Counteracting abuse in the name of honour in social and legal terms“ seeks solutions and offers expert discussion and alternatives for the institutions involved in tackling the problem. „Abuse and violence “in the name of honour” like any kind of violence constitute a violation of human rights. These are harmful traditional practices that have a negative impact on the lives and health of representatives of certain population groups and which violate international human rights standards. Overcoming and sanctioning such practices is important because no one can be deprived of their human rights and dignity because of the traditions and culture of a community,” reads the text of the Petition, developed as a result of the project „Counteracting abuse in the name of honour in social and legal terms“. You can support the Petition for changes to policies and legislation related to violence in the name of honor here.
The project of the NGO “Centre for the Development of Sustainable Communities” in partnership with the Association for Women Lawyers and the Norwegian KUN Center for Equality and Diversity focuses on crimes in the name of honour, contributes to deepening the knowledge and skills of professionals who work with potential victims of this type of violence (lawyers, police officers, teachers, health mediators, representatives of the Roma and Turkish community and non-governmental organisations from Sofia, Vratza, Smolyan, Targovishte, Razlog and Ruse. The handbook for supporting the work of professionals in preventing and combating violence in the name of honour can be found here. The handbook is intended for use by professionals, stakeholders – legislative institutions, local authorities, researchers, law enforcement and justice institutions, social workers, teachers, general practitioners, teachers, health mediators. Good practices from Norway could be found here, and the study findings here.
The analytical report with the results of a survey conducted among experts through deep interviews can be found here.
The results of a nationally representative survey , conducted under the project from July 2020, between half a percent and 13 percent of Bulgarians recognize that in their family or other known families they know about cases of violence in the name of honour. The most common are restricting contacts with friends, relatives and others “to prevent the risk of someone tarnishing the family honour”.
Within the framework of the project, a series of round tables were held and recommendations were prepared for changing the policies and legislation in Bulgaria on the topic, as well as a petition for changes in policies and legislation related to violence in the name of honour. The petition was presented at a final conference with the participation of experts from Bulgaria, Romania, Norway, Great Britain, Italy and Germany In February 2021. The petition was sent to the Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, the Ministry of Science and Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. By the end of 2021 the possibility of continuing work with the Ministry of Interior is mainly referred to in terms of the organization of additional trainings, by including additional courses for police officers in the Academy of the Ministry of Interior, after court juries for such crimes (in the name of honour) are provided for in the Bulgarian criminal law. The ” Centre for the Development of Sustainable Communities” has a good partnership with the Ministry of Interior, whose representatives are involved in various training and information initiatives of the non-governmental organization.
More information on the products developed under the project, could be found at https://www.hra-project.eu/bg/.
