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Bulgaria: Legal clinics for Minority Women

6 January 2025

Smolyan, Bulgaria: 19 September 2024

On September 19, Rodopchanka Women’s Club implemented a legal clinic activity from their initiative ‘Legal Empowerment and Advocacy for Minority Women’, financed by Minority Rights Group’s MARIO programme. Our beneficiaries were the women from the RODOPI Retirement Club in the Raykovo district. Among them were representatives of Roma and Pomacs.

The meeting was opened by Eng. Diana Kalaydjieva, who presented the Club’s mission, goals, activities, donor, and the project under which the meeting was being held.

Eng. Radka Tuneva-Yanchevska explained the concept behind the legal clinic activity to the attendees and introduced our legal associate, lawyer Lidiya Doneva. This was followed by Ms. Doneva’s brief overview of legislation related to women’s rights, including protection from discrimination, violence, various types of fraud, robbery, harassment, and humiliation. Attorney Doneva also shared real cases from her professional experience. She herself has faced discrimination on religious grounds. By sharing personal stories from her practice, she encouraged the participants to open up and discuss their own issues.

A lively discussion followed, during which the women shared personal stories of rights violations, invasions of personal space, involvement in telephone and property scams, and harassment through public order violations. They sought legal assistance to address these issues and received valuable advice from Atty. Doneva, who outlined the necessary steps to take in such cases.

The Rodopchanka team was pleased that the topic resonated with the attendees. They expressed interest in having the organization visit again to continue the discussion. Upcoming joint activities are planned, during which they will also invite representatives of the police.

Following this meeting, Rodopchanka became even more convinced that targeting the pensioners’ clubs was the right approach, as they play a crucial role as correctives and moderators. Their involvement will provide valuable feedback and help establish a lasting impact on Rodopchanka’s project. Additionally, retirees often have extensive social networks and considerable experience, allowing the project to reach a broader audience. By leveraging their connections and the trust they hold within their communities, Rdopchanka can expand its outreach and increase the number of supporters for the project. Engaging this age group will not only foster wider discussions but also inspire younger generations to get involved, learning from the experiences of the older generation to build a stronger, more connected community.

MARIO is funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (2021-27) of the European Union (ref: 101091387).

This content is a guest post from one of our partner organizations about their work as part of our ‘Minorities, Accountability, Rights, Independence and Organisational Development’ programme. This article reflects the opinion of its author only and does not engage MRG’s responsibility. Learn more >

Author(s)

Rodopchanka Women’s Club

Bulgaria