Bulgaria: A Pregnant Woman Lost her Child after being Punched in the Stomach - 4 Women reported Domestic Violence after the Protests

A pregnant woman from Burgas lost her fetus after being hit in the stomach by her boyfriend. The case is from last week. The woman sought protection at the Center for the Prevention of Violence. From there, they report an escalation of cases of violence against pregnant women, with three in the last month in Burgas alone.

Zheni Petrova from the Center for the Prevention of Violence commented on the case of the woman who lost her fetus before BNR Burgas. She was four months pregnant:

"As a result of physical violence that was seriously inflicted on her by her partner, she was forced to have an abortion for medical reasons as he had hit her in the abdomen and consequently the fetus was not able to be born healthy"

Petrova specified that the case was from last Friday. Documents have been filed in the case. The young woman was with relatives. A case was filed in the court in Burgas under the Law on Domestic Violence. A decision on restrictive measures against her partner is pending.

Another woman from Burgas also sought help at the Center in the last month. She was abused by her husband and years ago was placed in the Crisis Center together with her two daughters.

Now she, as well as her daughters, have been subjected to violence again, Zheni Petrova said.

"One of her daughters is already an adult and pregnant. The violence is again by the woman's husband and the father of the two girls. The violence this time was directly used against the two children and one daughter, who is actually pregnant."

Another pregnant woman was placed in the Crisis Center in Burgas, again because of violence by her partner.

"We have an escalation of these cases", the center says. According to their data,...