In response to the growing need for statistical data on the prevalence of violence against women, the National Statistical Institute has joined a project initiated by the European Commission to conduct a survey and provide such information. The aim is to provide reliable, comparable, representative data on the prevalence, frequency, intensity and severity of violence against women at а national level and in the EU Member States, using a common and harmonised methodology.
Data from the survey show that among women aged 18 - 74:
- 11.9% have experienced at least one act of physical or sexual violence at some point in their adult lives, no matter who the perpetrator is or what the relationship is between them;
- 20.5% have experienced one or more acts of intimate partner violence. Includes psychological, sexual and physical violence (including threats);
- Young women (aged 18 - 29) are at the highest risk of intimate partner violence. One in three women aged 18 - 29 has been abused by a current or former partner (36.3%);
- Almost one out of ten women (9.5%) has experienced physical (including threats) or sexual violence by persons in the household;
- 12.2% of women have experienced sexual harassment at work by a man with whom they are in a professional relationship;
- 28% have experienced physical or emotional violence from one of their parents in childhood;
- Two out of three women consider that violence against women by their intimate partners is very or fairly common in Bulgaria.
Press release
Statistical domain
