National Study on Domestic and Gender Based Violence (DGBV) and Elaboration of Victims Support Model (VSM)

Author(s): Slavyanka Ivanova,Miriana Ilcheva / Language(s): English

The current brief is based on the results of the National Study on Domestic and Gender Based Violence (DGBV) and Elaboration of Victims Support Model (VSM), developed under Programme Area 29, BG12: Domestic and Gender Based Violence, Measure 3: Research and data collection of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. The study focused on four main thematic areas connected with DGBV phenomena: factors and causes, scales and prevalence, consequences, and public response. The study revealed that DGBV victimisation is caused by the simultaneous action of three types of factors: factors representing a conflict, violent conflict-resolution models that the perpetrators follow, and lack or blocking of deterrent mechanisms. DGBV re-victimisation occurs when the victims lack both internal and external resources to counteract. The reporting of DGBV prevalence depends on three factors: real occurrence of DGBV, awareness that the experienced acts represent DGBV, and readiness to share this experience with authorities, help providers or researchers.

Domestic and Gender-Based Violence: Victims Support Model

Author(s): Elmira Nesheva,Daniela Kolarova,Rumen Minkovski / Language(s): English

Freedom from violence, regardless of its form, is every human being’s fundamental right. The rights to life, liberty and security of person have been regulated in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as in the European Convention on Human Rights. The purpose of the Victims Support Model is to provide information and to present the currently existing activities, services and departments, which operate in the area of domestic and gender-based violence. The proposed Model accepts that the strong prevalence of the phenomena and the consequences thereof necessitate that it is treated as a public health issue. For this reason, an approach is being proposed, which defines and outlines the roots and the consequences of this problem in Bulgaria, identifies the risk and protective factors, and proposes strategies for effective resolution, including activities on prevention, timely reaction, and follow-up.

Drug Users in Prison: Norway's Experience and Bulgaria's Challenges

Author(s): Dimitar Markov,Hedda Giertsen,Maria Doichinova / Language(s): English

Publication looks over the situation of drug users in two European countries – Norway, known for its social and welfare-oriented state, and Bulgaria, which since the beginning of the transition from totalitarism to democracy lacks sustainable policies on prisons and drugs. The aim of this work is to comparatively present the penal policy towards drug users and the measures taken for convicted people addicted to narcotic substances, to identify those features which can be transferable and can assist Bulgarian authorities to improve the situation of drug users in and outside the prison. Finally, this research will try to propose concrete measures to be taken both within the penitentiary system and as crime prevention efforts among drug users.

On the Eve of EU Accession: Anti-corruption Reforms in Bulgaria

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

This is the seventh consecutive Corruption Assessment Report providing an overview of the state and dynamics of corruption in Bulgaria and Bulgarian anti-corruption policy. It analyzes the main opportunities and challenges of the anti-corruption process in the context of Bulgaria’s approaching accession to the EU. The report builds on regular monitoring of the spread of corruption, its trends, evaluations of the anti-corruption efforts and initiatives implemented by government institutions and by civil society, as well as a number of suggestions and ecommendations on anti-corruption measures. 2005 marked a reversal of the positive trend in the decline of corruption since 1998, while still emaining at half the level of seven years ago. This development suggests that “soft” anti-corruption measures have exhausted their potential and more effective approaches to counteract and prevent corruption must be found, especially at the administrative and political levels. These should be supported through a corruption monitoring and assessment by civil society of the public sector, articularly the agencies administering EU’s structural funds. The report also refers to external risks which could emerge after Bulgaria’s accssion to the EU.

Институцията омбудсман в Европа и България: правна същност и практика

Author(s): Nora Ananieva,Maria Yordanova / Language(s): Bulgarian

This educational manual is designed for the elaboration and carrying out of specialized courses and programs in Bulgarian universities and schools as well as for everyone who is interested in these scope of issues. Learning about the ombudsman institution's origin, evolution, powers, efficiency and forms would be a necessity for students of law, political sciences and sociology, experts in public administration, individuals studying the mechanisms for human rights protection in the country, etc. The knowledge about the ombudsman institution would also increase the opportunities of individual citizens to defend their rights against omissions, illegal or inappropriate actions, or abuse of power on the part of public administration as well as local self-government authorities and local administration.

Модел за подкрепа на жертви на домашно насилие и насилие, основано на пола

Author(s): Elmira Nesheva,Daniela Kolarova,Rumen Minkovski / Language(s): Bulgarian

Freedom from violence, regardless of its form, is every human being’s fundamental right. The rights to life, liberty and security of person have been regulated in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as in the European Convention on Human Rights. The purpose of the Victims Support Model is to provide information and to present the currently existing activities, services and departments, which operate in the area of domestic and gender-based violence. The proposed Model accepts that the strong prevalence of the phenomena and the consequences thereof necessitate that it is treated as a public health issue. For this reason, an approach is being proposed, which defines and outlines the roots and the consequences of this problem in Bulgaria, identifies the risk and protective factors, and proposes strategies for effective resolution, including activities on prevention, timely reaction, and follow-up.

Национално изследване на домашното насилие и насилието, основано на полов признак (ДННОПП), и изработване на модел за подкрепа на жертвите на насилие (МПЖН).

Author(s): Slavyanka Ivanova,Miriana Ilcheva / Language(s): Bulgarian

The current brief is based on the results of the National Study on Domestic and Gender Based Violence (DGBV) and Elaboration of Victims Support Model (VSM), developed under Programme Area 29, BG12: Domestic and Gender Based Violence, Measure 3: Research and data collection of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. The study focused on four main thematic areas connected with DGBV phenomena: factors and causes, scales and prevalence, consequences, and public response. The study revealed that DGBV victimisation is caused by the simultaneous action of three types of factors: factors representing a conflict, violent conflict-resolution models that the perpetrators follow, and lack or blocking of deterrent mechanisms. DGBV re-victimisation occurs when the victims lack both internal and external resources to counteract. The reporting of DGBV prevalence depends on three factors: real occurrence of DGBV, awareness that the experienced acts represent DGBV, and readiness to share this experience with authorities, help providers or researchers.

Monitorimi i Ekonomisë së Fshehur në Maqedoni: Tendencat dhe Opsionet e Politikave

Author(s): Ana Mickovska-Raleva,Emil Shurkov / Language(s): Albanian

Macedonia features in many discussions as a country with high hidden economy. The European Commission has repeatedly voiced its concerns in its regular country reports about the size and proliferation of hidden economy practices. Hidden employment or undeclared work in Macedonia is of particular concern to the authorities, provided the very high and stubborn levels of official unemployment and low employment levels. However, most studies and research on the matter involve a high level of ambiguity, as they refer to specific narrow outcomes of the hidden economy, usually towards a specific point in time, with dynamics being difficult to trace. The current report, prepared jointly by the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) and the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), Macedonia proposes a methodology that would allow the tracing of the dynamics of the hidden economy and its components (e.g. hidden turnover, hidden employment, etc.) over time. This would make possible for the Macedonian government and its European partners to follow the impact and assess the effectiveness of their policies for tackling the hidden economy. Estimates suggest that the hidden economy size in Macedonia ranges from 24% to 47% of its GDP according to different measurement methods. The current report indicates that the percentage of hidden salaries remains the most acute concern, with the employment income of some 40% of Macedonian employees being at least partially undeclared. Moreover, 7% of all Macedonian employees work without a contract, and are not being paid any social security contributions whatsoever. The interviewed business representatives confirmed wide scale violations of the Labour Code. Over half of those respondents claimed that signing contracts with ‘hidden clauses’ (not accounting for the full remuneration paid out) were commonplace in their sector. Moreover, large-scale tax evasion seems to continue to pose a serious problem for the Macedonian economy and social system as the government tries to adjust them in order to be compatible with the principles of the market economy without imposing too extensive erosion of the social fabric and the existing social benefits. Tax avoidance is especially widespread among the poorest members of the society, which makes the underprivileged especially vulnerable as they may find themselves being criminally prosecuted for unpaid taxes or charged with paying large penalties. VAT returns are provided back to companies with significant time lags and represent additional burden for companies which are part of the formal economy. The issuance of cash register receipts also remains an issue, as only less than a half of the respondents claimed that they always received receipts when buying groceries. The situation is similar with the purchase of services.

Съдебната реформа: прокуратурата и разследващите органи в контекста на членството в Европейския съюз

Author(s): / Language(s): Bulgarian

This is the second publication of the Center for the Study of Democracy dedicated to the judicial reform in relation to the place and the role of the prosecution office and the investigation service. It presents the experience of the European Union Member States and the candidate countries as regards the organization and the structure of the prosecution office and the investigating authorities. It contains contributions from representatives of the courts, the prosecution offices and the investigating authorities of Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic as well as judges, investigators, representatives of the legislature and the executive and non-governmental organizations in Bulgaria. The publication aims to continue the broad public and expert discussion on the different options to reform the judiciary in Bulgaria, following the successful models implemented in other countries.

Тенденции на престъпността в България: полицейска статистика и виктимизационни изследвания

Author(s): Tihomir Bezlov,Philip Gounev,Alexander Stoyanov,Maria Yordanova / Language(s): Bulgarian

The report uses a crime victimization survey as an alternative analytical tool to make an independent assessment of the crime situation in Bulgaria for the period 2001–2004. The crime victimization survey polls people’s experiences with crime. Unlike official government crime statistics, the regular crime victimization surveys help the police and government authorities, as well as the public to understand: • whether the official police crime data reflect the real crime rate and crime trends; • the volume of the unreported crime; • the reasons victims do not report crimes to the police; • whether the police avoids registering reported crimes; • the profile of the social groups that are most at risk of falling victims to crime.

Policy Report on Media Independence and Freedom of Expression in Macedonia. Legalizing Restrictions of the Freedom of the Press

Author(s): Kalina Lechevska,Artan Sadiku,Jordan Šišovski / Language(s): English

Хиперрегулацијата како средство на контрола врз медиумската и академската слобода (second revised edition)

Author(s): Jordan Šišovski ,Kalina Lechevska / Language(s): Macedonian

Freedom of Expression, Association and Entrepreneurship in a Captured State: Macedonia in 2015

Author(s): Ana Blazheva,Viktorija Borovska,Kalina Lechevska,Jordan Šišovski / Language(s): English

Слобода на изразување, здружување и претприемништво во заробена држава: Македонија во 2015

Author(s): Ana Blazheva,Viktorija Borovska,Kalina Lechevska,Jordan Šišovski / Language(s): Macedonian

Вистинската цена на евтината работна сила. Политики за привлекување на странски директни инвестиции во Македонија, 2007-2015 (second revised edition)

Author(s): Branimir Jovanović / Language(s): Macedonian

Інноваційний вимір розвитку вищої освіти України: сучасний стан та перспективи

Author(s): Oleksandr Levchenko,Volodymyr Zaychenko,Olga Tkachuk,Anna Levchenko,Dmytro Plynokos,Vladislava Natalchenko,Oksana Sytnyk,Tatiyana Ryabovolik,Alona Hora,Sniganna Kovalenko,Olha Horpynchenko / Language(s): Ukrainian

In the monograph the question of transformation of the role of higher education in the condition of the becoming of an innovative model of national economy is comprehensively studied, the mechanisms of intensifying transfer of educational and professional knowledge are justified. The current status, tendencies, quantitative and qualitative aspects of training of specialists in the sphere of higher education, taking into account the territorial peculiarities of such process and international experience, the peculiarities of formation model of employment of specialists in the conditions of the innovative development of national economy are analyzed by the authors. In this monograph it was paid attention to improving the competitiveness of graduates of universities on the labor market, providing them with timely and effective professional training under the conditions of intensive development of the national economy. The question about preparing the specialists for foreign countries as a factor of the preservation and development of national higher education in the condition of reducing its own contingent of students was explored in the monograph. A considerable attention is paid to the development of directions of improvement of the state regulation the spheres of training and employment the specialists with higher education, such as: implementation the strategies and mechanism of increasing the competitiveness of university's graduates, support programs of employment of youth with higher education, improvement of state regulation of educational services' export, social partnership relationships and intensification of interaction of the employers with universities. The monograph is designed for a wide range of specialists of the sphere of higher education, researchers, professors, employers, employees of bodies of state authority and local municipality.

Под сянката на Сталин и Хитлер. Втората световна война и съдбата на европейските народи, 1939-1941 г. Т. 1. Началото на Втората световна война в Европа

Author(s): Plamen Tzvetkov / Language(s): Bulgarian

What is World War II? When does it start? These, seemingly, easy to answer questions have a surprisingly too many diverse answers. Compared to Word War I, the later is subject to much more unpopular views, in both, public and specialized literature.There are too many distortions, subjectivism and deliberate concealment of basic facts. Many are convinced that World War II in Europe started with Germany's attack on Poland, while in reality Poland has been invaded at least 17 days in advance from Germany and then from Russia. For example, few know that the Soviet-Nazi Alliance, signed with the Non-aggression Pact on 23 August 1939, began to act as the closest combat co-operation in the first hours of the invasion of the "Wehrmacht" on September 1.

Народностно потекло и национално самосъзнание

Author(s): Plamen Tzvetkov / Language(s): Bulgarian

Sense of nationality continues to be extremely powerful, and in today's globalized world, is getting even stronger. At first glance, the most obvious sign of the nation's community are language and origin, but too many nations seem to have no common ancestry, or even using only one language. Moreover, the most violent clashes burst out between people, professing the same religion and belonging more or less to the same culture. What makes most people to anticipate their national affiliations as an integral element of his/her own "I", and to invent their own past to find "worthy" place for their community? What can cause an ethno-national community or at least its elite to deny their relationship with another nation and to claim themselves as belonging to a completely different community, deliberately ignoring the "uncomfortable" facts? The purpose of this book is to make a critical review of some deep-rooted cliches and generally accepted axioms. The Bulgarian, Balkan and Slavic national passions are considered in the context of ethnogenesis and the formation of European nations and the world.

Светът през XX век

Author(s): Plamen Tzvetkov / Language(s): Bulgarian

Ignorance towards world history can lead to severe distortions in the national psyche. Even today, Bulgarians either rejoice as the greatest nation, surrounded by enemies, for some reason, or as a hopelessly lagging nation. The book offers the most fateful events and processes from the history of mankind in the twentieth century. During this century, people entered space, found the computer but at the same time faced the threat of nuclear self-destruction and were struck by a new type of plague known as AIDS. The planet became narrow. Clothing, life-style and food are uniform. The globalization, symbolized by both McDonald's fast food and Chinese restaurants, has its furious opponents, but also enthusiastic followers. Current Handbook aims to acquaint students with those historical events and processes in the history of Europe and the world in the twentieth century that directly impact human civilization, and the beginning of the 21st century. Therefore, the approach is not typical for historical science - events and processes are not chronologically but problem-based considered.

Sposoby mierzenia i uwarunkowania rozwoju funkcji turystycznej miasta. Przykład Poznania

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Monografia poświęcona badaniom cyklu życia produktu turystycznego w polskich miastach na przykładzie Poznania. Na kształtowanie się funkcji turystycznej miasta i tym samym cyklu życia produktu miasta wpływ mają czynniki polityczne, gospodarcze i stan świadomości społecznej. Polskie miasta przez ponad 40 lat działały w warunkach wynikających z ograniczonego prawa obywateli do własności i podejmowania decyzji gospodarczych, a także silnego scentralizowania tych decyzji (ubezwłasnowolnieni byli nie tylko obywatele, ale także samorządy). Autorzy, dążąc do celów metodycznych i poznawczych, zadawali sobie następujące pytania. Czy i jak można wobec powyższego mierzyć cykl życia produktu turystycznego w polskim mieście w długim okresie, np. 60 lat? Co utrudnia taki pomiar? Jakie czynniki polityczne, ekonomiczne i społeczne wpływają na kształtowanie się cyklu życia w odmiennych uwarunkowaniach ustrojowych i czy w związku z tym możemy mówić o uniwersalnym charakterze teorii cyklu życia produktu? Przyjmując, że transformacja ustroju społeczno-ekonomicznego w Polsce ma charakter trwały – jak w nowych uwarunkowaniach można mierzyć poziom natężenia, dynamikę rozwoju funkcji turystycznej miasta? Czy jest możliwe porównanie rozwoju funkcji turystycznej Poznania z innymi miastami w ujęciu dynamicznym? Zakładając, że sposoby oddziaływania samorządu na rozwój turystyki uzależnione są od poziomu funkcji turystycznej – w jaki sposób oceniać oddziaływanie samorządu na rozwój funkcji turystycznej Poznania i jak umożliwić wczesną diagnozę popełnianych błędów? Rozwój turystyki w mieście uzależniony jest także od jego mieszkańców. W jaki sposób badać i jak interpretować ocenę rozwoju funkcji turystycznej Poznania przez jego mieszkańców? Jeżeli w warunkach gospodarki rynkowej można mówić o regularnych zmianach faz cyklu życia produktu zgodnie z koncepcją R. Butlera, to celem nadrzędnym opracowania jest określenie sposobu oddziaływania władz miasta na rozwój turystyki w fazie, w której obecnie znajduje się Poznań.