Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF)
Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation is an NGO of public utility that promotes social equality and women’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
in Bulgaria through research, education and advocacy programs. The BGRF was founded in June 1998 in Sofia. The team of the Foundation consists of lawyers, academics, experts in advocacy, education, monitoring violations of human rights, lobbying for legislative changes, preparing publications, networking. The BGRF has branches in Plovdiv, Haskovo, Gorna Oryahovitza. Since 2001 the BGRF has a youth department.
Goals
- Promote and facilitate the achievement of a gender balanced society in Bulgaria based on equal representation of women and men;
- Disseminate information and raise the awareness about women’s rights and gender issues in Bulgaria;
- Identify, protect, and lobby for specific needs and problems of young people;
- Support and participate to working groups drafting new legislation in the field of equal opportunities of women and men and in the field of eradicating Gender violence and discrimination.
- Advocate for the achievement of compliance with the Universal standards in the field of human rights and the universally recognized values of democracy.
Programmes and Projects
There are four main areas of research interest:
- violence against women
- social and economic rights of women
- political rights and participation in decision-making process
- education
Key Projects include: “Chalenging Legislation/ Regulation Of the Sex Industry In Bulgaria/ Romania “; “Combating trafficking for sexual exploatation” (with the Coalition against Trafficking of Women and the European Women’s Lobby”); “Legal Literacy and empowerment of women on their social-economic rights”; “Women’s rights and gender equality on the agenda of the Bulgarian Parliament”; “Gender standards – information campaign for young women in Bulgaria”.
References
See Also
- Trafficking of Women
- Violence against women