Animus Association Foundation

Crisis center for violence victims “Saint Petka” is the only place in Sofia for women and children suffering domestic violence. The service is used by domestic violence victims not only from Sofia and Sofia district, but also from the whole country. The crisis center accommodates women and children, violence victims in secure space in which they receive individual support, humanitarian aid, legal consulting, empowerment and social-psychological aid. The non stop regime of the center gives opportunity for brief aid which might be lifesaving in certain cases.  

Complex for social services for children and families (CSSCF) compromises a Center for community aid for 120 people at max. capacity and a “Mother and baby” unit with a capacity of accommodating 10 mothers with babies. The complex provides children’s and family services for all citizens in Sofia city in the field of: preventing abandonment and reintegration of children, aid for children, victims of violence, and their families, prevention of children abuse; aiding children and their families in dealing with problematic behavior, supporting children with disabilities and their families. 

All services are free of charge. 

National Hotline for domestic violence victims is 24-hour service provided by Animus Association Foundation. It is realized with financial support from the Ministry of Justice. The Hotline provides access to help to victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, and it directs the victims to social services throughout the country. It also provides legal consultations - every Wednesday from 17:00 pm. to 21:00 pm. This service is aimed at women, men and children and their relatives that have become victims to violence and exploitation. Consultants from the National Hotline can give information related to human trafficking prevention, procedures for service access, etc.  

The hotline is used by people who have survived: 

• domestic violence
• sexual violence
• human trafficking
• any type of violence - institutional violence, between neighbors, from unknown people, etc. 

Zone ZaKrila provides services to children that have suffered violence and their families, as it uses specialized integrated approach and services that combine good quality legal, medical, psychological and social practices with friendly practices and environment. 

The Center provides uninterrupted support and advocacy for children that are violence victims and their families through the whole process of working on a case - from the moment of receiving the signal for violence and start of investigation to the end of the recovery process. 

Zone ZaKrila works with children that have suffered all forms of discrimination and their families. It includes child victims of violence from the past, as well from current cases of violence. 

The Community Support Centre with priority for women and children victims of violence is a service for immediate provision of legal and psychological counselling, as well as ensuring the possibility to take procedural measures and legal representation to permanently end the violence in the future.
The centre provides general and specialised services in the community. The services are designed for victims of any form of violence with a need to overcome the consequences of their experience. If the victim also has a child/children who have witnessed or been victims of violence, they will receive timely legal assistance and, if necessary, free legal representation and will be immediately referred to the specialists at the Zonе ZaKrila CSC.The service is available in Sofia, 85 Exarch Joseph St., every working day from 9.00 to 17.30.

A safe space to empower women and girls in migration. It is a structured space that respects the physical and emotional safety of women and girls first and foremost and supports them through empowerment, ensuring their physical and emotional safety. Conditions are created for women and girls to support each other and create their own women's social networks. Men and boys, on the other hand, provide support by positively influencing other community members and being allies in preventing gender-based violence and promoting a safe environment. Every Thursday (four times a month) different group creative and mental practices and info sessions are held on different topics. The safe space also offers individual sessions.

The goals of the safe space are:

- To facilitate access to knowledge, skills and appropriate services for all women and girls in migration;

- To support their psychosocial well-being and facilitate communication among them;

- To serve as a place where women and girls can access information and resources to reduce their risk of violence;

- To be a place where women and girls feel safe, can express themselves freely and learn to advocate for their rights, needs and interests.

SAFE HUT is implemented under the project ‘SAFE HUT - Safe Spaces for the Empowerment of Women and Girls’ and is funded by the European Commission under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) programme. The service is offered every Thursday at the Complex for social services for children and families (CSSCF) in Sofia, 8 Vranya St.