One out of every four women in Bulgaria is a victim of domestic violence, Deputy Social Policy Minister Ivanka Hristova announced on Wednesday.

The statement was made at a press conference held under the motto "Say No to Domestic Violence".

"About 85% of the prisoners in our country have witnessed domestic violence in their childhood," the minister said.

"A total of 60% of the boys, who grew up in such families, later use force on their beloved," she added.

Half of the girls that come from families where domestic violence was something usual, become victims, who are ready to face the same type of behaviour towards them, data shows.

"More and more victims start to lodge complaints against their oppressors, reaching 3,600 in 2007," the Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Anastasiya Mozer explained.

The Council of Europe loses about EUR 33 B annually to fight against the domestic violence.

The percentage of the harassed women in Europe as a whole is close to that in Bulgaria. It is set at between one fifth and one fourth.

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