Begging and Prostitution are No Longer Crimes in Bulgaria
The Constitutional Court annulled as unconstitutional the texts of the Penal Code, which declared begging and the provision of paid sexual services as criminal acts
The average child beggar in the Bulgarian capital Sofia makes about BGN 2000 (EUR 1000) a month but the money is usually pocketed by their parents and/or organized crime structures.
This has been reported by Zlatka Petkova, Director of the Public Support Center, a Sofia-based NGO, in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television.
Begging is technically prohibited in Sofia but the streets of the Bulgarian capital are usually lined with begging children or even entire families, most often from the Roma community.
The recent campaign of the Sofia Municipality to cope with child begging has started to produce results, believes Petkova.
In the past 4 months, the Sofia municipal authorities have registered 212 child beggars under 12 years of age, and 200 child beggars between 14 and 18.
“There has been a decline of child begging in Sofia since March 18, when the Sofia Municipality started its campaign against child exploitation. There will be an upcoming agreement between the Sofia police, the Social Directorate of the municipality, the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office and the State Agency for Child Protection in order to hammer out the responsibilities of each of these actors with respect to the child begging problem. This seldom happens in Bulgaria – having all organizations react swiftly and cohesively,” Petkova explained.
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