CAT/C/BGR/CO/6 vigilante groups; and prevent private individuals from carrying out apprehensions of migrants; (h) Reinstate the monthly financial allowance for asylum seekers, and improve material conditions in reception centres to ensure an adequate standard of living; (i) Reduce the level of overcrowding in migrant detention facilities, in particular in Busmantsi and Lyubimets. Domestic violence and gender-based violence against women 25. The Committee remains concerned at the prevalence and the number of domestic violence cases, including marital rape, which constitute forms of gender-based violence as the overwhelming majority of victims in the State party are women, and that domestic violence continues to not be included as a specific crime in the Criminal Code. It is also concerned about the one-month time limit for applying for protection orders, which cannot be modified if the violence increases; the absence of a cassation instance for judicial proceedings under the Law on protection against domestic violence; the insufficient number of State-run shelters for women and their children who are victims of domestic violence; and reports that law enforcement and prosecutorial staff lack sufficient training and awareness in handling cases of domestic violence and protecting victims (arts. 2, 12–14 and 16). 26. Recalling its previous recommendation (see CAT/C/BGR/CO/4-5, para. 25), the Committee recommends that the State party should: (a) Amend its legislation to include domestic violence, including marital rape, as a specific crime in the Criminal Code that entails ex officio prosecution; (b) Encourage victims to report cases of violence to the authorities; ensure that all allegations of violence against women, including domestic and sexual violence, are registered by the police and are promptly, impartially and effectively investigated; remedy poor investigative techniques; and rectify the mishandling of evidence of domestic violence, in particular in cases of rape; (c) Ensure that all victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence benefit from protection, including restraining orders, and have access to medical and legal services, including counselling, redress and rehabilitation, as well as safe and adequately funded government-run shelters throughout the country; (d) Establish an effective and independent complaints mechanism for victims of domestic violence; (e) Provide mandatory training for police and other law enforcement officials, prosecutors, judges and social workers on the vulnerabilities of victims of gender-based violence, including domestic violence; (f) Compile statistical data, disaggregated by age and ethnicity of the victims and their relationship to the perpetrator, on domestic, sexual and other forms of violence against women, including marital rape, and on the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of perpetrators and sentences handed down. Trafficking in persons 27. While taking note of the measures taken by the State party to combat trafficking in human beings, including the adoption of the national anti-trafficking strategy for the period 2017–2021, the Committee is concerned that Bulgaria remains a country of origin for human trafficking for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation and of removal of organs and body fluids. It is also concerned about the gaps between legislation and strategies and their implementation and the failure to address the root causes of trafficking, in particular with regard to Roma women. The Committee is also concerned at the insufficient support provided to trafficked persons, including the low number of shelters for victims of trafficking, the absence of a mechanism to identify victims of trafficking, 10

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