Photo: Vihren Georgiev
Host of the Human Rights Forum Force
Olga Mineva / EMPROVE
Olga Mineva is an organisational psychologist holding academic degrees in Psychology from Heidelberg University, Germany, and in Organisational Psychology from the University of London, United Kingdom. For more than 15 years, Olga has dedicated her career to supporting organisations — both in the business sector and in the non-governmental sector—as a psychologist and consultant.
Deeply committed to the cause of women’s empowerment and the fight against domestic violence, Olga is the founder of the EMPROVE Foundation. The organization works to influence public support and attitudes toward women and girls who have experienced violence. Its founder has been recognised with the “Advocate of the Year” award by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, as well as a special Darik Radio award in the “40 under 40” initiative. Olga and her team are behind the early prevention campaign #RanoBudna (“Awakened Early”), the first-of-its-kind community #WomenSurvivors, and the large-scale art initiatives “Awakening Between the Lines,” “Hear My Voice,” and “Pink Cloud.” The foundation is also the official Bulgarian representative of YSL Beauty’s global campaign “Abuse Is Not Love.”
Period Poverty: The Invisible Stain on Social Equity and Human Rights
Carmen Bulac & Alexandra Tanase /
Pe Stop Association
When menstrual health, education and policy remove barriers that prevent full participation in school, work and public life, we transform stigma into empowerment.
Carmen Bulac (left) is a human rights and gender justice advocate, bridging grassroots engagement with national and international advocacy. With professional experience across Europe, South West Asia, and North Africa, she applies an intersectional approach to create inclusive spaces where dignity, rights, and empowerment are central.
Alexandra Tanase (right) is a pharmacist with extensive experience in humanitarian and medical operations, having worked with Médecins Sans Frontières across Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and conflict-affected settings. Her expertise includes medical supply management, pharmaceutical quality assurance, and staff training in complex emergencies, including HIV and primary healthcare projects. She is also engaged in community-based volunteering and co-founded an NGO supporting menstrual health access for women in need.
Quiet (or not) power of people
Anastasija Laizāne / Riga Pride
From singing revolution and fight for independence more than 30 years ago to standing up for human rights yet again today. This is a story from Baltics and Latvia about people who break the silence and stand together against politics that imagine they are bigger and stronger than people. Spoiler - they are not.
Anastasija Laizāne is a Latvian human rights activist, Riga Pride organizer, youth worker, and co‑founder of the NGO “Active Rainbow,” focusing on LGBTQIA+ inclusion and non‑formal learning projects in Latvia and across Europe.
Photo: Raina Krēgere
Your identity is not an obstacle. It is a resource.
Daniela Samiri / Roma Foundation Europe
On identity as a source of perspective, strength, and strategic thinking and not as a label or limitation. Beyond the frameworks of “woman” and “Roma,” Daniela will explore how living “outside the norm” builds the ability to see systems clearly, to navigate and act across different contexts, and to take up a position that is neither that of a victim nor of a symbol, but of an active subject.
Daniela Samiri is a criminologist whose work focuses on power, exclusion, and the ways institutions shape people’s life opportunities. In her research, she examines how identity, access, and decision-making operate within systems that appear formally neutral, yet in practice produce inequalities.
Anti-Gender Ideology and Zones of Lawlessness
Deyana Marcheva / New Bulgarian University
Associate Professor Dr Deyana Marcheva will explore the interconnections between anti-gender campaigns, the entrenchment of authoritarian practices, and the creation of zones of lawlessness and rights deprivation. In these contexts, migrants, refugees, Roma people and LGBTIQ+ individuals initially become victims of discrimination, humiliation and violence, with the impact gradually extending to an ever wider range of vulnerable groups, including women, children and people with disabilities.
Associate Professor Dr Deyana Marcheva is a lecturer in constitutional law and the protection of human rights at New Bulgarian University. Her academic research focuses on the challenges facing the rule of law and the judiciary in Bulgaria, as well as on the protection of the rights of vulnerable persons. She has extensive professional experience as a lawyer and consultant to leading human rights organisations.
Discrimination against women in places of deprivation of liberty in Bulgaria
Biliana Petrova
In places of deprivation of liberty in Bulgaria, women make up only 3–4% of the prison population. As a result, they are subjected to additional violations of their rights on the basis of sex. In pre-trial detention facilities, women are exposed to sexual discrimination. The fact that there is only one women’s prison in Bulgaria creates conditions for isolation and unequal treatment.
Bilyana Petrova is a former Deputy Mayor of the Mladost district in Sofia. Prior to that, she worked for international organisations, various ministries, and both large and small Bulgarian companies. Before her arrest in 2018, she had more than 20 years of professional experience, including work on projects addressing discriminatory practices. She spent over two and a half years in places of deprivation of liberty, where she actively fought against human rights violations and discrimination against women. As a result of her numerous complaints, a number of changes were implemented.
Words Are Actions
Boryana Yovcheva
The protection of human rights is not only the work of experts, but a responsibility of each and every one of us. Especially in times of rising hateful sentiments, it is important to remain active and to voice our positions out loud every day, so that we can safeguard the stage of civilisation we have reached.
Boryana is a freelance actress. She is part of the independent Replika Theatre, where she often works on documentary and socially engaged projects. She is also involved in creating content for social media and works as a mentor/teacher in acting for non-professionals.
Photo: Dimana Pastrakova
Safe. Secure: archiving our history, future and present
Luan Pertl / Schwules Museum Berlin
Collecting and archiving our stories is crucial — no other archives are doing it securely. This session explores how to create safe, inclusive archives for minority groups within the LGBTIQA+ community and what it means to evolve from a gay archive to a truly inclusive one.
Luan is a CEO of the Schwules Museum in Berlin and a global advocate for intersex human rights.
Direction: Strong
Michaela Markova & Alexandra Nikolova / EMPROVE Foundation
Art transforms women’s lived stories into strength and agency.
Michaela Markova (left) is a psychologist, lecturer, mentor, and a survivor affiliated with the Emprove Foundation.
Ål Nik (Alexandra Nikolova) (right) is a visual artist working with illustration, live drawing, and experimental publishing to translate complex social issues into accessible visual narratives. She holds an MFA in Fine Art and Media Design and uses art as a tool for communication, empathy, and collective understanding. Her work includes collaborations with organisations such as the Emprove Foundation, Ideas Factory, and the Biodiversity Foundation.
Photo: Iliyana Ivanova
Women Deprived of Liberty in Bulgaria
Attorney Kalin Angelov
In Bulgaria there is only a single prison for women located in the city of Sliven. This creates a certain “feudalisation” of the women’s penitentiary system. Attorney Angelov will introduce us to the problems that arise as a result.
Kalin Angelov is a lawyer based in Sofia with 22 years of legal practice. His work is related to criminal and penitentiary law, and he often examines these issues through the lens of human rights. He graduated in Law from Sofia University and holds a master’s degree in International and European Public Law from Tilburg University in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He also holds a PhD in Religion and Theology, with academic interests in Late Antiquity, Christian asceticism in Asia Minor, the Cappadocian Fathers, and particularly St. Basil the Great.
What Do We Stand For? What Would We Take a “Hit” For?
Miroslav Tsekov / Civic Participation Forum
What are the causes worth fighting for, and are we ready to ask the difficult questions within the civic sector in order to stop the shrinking of civic space and the declining trust in NGOs?
An activist and advocate for meaningful youth and civic participation for more than 10 years, previously as part of the National Youth Forum and currently as Director of the Civic Participation Forum, one of the largest networks of civil society organisations in the country. Miroslav believes that building a genuine culture of participation among citizens from the earliest age is the only reliable guarantee for democracy, freedom, and the protection of human rights. He is convinced that networks are the future of the civic sector and that only together can we achieve major strategic victories that improve people’s lives and address real problems.
strengthens democracy and
the rule of law
widens the perspective for a future
in which equal rights are a priority
amplifies the voice of
human rights defenders
is a connection hub
creates societal sensitivity
SUPPORTED BY
With the financial support of the Bulgarian Fund for Women, the Netherlands Helsinki Committee, and the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the BFW, NHC, the EU, the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers of the European Commission, or the EC. Neither the BFW, nor the NHC, nor the EU, nor the EC and its bodies can be held responsible for them.
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