2016

The National Counseling Line (116 117) for women and girls who are victims of violence was launched during the campaign of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence in November 2016 and it started functioning on February 2, 2017. The Line is a 24/7 service, whose operation was approved in advance by relevant standards, upon DCM no. 430, dated 8 June 2016. Local telephone service has been established earlier by non-profit organizations and currently such services are part of the Coordinated Referral Mechanisms in the local units where they are applied. During 2017, the National Counseling Line received 1489 calls and conducted 636 face-to-face counseling sessions ; whereas in 2018 there were received 2540 calls (on average 7 calls per day) and were conducted 708 face-to-face counseling sessions.