A/HRC/44/52/Add.1 coordinator of the national mechanism for referral and support of victims of trafficking and also functions as the equivalent mechanism of a national rapporteur. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the significant progress made by the Commission in recent years in combating the trafficking of women and girls, including the implementation of prevention campaigns tailored to local, regional and national levels; strategies for reaching out to potential victims in partnership with civil society organizations and health providers; and the provision of shelters and centres for the support of potential or confirmed victims of human trafficking. Provision of shelters and services to victims of violence 41. Access to services for women victims of violence in Bulgaria remains a challenge. The Special Rapporteur was concerned by the fact that almost all interlocutors with whom she met pointed out the shortage of adequate shelters across the country. She was informed that there were 19 crisis centres for children, with a total capacity of 196 places, and only 6 crisis centres for adult victims of domestic violence, trafficking or other forms of exploitation, with a total capacity of 64 places for the entire country. Five of those six crisis centres were managed by NGOs with a State-delegated budget. Only one shelter in Plovdiv was run by the municipality. 14 The Special Rapporteur visited three crisis centres and was informed that the maximum duration of a woman’s stay in a shelter was three months. Some of the crisis centres also provided for legal support, counselling and support for reintegration. Nevertheless, social workers stressed that the lack of coordinated and comprehensive essential services for survivors of violence at the State level was particularly concerning and that shelters lacked adequate resources to provide holistic assistance to victims. 42. The Special Rapporteur is particularly alarmed that in Sofia, a city of 2 million inhabitants, there is only one shelter with eight available places, which does not comply with the minimum standards of the Council of Europe, according to which there should be at least one place for every 10,000 residents in a crisis centre. 15 The Special Rapporteur was informed that the shelter for victims of trafficking in Sofia was shut down in early 2019, owing to lack of funds. Sofia is the main exit point of victims of trafficking and the lack of shelters in the capital is of considerable concern. The Special Rapporteur notes that the moment a shelter is opened, the number of cases of domestic violence reported and alerts received double, because when services are provided women feel more protected and more willing to seek support (see A/HRC/35/30). 43. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the efforts made in establishing free 24-hour helplines run by NGOs. The Alliance for Protection from Gender-Based Violence runs a helpline specifically for victims of domestic violence operated by paid staff. The Animus Foundation runs a broader-ranging support helpline, which receives around 2,000 calls per year and is staffed by volunteers. A third helpline is offered by the Pulse Foundation. Protection 44. The Special Rapporteur received information from a variety of sources to the effect that protection orders were not effective and immediate, despite what was provided in the Protection against Domestic Violence Act. Women who managed to receive protection orders usually did so thanks to the support of a lawyer. While the Special Rapporteur welcomes the 2016 amendments to the Legal Assistance Act, which extended free legal assistance to survivors of domestic violence, she fears that illiterate or marginalized women face avoidable barriers to obtaining redress in cases of domestic violence. A woman victim of violence who is staying in a shelter or in a location other than her usual place of residence does not receive any notification of a protection order being issued but must proactively call the civil courts to obtain information on the status of her request. 14 Information provided by the Ministry of the Interior. 15 Council of Europe, “Combating violence against women: minimum standards for support services” (September 2008). 11