Milena was in a toxic relationship. In her own words, coming from her own experience, she wanted to help women in similar relationships "to break free and overcome the trauma".
"That's when I realized that before you put the oxygen mask on the passenger on the plane, you have to put it on yourself first," she says. "And so I actually became part of the community, went through group therapy, etc."
"Each one of us should have the knowledge of how often violence is hidden, unconscious even for the victim herself," Milena notes.
This is why it is important for people to be able to recognise the signs of it - changes in the victim's behaviour, the way they express themselves, even the way they dress.
"For example, when a woman starts hiding some of her emotions, starts frequently absenting herself from social gatherings, often justifying herself with some irrational reasons why she can't be absent, when she starts distancing herself even from friends and sharing less, these are red flags"
According to her, the closest family and friends - the so-called support network - play a crucial role at this point. These are often the first people to let even the victim know something is wrong.
However, in Milena's words, there is something Bulgarians still do not understand - that violence takes more than one form.
"Many people think that behind the term domestic violence there is primarily physical violence - beatings, loud scandals, calling the police," she says.
"A lot of people still haven't opened up to the fact that psychological, and financial violence are also forms of violence. And very often the mental wounds and trauma are much harder to erase, they do much more damage."
"Public dialogue is a very important step to change public attitudes"
