Crossing Continents

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Crossing Continents: Bulgaria's Children and the Norwegian Bogeyman

Bulgaria's Children and the Norwegian Bogeyman

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Bulgaria's Children and the Norwegian Bogeyman

How Bulgarian parents came to fear their children would be kidnapped by social workers.

Anatomy of a panic: how defenders of the "traditional family" in Bulgaria spread fears that a foreign country - Norway - was imposing a dangerous child protection system on them.

Thousands of Bulgarian parents pulled their children out of school in a mass panic last October, fearing they would be abducted by social workers. Many more are protesting against a draft law they say puts 70 per cent of children at similar risk. Are they right to be scared? Or have rumours and fake news spread hysteria about the power of the state? Suddenly, campaigns to defend the “traditional family” are gathering strength in Bulgaria – and across eastern Europe. What’s behind them? And why do they treat one Western country – Norway – as the ultimate source of evil? Tim Whewell investigates.

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Crossing Continents

Bulgaria's Children and the Norwegian Bogeyman

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