Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp

tions. These were the generations that created this field of work: voluntary and
professional social work. They were Samaritan women, visiting nurses, female
teachers, advisors and municipality social advisors. Those twenty-five years in
Bulgaria were also a time of radical changes in the place of women in the public
realm. By connecting the public and private realm, home visiting practice
contributed to these changes. The pre-war period during which poor female
and male Sofia citizens wrote their petition to the municipality was a time of
intense political and social activity by women in Bulgaria. Women received
voting rights in municipal elections in 1937 and voting rights in parliamentary
elections in 1938. They were encouraged by the activities of the Bulgarian
Women’s Union and women’s periodicals like “Women’s Voice”. Woman’s
newspapers became actors in the social and political life of the country, making
the voice of women heard.
Questions that can be used in class:
1. Why did home visit practice became so important for upper-class
women active in the COS society in Victorian England?
2. What were the conditions in working-class homes in the
nineteenth century?
3. How did upper-class women see working-class homes?
4. What rules did they develop?
5. How did these rules reflect the power relationship?
6. How did they establish relationships of trust?
The First Visiting Women “(…) in rain, wind and snow (…)”.
The Samaritan Women (“Samarjanka” Society)
The “Samarjanka” charity was founded in 1910 by Queen Eleonora, with the
support of the Bulgarian Red Cross. Initially, 400 women from Sofia were involved.
According to the charity’s statute, the aim was to promote an awareness
of the need to assist others, to spread knowledge of first aid and to prepare
voluntary staff – women, who would care for the sick and wounded in time
of war or peace. In subsequent months, in other towns in Bulgaria (Plovdiv,
Tirnovo and Rousse), local “Samarjanka” societies were also founded. The
various branches started preparation courses for women seeking to do voluntary
(mainly sanitary) work. Their activities became very important especially
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