New bill to make sexual harassment punishable offence in Georgia
Georgian NGOs have been speaking about the necessity of providing tougher punishment for sexual harassment for several months now. Photo: saba.com.
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Ruling Georgian Dream party MPs have drafted a bill which makes sexual harassment a punishable offence.
Using words of a sexual nature, showing of one’s genitals, any type of verbal or non-verbal actions of a sexual nature will be considered sexual harassment.
Creating an abusive or hostile environment at work to force someone into a sexual relationship will also be punishable as sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment will be punished by a 300 GEL ($112) fine and 500 GEL ($187) if repeated. The offence will also be punishable with up to one-month community work.
Deliberate sexual harassment of a minor, a pregnant woman or someone in a critical condition or in the presence of a minor will be punished by 500-800 GEL ($187-$299), and if repeated by 800-1,000 GEL ($299-$374) fine or 10-day imprisonment.
Six Georgian Dream MPs have drafted the bill, Vice Parliament Speaker Tamar Chugoshvili among them.
The Georgian police have arrested a man accused of sexually harassing adolescents online and violating their right to privacy.
European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse is being marked in Tbilisi today. Georgia joined the European Convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse in 2015.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has drafted a bill which provides civil restrictions and tougher punishment for those convicted of sexual crimes against minors.
The MIA says they will continue investigating trafficking cases involving adolescents and will "react strictly” even if the victim and offender are close relatives.
The Georgian Interior Ministry reports that 116 individuals were charged in 2018 for various offences committed against minors.
Monitoring of the investigation of crimes against life and health will be added to the obligations of the department starting from the year, Deputy Interior Minister Natia Mezvrishvili stated today.
A man wanted for sexual abuse of a minor in Texas, US, was detained in Tbilisi today, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports.
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia is creating a registry of persons convicted of sex crimes, the ministry reports today.
The Georgian MPs have unanimously approved a bill on sexual harassment with 102 votes in favor and 0 against.
A man in Georgia’s western town of Kutaisi has been fined after sexually harassing a woman. The woman said that the man asked her to have sex in what she thought was an abusive and inappropriate manner.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has exposed 110 cases of child abuse by their parents from January to May 2019. In 15 cases out of the 110, children were abused by their mothers while fathers/stepfathers were observed in the rest of the cases.
Former prosecutor Salome Adeishvili wrote a post on Facebook yesterday detailing 27 reasons why she felt compelled to quit her job in the body.
The Georgian prosecutor general’s office has charged two individuals for coercion and sexual offences against minors, the state body announced on Friday.