Public Defender: 151 murdered women over the past 5 years in Georgia

Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has released a report on human rights in Georgia, which reads that 151 women have been killed on the basis of gender and domestic violence over the past five years in Georgia. 

Lomjaria requested statistical data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor’s Office and Court for the report.

The official data says that most of the cases of femicide (killing women on the basis of gender) are related to domestic violence.

As for the 10 months of 2019, 16 women were killed in Georgia, out of which 9 were domestic violence cases.

Lomjaria points out that even when gender motives are established, it is not considered as an aggravating circumstance of punishment by the court.

Most cases of domestic violence or violence against women are not reported to the relevant agencies by women, as they have various barriers, including economic problems and lack of trust’, reads the report.

The ombudsman recommends to create more programs for victims to prevent escalation of violence, killing of women.

The Public Defender reports that the role of social worker in domestic violation cases is very important, though the problem of effective coordination remain one of the challenges.

Head of the administration of the government of Georgia, Natia mezvrishvili responded the Ombudsman’s report noting that ‘the issue is very sensitive and it’s difficult to discuss only statistics.

Mezvrishvili said that when Parliament adopts a government-initiated bill on electronic bracelets, the number of crimes will be further reduced.   

The Interior Ministry created the Human Rights Department in January 2018. One of the major goals of the department is to prevent crimes against women.

• The Interior Ministry created the Human Rights Department

Earlier in 2016, the country’s first crisis centre for victims of domestic violence was opened in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi by Georgia’s Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs.

The support centre provides a range of services to people in need of immediate help, including shelter and medical support.