Deputy interior minister calls for “active public engagement” in combating gender-based violence
Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, the deputy minister of internal affairs of Georgia, said on Monday that the domestic legislation against gender-based and similar crimes involving violence had been “significantly tightened” since 2017 and 2018. Photo: interior ministry press office
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Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, the deputy minister of internal affairs of Georgia, on Monday called on the public to be “vocal” about potential cases of gender-based violence to ensure “effective” work against the crime and prevention of possible fatal consequences.
The comment came on the heels of recent incidents of domestic and gender-based assaults, including a man burning his divorced wife to death in the country’s west last week and a 70-year-old nun being raped and severely beaten in a monastery in the central Khashuri municipality on Saturday.
The minister said the domestic legislation against gender-based and similar crimes involving violence had been “significantly tightened” since 2017 and 2018, with about 10,000 restraining orders issued annually and investigation launched in up to 5,000 cases.
Every member of the public should understand that violence is shameful and they must not be silent in such cases, as being silent means encouraging violence”, said Darakhvelidze.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Health joined the 16-day global campaign on the fight against violence against women.https://t.co/yP3ezBCFWG pic.twitter.com/GMXTFQf1x6
— MIA of Georgia (@MIAofGeorgia) November 25, 2022
He also noted his body had launched a campaign last week to further raise public awareness on gender-based violence, and highlighted the role of the public and media in preventing incidents.
We are meeting and talking to all stakeholders and interested parties to produce joint action plans - what should be done, what is the role of the public and the media to properly cover gender-based crimes - to find support for victims and ensure their protection”, he said, adding “it is very important to have programmes to correct the behaviour of perpetrators, so that they are not focused only on punishment”.
In response to the assault on the nun, who is undergoing treatment in a Tbilisi clinic, Darakhvelidze revealed two suspects had been identified and were facing 15-20 years in prison or life sentence for the crime.