Ombudsman: 40 Femicide Victims in 3 Years

Georgia’s Public Defender, Nino Lomjaria, says that in the last three years, 40 women became femicide victims in Georgia.

Lomjaria made the statement while presenting a femicide monitoring report on June 18.

The document provides an analysis of the attempts of gender killing and attempted killing of women committed in 2016 in relation to the commitments undertaken by the country in terms of protecting women from violence and assisting them.

Lomjaria stated that despite the increased rate of restraining orders and reporting, unfortunately, the monitoring and evaluation system has only recently been introduced in relation to the cases of killing of women.

According to the Ombudsman, in 2017 alone, investigations were launched in 26 cases of killing of women, 14 of which included signs of domestic crimes, and in 15 cases of attempted killing of women, 12 of which included signs of domestic violence.

“These statistics indicate that most murders of women are related to domestic violence and the main recommendation of the Public Defender in this direction is to define femicide as a separate crime," the Public Defender said.

The femicide monitoring report also reads that the high rate of femicide is closely related to gender inequality in the country, as well as to the policy on violence against women and domestic violence, and deficiencies in the victim assistance system.

Lomjaria underlined once again that it is necessary to take systemic steps in this direction.

The website www.femicide.ge, developed for the purpose of raising public awareness, was also presented at the event.

By Thea Morrison

Related stories:

2017 Statistics for Georgia: 22 Cases of Femicide

Ombudsman: Domestic Violence in Georgia Claims Lives of 13 Women