Minister of Internal Affairs’ Initiative to Prevent Youth Criminality

UN and UNICEF organized a meeting in Tbilisi to discuss the new initiatives concerning the problem of youth criminality in Georgia.  The minister of Internal affairs, Giorgi Gakharia, met with NGO and international organizations at this occasion. Not only did they talk about the violations committed by young people but they also largely discussed the problem of violence towards youth.

The minister took concrete measures to improve the quality of the investigations and hundreds of police officers were trained in 2018. The issue of sexual violence against youth was in the center of the discussion. It was announced that a database of people who have committed sexual crimes will be created to follow the aggressors. They will also work to better identify the kids who live and work in the street and who are especially subject to such aggressions.

According to a report from the Department of Human Rights Protection and Quality Monitoring, 42% of crime committed against youth were domestic violences and 12% were sexual abuses.

On the other side, 90% of the kids (14-18 years old) who commit offenses are enrolled in school but do not take part in any sportive or artistic activities. Therefore, the work will also be to focus on identifying the youth who have an anti-social behaviour to re-socialize them.

By Gabrielle Colchen

Photo Source: oneequalworld.com