Georgia Launches Information Campaign Against Child Marriage

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia Natia Mezvrishvili announced the Ministry has launched an information campaign: “Do not deprive the children of childhood" against child marriage. The opening of the campaign was held at Rooms Hotel Tbilisi on Monday. The campaign is to last a symbolic 18 days.

The Human Rights Protection Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs presented the statistics about early marriage, noting investigations have been launched into 180 facts of early marriages.

“In most cases, law enforcement agencies are informed about these facts several months later, which makes it difficult to make an effective response. In this regard, the main challenge is the lack of public awareness. The campaign aims to raise public awareness about forced marriage and the crimes that usually accompany the forced marriage: sexual violence and domestic violence. The victims are often minors, and as a rule, the offense is committed by family members. Although people call the police for domestic violence cases more frequently, it still remains a challenge. Through this campaign, we would like to call on society, everyone who has any kind of information on this issue, to inform the police immediately,” Mezvrishvili said, adding that the Ministry will do its maximum to inform society that child marriage is a crime and that it needs to be reported immediately.

“Our public order officers will go from door to door, deliver information brochures and booklets and inform society that child marriage is a crime and they should inform police about it,” she stated.

The information campaign is being implemented with the support of the UN population, under the UN Joint Program for Gender Equality.

By Ana Dumbadze