Ombudsman: 16 Women Killed in 10 Months in Georgia

On December 11, the conference on Prevention and Monitoring of Femicide was held with the support of the Public Defender of Georgia and UN Women. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the systemic problem and the most extreme form of the killing of women.

The 10-month (January-October) statistics of 2019 show 16 killings of women were reported (one of the victims was led to suicide), 9 of which showed signs of domestic offense (one of the women was led to suicide by her husband); other motives were identified in 7 cases. According to the 10-month data of 2019, there were 16 attempted murders of women. Signs of domestic offense were identified in 12 cases, while other motives were identified in the rest 4 cases.

"The main findings of the report show that it is still problematic for the court to assess a case as femicide (the killing of a woman or girl, in particular by a man and on account of her gender) or attempted femicide. Even when gender motives are identified, this is not reflected in aggravating circumstances of the punishment. Accordingly, the Prosecutor's Office needs to take appropriate measures to identify gender motives in the murders or attempted murders of women," the ombudsman agency has reported.

By Nini Dakhundaridze

Image source: ombudsman.ge