2017 Statistics for Georgia: 22 Cases of Femicide
The President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili stated that the official statistics of 22 femicide cases in 2017 is a “tragic” set of data.
The President added that further efforts are necessary in this direction for future prevention.
However, Margvelashvili pointed out that women’s awareness in terms of domestic violence has increased in the country.
“Nowadays, the state and society are reacting better to facts of violence and oppression against women. More than 10,000 cases of violence have been reported,” he added.
Margvelashvili also expressed satisfaction over the ratification of Council of Europe Convention on violence against women and domestic violence adopted in 2011 that further aids Georgia in elimination of violence against women.
He said that in terms of preventing femicide, Georgia does not have an ideal standing, nor even close to ideal.
"We should realize that femicide is an issue for our entire society. Many problems can be prevented by adopting legislative amendments or carrying out new policies; however, today I would like to address Georgian society: you play a crucial role in preventing violence against women,” Margvelashvili told participants of the international conference ‘Femicide Cases Monitoring Tools and Mechanisms,’ held last Thursday.
The Deputy Public Defender, Eka Skhirtladze, said that this year the number of attempted murders is also high, with 11 cases having been observed, eight of which were identified as domestic violence.
The law enforcement agencies claim that addressing domestic violence victims has increased, and not the cases themselves. According to Deputy Interior Minister Nino Javakhadze, in 2017, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) issued 3,137 restrictive orders on domestic violence. Last year, 2,910 orders were issued.
The data of restrictive orders since 2013 is as follows: 2013 – 227 orders, 2014 – 817, 2015 – 2.598, 2016 – 2.877 and 2017 [as of October] – 3.137.
Moreover, the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia reports that according to data of 11 months, the proceedings for domestic violence cases began against 1,180 people. Last year, the proceedings started against 1,356, in 2015 - 1,066 and in 2014 - 550.
The Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili, believes that it is necessary for femicide to be defined in the Criminal Ccode of Georgia.
“This will be recognition of the importance of the offense and in case of qualification it will be possible to consider the offenses as crimes committed in aggravating circumstances,” Nanuashvili stated.
Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Tamar Chugoshvili, also supports the introduction of the definition of femicide in the Criminal Code of Georgia.
As Chugoshvili says, the existing legal framework in the country is not enough to eradicate the problem.
The draft law on defining femicide as a separate crime failed twice in Parliament last year. It was supported only by 48 MPs during the voting, while a minimum 50 votes was necessary for adoption.
In January 2017, the Republicans applied to Parliament with the legislative initiative of defining femicide. The amendments also included recognition of gender crimes as an aggravating circumstance, but the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Issues discussed and did not support it.
Thea Morrison