United Nations Population Fund gaerTianebuli erebis mosaxleobis fondi
COMBATING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
GEORGIA
2008-2011
Table of Contents: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......................................4 UNFPA IN GEORGIA -. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...................................... 5 COMBATING GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN SOUTH CAUCASUS ............................... 6 GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN GEORGIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......................................7 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ...............10 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE ........................12 UNiTE CAMPAIGN TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA ....... . . . ...15 PARTNERSHIP WITH MEDIA ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS ....................................15 CONTEST ON BEST GENDER MEDIA WORKS . . . . . . ................... . . . . . . . . . .........17 ENGAGING MEN IN PARSNERSHIP FOR EQUALITY: WHITE RIBBON CAMPAIGN AND MEN TALKING TO MEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....................................17 YOUTH INFORMATION SESSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......................................20 TARGET GROUP EDUCATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..................... . . . . . . . . ........21 AMENDMENTS PACKAGE TO THE LAW OF GEORGIA ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......................................21 NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.................... . . . . . . . . ........23 POLICE GUIDING MANUAL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ............ . . . . . . ...............23 Concept Paper on Rehabilitation of Male Perpetrators of Domestic Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....................................26 National Referral Mechanism for the victims of domestic violence. ........................26 STUDY TOUR ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN AUSTRIA .................... . . . . . . . .......27 Police Force and Attorneys Trained on Domestic Violence . ................................28 STRENGTHENING THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....................................29
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Acknowledgements
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he UNFPA/Georgia expresses its immense gratitude to all partners and counterparts, which played an active role in the process of the “Combating Gender-Based Violence in the South Caucasus” project implementation in 2008-2011. Our immense gratitude goes to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its efforts and financial contribution to advancing the women’s rights in the region through supporting the GBV-SC project. We wish to thank the Parliament of Georgia, especially H.E Rusudan Kervalishvili, Deputy Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia and Chairperson of the Parliamentary Gender Equality Council, for her invaluable contribution for building partnerships and collaboration in the field. Thanks are also due to Interagency Council for Prevention of Domestic Violence, especially Ms. Lali Papiashvili, the Chairperson of the Council for her consistently helpful cooperation and support. Our appreciation goes to our implementing partners – Center for Social Sciences (CSS), ACT Research, Caucasus Social Marketing Association (CSMA) and Women’s Information Center (WIC), partner governmental agencies, international and local organizations, experts, journalists, artists and young people who have contributed to the implementation of the project. Without participation and support of all the above mentioned, successful implementation of the GBV-SC Georgia project would not have been possible.
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Unfpa in Georgia
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NFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every women, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. Guided by the Programme of Action of the Cairo Conference on Population and Development (ICPD and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), UNFPA provides its assistance to countries in addressing development needs, supporting programmes in the field of Reproductive Health and Rights, Population, Development and Gender. UNFPA established its full-fledged country office in Georgia in 1999 and expanded its operations by funding programmes and stand-alone projects with its primary focus on reproductive health. UNFPA supports the Georgian government in the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action and MDGs. UNFPA activities and programmes are countryspecific and tailored to meet Georgia’s needs in the area of reproductive health, population, development and gender, through addressing the topical aspects ranging from the quality and accessibility of RH services to gender equality and availability of quality data for development.
For over 10 years, UNFPA Georgia has been striving for gender equality by supporting various projects and initiatives including capacity building of parliament staffers on gender analysis of the legislation, conference and advocacy events, designing and managing the UN Joint programme on gender equality. Furthermore, the office is supporting independent reviews of current laws, conducting research on gender attitudes and gender-based violence, training journalists and NGO workers on advocacy for women’s rights, raising awareness on international conventions about women’s rights and gender equity, working with community groups for network building and social mobilization on women’s rights and gender-based violence.
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Combating Gender Based Violence in South Caucasus
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ombating Gender-Based Violence in the South Caucasus (GBV-SC) is a multi-pronged, 3-year initiative implemented by the UNFPA/ Georgia and co-funded by the Government of Norway. The project contributes to the national response to domestic violence in the countries of Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. GBV-SC strengthens the democratic governance in the three countries by promoting the respect for human rights, gender equality and women’s participation. Launched in 2008, GBV-SC is the first region-wide rights based response to the requests for assistance, using a comprehensive approach to combat gender-based violence and foster women’s empowerment through: ¢ Supporting increased availability of quality data on domestic violence for informed decision making ¢ Raising public awareness, informing, communicating and educating public in general as well as specific target groups on gender rights and issues ¢ Strengthening enabling environment (programs, policies, legislation) to promote and protect rights of women and girls and combat gender based violence, particularly domestic violence ¢ Supporting establishment of effective and sustainable service mechanisms to prevent, protect and respond to gender-based violence ¢ Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of coordination, monitoring and cooperation along actors in the field aiming at addressing gender-based violence Overall, the project advances the efforts to build a GBV-free environment, empowers women and contributes to the sustainable development, strengthening respect for human rights and democracy in the region. GBV-SC is implemented in close cooperation with the key governmental entities, donor organizations, NGOs and academia.
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Gender-Based Violence in Georgia
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oday, gender based violence (GBV) is becoming increasingly recognized as one of the most vivid forms of the human rights violations which occurs almost in every society worldwide. A widespread phenomenon, it does not discriminate based on race, religion, ethnicity or language and has serious consequences harming not only women, but has considerable effects on children, family and societies as whole. Since 1991, Georgia has experienced the breakdown of the Soviet Union, followed by the collapse of production, high rates of inflation, unemployment, corruption and the civil war. These conditions have led to an increase in gender-based violence, particularly domestic violence. Regardless of the shifts in traditional gender roles, women are still expected to mainly obey men as the head of the family. If they question this fact, they are often subjected to physical, sexual, psychological and verbal violence, as well as financial control and exclusion. Georgia is a country with a traditional society with deeply rooted patriarchal culture. Violence against women is a pervasive but a largely tabooed problem, with widespread acceptance of gender based violence, particularly domestic violence in different forms. There have been a number of studies that address domestic violence against women in Georgia examining the scope, attitudes and knowledge about domestic violence. In 2005, the Caucasus Women’s Research and Consulting Network (CWN) published a study on domestic violence according to which 22.2% of respondent women reported that their husbands had physically abused them at least once. Approximately 5% of respondents described frequent abuse and 25.5% reported sexual assaults by their husbands. The study suggested significant barriers to women seeking protection and services. Societal attitudes may account, in part, for the discrepancy between those needing and those accessing services. Over 90% of the women surveyed considered that the “woman should be more modest and try not to provoke violence.” Over 60% of women responded that “no matter what, whatever happens in the family should stay within [the] family.”
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In several aspects, Georgia has witnessed significant progress with regards to combating GBV. It joined CEDAW on 24 September 1994 with no reservations. At the 1995 Beijing Conference Georgia joined the countries that agreed to elaborate action plans for improving the conditions of women and in 2002. Benefiting also from the substantial contribution of local NGOs supported by some foreign ones, Georgia has drafted and adopted a law on domestic violence, but, at the same time, there is no budget for implementation of the law and there is also quite a lot of resistance at state and regional authority level. Lack of accurate data on domestic violence, lack of knowledge and awareness on gender issues, lack of legislation, policies and plans to combat domestic violence, lack of institutional capacity to address GBV and lack of coordination and cooperation in the field have been some of the major setbacks hindering effectiveness of the national response against gender-based violence in the country.
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1. Prof. Marine Chitashvili, Center for Social Science,
Author of the Report on the National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia
2. Press Conference, Preliminary Dissemination Workshop on the National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia
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3. Official Launch of the National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia 4. Working Group Session, Preliminary Dissemination Workshop on the National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia 4
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Supporting increased availability of nation-wide quality data on domestic violence to aid formulation of evidence-based policies and plans
National Research on Domestic Violence Against Women The lack of comprehensive data on the scope of and the perceptions about gender-based violence has been one of the most important factors hindering design and implementation of tailor-made programs and policies to combat domestic violence. In order to respond to this gap, in 2008 UNFPA launched the first National Research on Domestic Violence against Women. The survey was implemented by the ACT Marketing Research and Center for Social Sciences selected through an open and competitive bidding process. The research was conducted based on the World Health Organization (WHO) methodology combining quantitative and qualitative approaches in exploring causes, consequences, perceptions and attitudes about domestic violence in Georgia. Overall, 2385 women in age group 15-49 were interviewed.
Research findings: The UNFPA National Research on Domestic Violence against Women is the first attempt to combine qualitative and quantitative data about women and create the evidence-based approach to policy planning toward domestic violence. Cross-cultural nature of the study (Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) builds the networks of scholars engaged in debates on issues – identity, migration, quality of life, well-being, social networks, trust, etc. that are of high importance for the Caucasus region. Marine Chitashvili Prof.Director
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- While traditional cultural norms in Georgia treat the family as a safe place where all troubles disappear, the results clearly show that there is a big difference between the imagined, idealized family and the real family, where direct or indirect forms of violence oppress women and violate their human rights on daily basis; - 9.1% women who have ever been married/or had an intimate partner reported having experienced violence from their husbands/partners. This means that one of every 11 women in a marriage or serious relationship has been a victim of physical violence; - 14.3% of women reported having experienced emotional violence; - 35.9% of women reported having experienced acts intended to control their behavior by their husbands or partners. Among these, 29.0% reported her partner tried to restrict her contact with her family; 11.6% reported her partner expected her to ask his permission before seeking health care for herself;
- 2.7% of women who have ever been pregnant reported having experienced physical violence. According to the majority of respondents, the person who committed an act of violence against them while they were pregnant was the child’s father; - 50% of women think a good wife should obey her husband even if she disagrees; - 34.1% of women think husbands are justified in beating their wives in certain cases; - 16.0% of women think it is the wife’s obligation to have sex with her husband even if she does not feel like it. - 78,3% think that domestic violence is a family affair and should not be discussed publically - The percentage of women who have shared their experience with no one is 27.8%. - Only 2% of women having experienced violence have reported to the police and only 1% has addressed the women’s NGO for assistance
The survey findings will be used as a baseline for formulating informed national policies and plans as well as for advocacy and public awareness-raising campaigns on domestic violence and women’s rights in Georgia.
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16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence
1. Tamar Khomasuridze, UNFPA Assistant Representative in Georgia 2. Deputy Chair of the Parliament of Georgia Ms. Rusudan Kervalishvili awards UNFPA trained journalist with a diploma 3. Award Ceremony, Training of Journalists on Gender Sensitive Reporting 4. Youth Conference on Family Issues, National Youth Palace of Tbilisi 1
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Increasing awareness among population on gender equality, women’s rights and violence against women Lack of awareness, knowledge and information concerning gender issues and domestic violence is one of the most critical problems in combating GBV in Georgia. In general, people have limited information about women’s rights, gender-based violence, domestic violence and their consequences for individuals and society. In light of the aforementioned, awareness raising on gender rights and GBV/DV through supporting broad multi-media campaigns and wide-ranging education campaigns has been one of the core areas of work for the GBV-SC Georgia.
16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence In 2008-2010 GBV-SC Georgia annually celebrated the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The campaigns were conducted under the auspices of the Parliamentary Gender Equality Council in close collaboration with governmental entities, diplomatic corps, UN agencies, donor organizations and local NGOs in the field. Adhering to the tradition instigated in 2008, GBV-SC Georgia, in consultation with main stakeholders in the field, annually assembled and distributed a unified campaign calendar in order to buttress campaign coordination efforts across Georgia. The calendars, produced in English and Georgian languages, were widely distributed to governmental institutions, international organizations, local NGOs and media. In 2008, 2009 and 2010 over two hundred events were organized by different organizations under the overall coordination of the GBV-SC Georgia project. Some of the events organized by the project are series of TV talk shows, press conferences and briefings, large-scale outdoor awareness-raising campaigns, photo contests and exhibitions on women’s rights, media roundtables, thematic conferences, movie screenings, presentations, information sessions, street actions etc. Within the framework of the project 3 PSAs on domestic violence and gender rights have been produced and disseminated, 13 radio shows aired and over 200 project related news features clipped by the national media.
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The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (November 25-December 10) is an international campaign celebrated since 1991 by over 3 000 organizations in over 170 countries. The campaign is used as an organizing strategy around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women by raising awareness about gender-based violence LAUNCHING OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-
Figure 2
Figure 1
General’s Campaign – Unite to End Violence Against Women Parliament of Georgia, November 25, 2009
Adoption of the Declaration of Commitment to End Violence against Women Parliament of Georgia, 16 Days of Activism 2009
GEORGIA, 2008-2011
Launched in 2008, the UNiTE campaign is a multiyear effort aims at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls in all parts of the world. UNiTE calls on governments, civil society, women’s organizations, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire UN system to join forces in addressing the global pandemic of violence against women and girls. The signatories of the Declaration, joined the new network of men leaders headed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Kimoon, established on November 24th, 2009 within the framework of the United Nations UNiTE campaign to end violence against women and girls.
Unite Campaign to End Violence Against Women in Georgia In November 2009, UNFPA/Georgia first introduced the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign in Georgia through elaborating a Declaration of Commitment to End Violence against Women. The declaration was adopted on November 25th, 2009 at the official opening of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence organized by the GBV-SC project at the Parliament of Georgia. In adherence to the UNiTE campaign, the undersigned pledged to achieve the following five goals in Georgia by 2015: ¢ Adopt and enforce national laws to address and punish all forms of violence against women and girls ¢ Adopt and implement multi-sectoral national action plans ¢ Strengthen data collection on the prevalence of violence against women and girls ¢ Increase public awareness and social mobilization ¢ Address sexual violence in conflict Over 3 000 signatures were collected from the parliament, governmental organizations, donor organizations, local NGOs, academic circles, media and youth aiming at generating commitment of different target groups and public at-large to prevent and eliminate violence against women in Georgia and in all parts of the world.
Partnership With Media on Women’s Rights: Media is crucial in shaping public opinion and attitudes, in determining the public discourse and influencing public policy and public opinion through the news agenda. It can act as a catalyst for social change and serve as a channel to
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Rusudan Kervalishvili, Vice-Speaker, Parliament of Georgia, Chair of the Parliamentary Gender Equality Council: “While every 11-th woman ever married in Georgia has been subjected to physical violence, domestic violence remains largely accepted and tolerated in our society. We call for media to intensify public discourse around women’s issues as media can be a catalyst for social change through challenging gender stereotypes and norms that are harming women”
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1. Launch of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2010 2. Lela Bakradze, UNFPA/Georgia Programme Analyst 3. Media Training on Gender Sensitive Reporting, 2009 4. Media Meeting on the occasion of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2009 5. Media Briefing on the occasion of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2010
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reinforce or challenge gender, racial or other stereotypes and norms. Media has been one of the most important target groups of the GBVSC project as journalists play a crucial role in combating gender-based violence and establishing greater gender equality.
Media Trainings on Gender Sensitive Reporting: In 2009
GBV-SC Georgia conducted a series of trainings on gender sensitive reporting for media professionals including graduate students of journalism, practicing journalists and editors. The objective of the initiative was to strengthen media capacity on mainstreaming gender vision in reporting and editorial policies. Up to 40 leading representatives of TV, print and radio media were trained in Batumi and Tbilisi.
Ethical Standards on Gender Sensitive Reporting for Media: In 2010 GBV-SC Georgia in collaboration with the Inter-
Agency Council on Domestic Violence, supported elaboration of media standards on gender sensitive reporting. The initiative aimed at institutionalizing gender sensitive reporting within media through incorporating professional standards on governing gender issues in the Code of Conduct adopted by the National Communications Commission. The package of amendments has been submitted to the National Communications Commission and is projected to officially be endoresed in the early summer of 2011.
Contest on Best Gender Media Works: In the beginning of 2010, GBV-SC Georgia announced contest on best gender media works. The initiative aimed at raising journalists’ professional interest in covering women’s rights, gender equality and genderbased violence issues. Throughout the year, over 100 contest entries were collected from electronic, print and web-based media. Winners were identified in following categories: Best Article, Best TV footage and the most active journalist in the field of women’s rights protection 2010. Media contest winners were awarded with UNFPA diplomas and valuable prizes.
Engaging Men in Parsnership for Equality: White Ribbon Campaign and Men Talking to Men
Engaging men and boys as partners for gender equality and women’s empowerment is a crosscutting aspect in achieving greater gender equality and ending violence against women. In the spring of 2010, UNFPA/ Georgia hosted a prominent international expert, a public speaker and the co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) Michael Kaufman to conduct a regional Training of Trainers (TOT). The South Caucasus Regional TOT on “Male Involvement in Advancing Gender Equality and Ending Violence
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Engaging Men in Partnership for Equality
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1. George Tsereteli, Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia 2. John Bass, Ambassador of USA to Georgia 3. Erling Skjønsberg, Ambassador of Norway to Georgia 4. Jamie McGoldrick. UN Resident Representative in Georgia 5. Tamar Khomasuridze, UNFPA Assistant Representative in Georgia, Michael Kaufman’s Public Speaking Gala
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6. Michael Kaufman, CoFounder of the White Ribbon Campaign 7. South Caucasus TOT on Male Involvement in Ending Violence against Women
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against Women” brought together 30 representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Participants – all male, represented different public sectors including governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations, media and academia. The initiative aimed at engaging men and advancing their role in eliminating violence against women and contributing to establishing gender equality in the region. Tamar Khomasuridze, Assistant Representative, UNFPA Georgia: “The objective is to promote gender equality and to encourage and enable men to take responsibility for their social and family roles. We are hopeful that this initiative will serve as a catalyst in mobilizing men nation-wide to engage them, along with women, in the struggle against gender-based violence in Georgia and in the South Caucasus region.”
In 2010, the White Ribbon Campaign took a new stance in Georgia through engaging male politicians, policy-makers, decision-makers and community leaders in partnership for equality and promoting the white ribbon campaign among male target audiences. UNFPA/Georgia Beka Berikashvili, training participant, 23 years of age: “Up to date, these type of trainings have been conducted for women and focusing on women. Kaufman managed to bring about importance of male involvement in the gender related work and have managed to get us thinking that establishing gender equality is a responsibility that we as men have to take upon. Now, it is important to elaborate an action platform in order to engage more men in this work. Together, we will be able to eliminate gender-based violence and create an equitable society, where women will be given opportunity to use their potential to the fullest.”
further strengthened its work on engaging men on grass root levels through conducting a series of information sessions on male involvement in ending violence against women within the framework of the 16 days campaign. Information sessions were held based on “Men talking to Men” methodology brought to Georgia through regional TOT by cofounder of the White Ribbon Campaign earlier in 2010. The methodology was further expanded and tailor-made by national experts and mastered by TOT participants later in the year. Within the framework of the 16 days campaign, UNFPA in partnership with the implementing partner NGO Women’s Information Center, collaborated with higher education institutions including Tbilisi State Medical University, Ilia State University, Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and French Cultural Centre Alexander Dumas and trained up to 100 young male students on gender inequality, gender-based violence and the importance of male involvement in eliminating gender inequities in Georgia and worldwide.
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Youth Information Sessions In its efforts to promote youth activism in gender related work and build knowledge and understanding of perceptions, values and behaviors on gender equality and gender based violence, over 5350 young people in summer camps were trained on gender issues by GBV-SC Georgia in partnership with the Caucasus Social Marketing Association (CSMA). Participants were given comprehensive information about gender equality, gender based violence, domestic violence through information sessions entailing
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1. Media Trainings on Gender Sensitive Reporting, Batumi 2009 2. Roll-out Information Session on Gender Issues, Tserovani 2009 3. Youth Information Sessions in Summer Camps 2009 4. Roll-out Information Session on Gender Issues, Karaleti 2009 5. Roll-out Information Session on Gender Issues, Karaleti 2009
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Irakli Khvedelidze, CSMA Director: “The youth work and activism are central to preventive education work on gender and gender-based violence bearing in mind that out of all other target groups, youth is the most promising target group most likely to show change in public opinion on a large scale.
distribution of several thousand brochures and promotional materials.
Target Group Education In order to disseminate information about gender equality and gender based violence among different target groups, GBV-SC launched an education campaign entailing target group education sessions. In collaboration with the International Centre on Conflict and Negotiations (ICCN) trainings on gender and GBV/DV were conducted using specifically designed training curriculum reaching cross-section of beneficiaries: high school and university-aged youth, young men and representatives of public institutions, NGOs and women in general. The first stage of the project was the “Target Group Education on GBV/ DV issues, preparing a corps of Peer Educators on gender issues, gender rights and equality, gender-based and domestic violence. A series of trainings in seven main cities of Georgia (Tbilisi, Gori, Kutaisi, Batumi, Zugdidi, Gurjaani, Bolnisi) were conducted. As a result of nine 5-day TOT trainings, some 180 Educators have been trained on Gender based violence issues. On the second stage of the project, the trainings were transformed into a larger-scale educational campaign (2009-2010), where trained educators were deployed to various locations across Georgia to educate broader audiences (1000 youth, men and women) on gender issues, gender rights and equality, gender-based violence and domestic violence. Enabling policy environment to promote and protect the rights of women
Amendments Package to the Law of Georgia on Domestic Violence Developed In 2009, GBV-SC Georgia supported the Inter-Agency Council of Georgia in elaborating amendments package to the Law of Georgia on Elimination of Domestic Violence, Protection and Assistance of its Victims. The Law of Georgia on Elimination of Domestic Violence, Protection and Assistance of its Victims was adopted by the Parliament of Georgia in May 2006.
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1. Presentation of the Monitoring Report on National Action Plan on Domestic Violence 2009-2010
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2. Launch of the National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia 3. Presentation of the Police Guiding Manual on Domestic Violence 4. Presentation of the National Action Plan on Domestic Violence 2011-2012 5. Workshop on National Referral Mechanism for the Victims of Domestic Violence
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In order to further improve the legal base for combating GBV/DV, the GBV-SC Georgia in association with ABA/Rule of Law Initiative has established an ad-hock Working Group responsible for the review of the existing Law on Domestic Violence and for the preparation of the package of amendments. Group was composed of representatives of judiciary, practicing lawyers, civil society activists and leading experts on DV. The package of amendments was adopted by the Parliament of Georgia at the fall session of 2010.
National Action Plan on Domestic Violence GBV-SC has supported the Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence in elaboration and monitoring of the National Action Plans on Elimination of Domestic Violence, Protection and Assistance of the Victims of Domestic Violence 2009-2010 and 2011-2012. In 2009, in partnership with the USAID supported project at the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), and in collaboration with the line ministries, donor organizations and local NGOs in the field, GBV-SC Georgia supported the development of the National Action Plan (NAP) for Elimination of Domestic Violence and Support and Protection of its Victims 2009-2010. The NAP 2009-2010 was elaborated based upon the recommendations of the monitoring report on the implementation of the NAP 2007-2008 supported by GBV-SC earlier in 2008. In 2010, GBV-SC Georgia collaborated with UNIFEM on the development of the monitoring report of the NAP 2009-2010 and on the production of the NAP 2011-2012 within the framework of the ad-hock group of experts comprised of the representatives of the line ministries, donor organizations, NGOs and experts in the field. National Action Plans on Domestic Violence serve as a baseline for establishing effective and multi-pronged measures and activities against domestic violence to be implemented by the government of Georgia.
Police Guiding Manual on Domestic Violence GBV-SC Georgia has supported the State Inter–Agency Council on Domestic Violence in elaborating guiding manual for police force on domestic violence.
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Ms. Khatia Dekanoidze, Head of the MIA Academy presented the Police Manual to the audience, stressing the importance of the police work in preventing and eliminating domestic violence in Georgia. “We hope that the guiding manual comprised of instructions for the police force on domestic violence will assist the law-enforcements in handling domestic violence cases” – Ms. Khatia Dekanoidze said. “The format of the publication ensures its mobility which allows for its on-job utilization for the police force.”
South Caucasus Regional Photo Exhibition on Women’s Rights 2010
Keti Zubiashvili
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South Caucasus Regional Exhibition on Women’s Rights 2010
Tamar Tateladze
Tatia Nadareishvili
Ana SIgua
Tamar Mamrikishvili
Nino Nemsadze
Ana Mtsituridze
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The initiative aimed at strengthening capacity of the service providers, namely police force on handling domestic violence cases and was developed by an ad-hock working group of experts supported by UNFPA/ Georgia. The publication, approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia encompasses instructions for the law enforcements on handing domestic violence cases in accordance with the Law of Georgia on Domestic Violence and the National Referral Mechanism for Domestic Violence Victims.
Concept Paper On Rehabilitation Of Male Perpetrators Of Domestic Violence In 2010 GBV-SC Georgia supported the Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence in the implementation of the National Action Plan 20092010 through elaboration of the Concept Paper on Rehabilitation for Male Perpetrators of Domestic Violence. The Concept Paper was developed by an ad hoc working group comprised of domestic violence experts, lawyers and psychologists in 2010. The Concept Paper reflects on international practice and experiences and sets out principles, guidelines, approaches and programme directions for domestic violence perpetrator rehabilitation. Furthermore, the concept note has been reviewed by the international experts within the framework of a domestic violence study tour in Vienna, Austria organized by UNFPA/Georgia for the members of the Inter-Agency Council in September 2010. The document has been signed by the Prime Minister of Georgia and will enter into force as of June 1, 2011. Strengthening national mechanisms and institutions to respond to domestic violence
National Referral Mechanism for the Victims of Domestic Violence In 2009, GBV-SC Georgia supported the Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence in the implementation of the National Action Plan 20092010 through elaboration of the National Referral Mechanism for the victims of domestic violence. The document was elaborated in close cooperation with the line ministries, local NGOs and experts in the field and outlined the state referral mechanism for the victims of domestic
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violence, standards for the crisis/intervention centers, the service provision standards for shelters and designed questionnaires for the identification of victims of domestic violence.
Study Tour on Domestic Violence in Austria In September 2010, GBV-SC Georgia organized a study tour on domestic violence in Austria, Vienna for the members of the Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence. The initiative was carried on the request of the Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence and aimed at contributing to the operationalization of the recently adopted National Referral Mechanism on DV and implementation of the National Action Plan on DV. Special emphasis was made to facilitate further work with regards to operationalization of male perpetrators’ rehabilitation strategy through assisting the government in elaborating the respective standards, guidelines and programs and thus to ensure that necessary work is carried out with perpetrators to increase the safety of victims and to prevent violence by changing the attitudes and behaviors of perpetrators of domestic violence. For these purposes, after a considerable research Austrian system was chosen as the both successful and effective and most importantly most relevant to the Georgian system. Study tour participants had the opportunity to meet with service providers for persons victimized by violence in Austria, to exchange experiences, and to observe current practices on site. The study tour included on-site examination of information systems used for monitoring and combating violence against women, visits to public and private shelters, crisis centers for victims and rehabilitation centers for perpetrators of domestic violence and review of relevant legislation, national strategies/ plans, training programs and instructional materials. Lali Papiashvili, Chair, Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence: “The Study Tour equipped the Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence with the knowledge and understanding of both – the practical system and legal/regulatory framework of the service provision to the victims of domestic violence. This will enable the government of Georgia in further improving the National Referral System for the victims of domestic violence.”
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The following areas have been stressed as being of utmost interest during the study tour: police and judicial system’s response, health system response, youth and Adolescent victims of DV and the state response to their needs (legal aid/state institutions), municipal/local authorities’ response, crisis intervention centers and shelters for victims of DV and aggressor/perpetrator rehabilitation programmes and centers. The initiative was implemented in cooperation with the WAVE Network & European Information Centre Against Violence.
Police Force and Attorneys Trained on Domestic Violence In line with its commitment to support capacity building of the Government of Georgia in addressing establishing service mechanisms for combating domestic violence, GBV-SC supported the training of police officers and Legal Aid Office attorneys throughout Georgia. Police play a pivotal role in managing the domestic violence problem, as they are the first contact for violence prone families according to the Law of Georgia on Domestic Violence. It proscribes restrictive and protective orders issued by police and a court of law, respectively, as a provisional measure to stop the offender and to protect the victim. While these instruments have been in place since 2006, there remained geographic areas in Georgia where police training on the use of these instruments is still required. Providing legal aid, including representation and consultancy, is another issue of utmost importance for potential and existing victims of domestic violence. While necessary legislative regulations and shelters for victims are available, it is vital that this information be properly delivered by professional legal service providers to those in need. Legal Aid Service attorneys were selected as an appropriate target group, due to their governmental mandate under the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance to provide countrywide free of charge legal assistance, primarily for those who cannot afford to pay for legal costs. In order to respond to the growing need of capacity building within the police system on addressing domestic violence and improve accessibility to quality legal counseling for the victims of domestic violence, GBV Georgia collaborated with the State Fund for Protection of and Assistance to (Statutory) Victims of Trafficking in Persons (ATIP fund), to pro-
GEORGIA, 2008-2011
vide overall coordination on all activities related to capacity building of the police force and legal aid attorneys. Domestic violence training for approximately 200 patrol and district police officers in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli region, as well as for 100 Legal Aid Service attorneys countrywide. Trainings were conducted based on a unified training module elaborated in partnership between GBV-SC and the ATIP Fund. The training modules have been endorsed by the Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence as a tool of recommended use for all stakeholders for future police trainings.
Strengthening the Health Care System Response to Domestic Violence In 2011 GBV-SC Georgia supported elaboration of the recommendations on strengthening health care response in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for the victims of domestic violence. According to the NRM, Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Affairs, as well as the healthcare institutions (primary healthcare organizations, hospitals, psychiatric services etc), along with other institutions, are responsible for identifying and preventing the cases of domestic violence, providing primary medical and psychological assistance and social service. Up to date, due to the lack of regulatory mechanisms, institutional and technical capacity, medical institutions have fallen short of undertaking their obligations under the NRM, which hinders effective implementation of the entire NRM system. For these purposes, GBV-SC Georgia has carried out comprehensive desk review and documentation analysis of health care system practice on handling domestic violence, produced assessment of health care provider’s capacity on domestic violence and developed recommendations on incorporating identification and referral of domestic violence victims into the existing documents regulating health care provider’ professional standards and production of medical documentation at the primary and secondary health care levels in Georgia. The above-mentioned work will serve as a baseline to a multi-phase initiative entailing formulation of targeted initiatives and supporting the development of Guidelines and Protocols on DV for health care professionals and conducting relevant trainings for medical personnel.
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Enhanced coordination, monitoring and cooperation between all actors working in the field Throughout the project implementation, GBV-Georgia has regularly supported national machinery on gender and domestic violence issues through strengthening mechanisms for coordination, monitoring and cooperation among actors in the field and supporting inter-country networks among agencies working on gender-based violence in the region. In order to strengthen coordination efforts in the field, GBV-SC has supported operationalization of the Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence through recruiting a technical expert and an assistant for the Inter-Agency Council on Domestic Violence – an agency established under the Presidential decree charged with coordinating national efforts on domestic violence. Furthermore, in 2010 GBV-SC has supported recruitment of a national expert for the Gender Equality Council at the Parliament of Georgia in order to assist with lobbying and coordinating efforts on a legislative level. Efforts have been further advanced through supporting regular coordination meetings for the Inter-Agency Council on various initiatives enabling information sharing and collaboration to ensure synergies and avoid overlap of resources in the field. Networking has been strengthened through the collaboration with a number of line ministries, diplomatic corps, NGOs and international organizations on public awareness raising, advocacy and policy dialogue activities. In order to foster inter-country communication and information sharing between the three countries of the South Caucasus, GBV-SC Georgia has launched regional and national websites as well as interactive facebook groups promoting GBV-free environment and protection of women’s rights on national and regional levels. The cooperation has been further buttressed through conducting a regional TOT on male involvement bringing together 30 representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia enabling partnership building as well as allowing for identification of further opportunities for regional cooperation.
GEORGIA, 2008-2011
GBV-SC Georgia Project Recommendations for Further Strategies on Combating Gender-Based Violence/Domestic Violence in Georgia Elaborate and implement a special policy for strengthened socioeconomic status of women, and for women’s empowerment; Strengthen the enabling environment (programs, policies and laws) to promote and protect rights of women and girls and combat gender based violence, particularly domestic violence through providing support in monitoring of the implementation of the national actions plans and in elaborating national policies and action plans on GBV Support the operationalization of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for the victims of domestic violence, by strengthening the role of the health care system in the state response against violence through developing screening, care and referral protocols and guidelines, institutionalizing gender-based violence in national training curricula in pre and post diploma education for health professionals and providing TOT and further cascade on-job trainings for health care professionals on DV cases Increase public awareness on gender equality, women’s rights and gender-based violence: ¢
Increase awareness of young people through innovative approaches such as target group education and peer to peer education
¢ Increase male involvement in ending violence against women through targeted information campaigns and the “Men Talking to Men” methodology. ¢ Cooperate with the faith-based organizations, ethnic and religious minorities on delivering strategic massages with a culture-sensitive approach Include the issues of gender equality and domestic violence in the educational system: ¢ Introduce the standards of respective infrastructure at education facilities including kindergartens;
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¢ Incorporate the issues of domestic violence in the civil education module at schools, and, correspondingly, train the teachers; ¢ Mainstream the issues of domestic violence and women’s rights in the curricula of institutions of higher education (especially at the faculties of law and journalism); Cooperate with the media for mainstreaming the gender equality in their reporting and editorial policies, in order to facilitate the change into the public attitude towards gender equality: ¢ Support the implementation of professional standards on gender sensitive reporting through conducting special trainings for journalists as well as incorporating these issues in the modules etc. Strengthen South Caucasus sub-regional cooperation, partnership building and information sharing and fostering coalition building at local and regional levels on combating gender-based violence to share best practices, experiences and lessons learned.