Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TBILISI1123
2008-06-27 14:00:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Tbilisi
Cable title:  

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ISSUES GETTING ATTENTION IN

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM GG 
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RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSI #1123/01 1791400
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271400Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY TBILISI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9691
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 001123 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM GG
SUBJECT: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ISSUES GETTING ATTENTION IN
GEORGIA

REF: 2006 TBILISI 01910

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 001123

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM GG
SUBJECT: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ISSUES GETTING ATTENTION IN
GEORGIA

REF: 2006 TBILISI 01910


1. (U) Summary and Comment: On June 9, 2006, President
Saakashvili signed Georgia's first legislation on domestic
violence. Although the law institutionalized a system
designed to shield victims from their abusers, other
provisions in the Domestic Violence Law Action Plan have
languished due to the lack of funding. Zurab Adeishvili,
former Prosecutor General and current Chief of the
President's Administration, recently asked ministry
representatives to create an anti-domestic violence
coordination council by June 27. GoG plans to amend the
charter of the Anti-Trafficking Fund (A-TIP) to include
domestic violence work as part of its mandate. The creation
of the anti-domestic violence coordination council is a
significant step for Georgia, which has a very traditional
society where people keep such personal matters within the
strict confines of the family. Progress will be slow, but
U.S. assistance can go far to promote awareness and make
services available for victims. GoG actions to address
domestic violence victims should be lauded. Violence against
women and lack of referral mechanisms is highlighted in many
human rights reports, including Georgia's Public Defender's
Annual report, the United Nations Human Rights Report,
Amnesty International, and our own 2007 Human Rights Report.
End Summary and Comment.

--------------
Background on the Issue
--------------


2. (U) The law of Combating Domestic Violence, Protection
of and Support to Its Victims, which came into effect in June
2006, defines domestic violence as a violation of the
constitutional rights and liberties of one member of a family
by another by means of physical, psychological, economic, or
sexual violence or coercion; however, domestic violence is
not specifically criminalized. Perpetrators of domestic
violence are prosecuted under existing criminal provisions
against, for example, battery or rape. The Office of the
Prosecutor General and the Ministry of the Interior collect
general law information statistics based on the
characteristics of the crime as described by the articles of
the Georgian Criminal Code. Since domestic violence as such
is not included in the Criminal Code, it is hard for GoG to
create, analyze and react upon precise statistics.



3. (U) The adoption of a special law was considered an
important development by local NGOs and international
organizations but the implementation of the law remains
problematic. Georgia still a very traditional country, where
people try to keep family matters, such as family conflicts
and violence, internally. The exception would be those cases
when domestic violence becomes so obvious that neighbors and
extended family members get involved. In order to sustain
family integrity, most of the victims avoid involving state
authorities in family matters and continue to live in this
difficult situation.


4. (U) The responsibility of the implementation of the
Domestic Violence Action Plan spans the authority of the
following organizations and ministries: Prosecutor's Office
(PGO),Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs (MOH),
Ministry of Justice (MOJ),Ministry of Internal Affairs
(MOIA),Bureau of Statistics, and Parliamentary Legal
Committee. Perhaps the most active of these organizations
has been PGO, MOJ, and MOIA in implementing training for
their cops, judges and lawyers who respond and assist
victims on a daily basis. Less active has been the Ministry
of Health, whose responsibility is, according to the plan, to
provide some of the high dollar costs associated with medical
and social services, to include shelters and training of
social workers. The GoG plans to use the second floor of the
TIP shelter to start a domestic violence shelter. Post and
USAID implementers will work with the A-TIP coordinator to
address the gaps which still remain in funding shelters,
training social workers, heightening public awareness, and
making statistics related to the issue more transparent.
Appointing a domestic violence coordinator quiets criticism
from the Public Defender and NGOs that they do not have a
single point of contact to deal with on these issues. Devi
Tabidze, Head of Social Department, MOH, told Poloff and NGO
representatives at round table in December 2007, that the MOH
had no budget for anti-domestic violence programs. It appears
now that anti-domestic violence programs may benefit from new
social spending by Saakashvili.

--------------
Shelter Me

TBILISI 00001123 002 OF 003


--------------


5. (SBU) One of the most problematic issues for NGOS who
provide victims shelters has been a lack of government
funding. Although the Domestic Violence Action Plan for
2006-2008 envisaged that in the first half of 2006 the
government would elaborate the conditions and standards for
establishment of a shelter, to date existing shelters are
funded exclusively through international donors. Currently
there are at least three organizations who offer services:
the Anti-Violence Network (AVN),Sakheli, and Saphari. AVN
and Sakheli operate shelters in Tbilisi, each taking in 25-30
victims a year, to include children. (Comment: Sakheli is
more oriented to IDPs.) The third shelter run by Saphari in
Uraveli (in the Armenian minority region of Akhaltiskhe) sees
fewer victims a year--less than ten women with children. In
the regions, there are no established shelters, but many
informal networks exist to provide shelter to one or two
victims on an adhoc basis. All three NGOs are very
competitive in seeking out grants and point out that they
have the experience to provide such services in the absence
of government expertise.

--------------
Social Workers
--------------


6. (U) During a roundtable hosted by Embassy, NGOs and
representatives discussed the important role of social
workers that is missing in the referral process for victims.
Social workers are critical to assisting victims in referring
them to counseling, psychiatric care, and removing children
from violent family situations. The lack of social workers
is part of a larger problem of the dearth of trained medical
staff and psychiatric assistance for victims. The Public
Defender recommended in his annual report that the government
dedicate resources to this issue and this was echoed in the
2007 Human Rights Report. Now, a domestic violence
coordinator will be the focal point to coordinate this issue
across affected ministries.

--------------
Public Awareness
--------------


7. (SBU) According to an NGO funded by the American Bar
Association (ABA) whose lawyers who provide victims of
domestic violence free legal counsel, prior to the enactment
of the 2006 law, victims were not aware of their rights. The
Center for Protection of Constitutional Rights (CPCR),an NGO
which runs a hotline in Tbilisi, Gori and Telavi, told Poloff
that the nature of the calls to their hotline has changed
since 2006. In 2007, CPCR received 100 calls (79 female, 21
male),30 in Gori (28 female, 2 male),and 20 in Telavi (17
female, 3 male). Of the 100 calls in Tbilisi, 21 resulted in
court cases. Past calls dealt with labor and family law
issues, now more calls are about physical abuse and victims
being denied economic assistance. In the later case,
husbands refuse to let their spouses work or give them any
monetary assistance. Now that victims benefit from free
legal counsel, the perception from one lawyer was that
spouses, especially husbands, were more afraid to beat their
wives. They know now that their wives can call the police
who can issue a restrictive orders at the scene which is
valid for 24 hours. A district (city) court can issue a
protective order for three months if a criminal case has been
initiated on the grounds of domestic violence and can be
extended further if there is danger to the victim, family
member of the person providing the victim with medical, legal
or psychological assistance. Public awareness has risen in
cities, but remains low in the outlying regions. AVN
spokesperson Sophiko Sharabidze who works in Ambrolauri
(Raja) said, "Many do not report these incidents as they
either think it is normal to be beaten by their husbands, or
they don't report it for fear of bringing shame on the
family." A critical piece in solving the problem is lack of
awareness, and Embassy Tbilisi is focusing its assistance on
the promotion of public awareness.


8. (U) The lack of public awareness can be, in part, tied
to a dearth of comprehensive statistics on the subject.
According to the government action plan, the Bureau of
Statistics was to track incidents of domestic abuse and make
this information publicly available. As of March 24, 2008,
the Bureau of Statistics was waiting for this information to
be passed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOIA). Public
and private hotline services exist, but none of this
information is comprehensively gathered and analyzed.
According to a study done by Georgian Young Lawyers

TBILISI 00001123 003 OF 003


Association (GYLA) in 2007, the following number of
restrictive orders were issued by patrol police in Tbilisi,
Imereti, and Shida Kartli regions for one quarter spanning
2006-2007: 236 (Tbilisi); 20 (Imereti); 26 (Shida Kartli)
If this rate is applied for the year, the number of
restrictive orders alone in Tbilisi would approximate 570.
Traditionally, more instances are reported in Tbilisi as the
populace is more educated and aware of the problem. A GYLA
report on the subject compiled in 2006, lists psychological
violence as the most often problem followed by physical
violence; sexual violence was rare. The same report
indicates from 20 to 50 percent of families suffer from
domestic violence, with women the usual victim--either at the
hands of the spouse or mother-in-law. (Note: these
percentages were generated by reviewing cases of restrictive
orders issued by the following agencies: Main Department of
the Tbilisi Patrol Police; Tbilisi City Court; General
Prosecutor's Office; Kutaisi City Court; Imereti Main
Department of the Patrol Police; District Prosecutor's Office
of West Georgia; Shida Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti region
main departments of the Patrol Police; Gori regional court.
End Comment.) Our assistance plans to tackle this by
instituting a better tracking system for statistical data and
encouraging more transparency in sharing that data.

--------------
Building on Past Success
--------------


9. (U) USAID is working on an assistance plan to tackle the
issues of public awareness and addressing the above gaps.
USAID's very successful "No to TIP Program" is the model for
our domestic violence plan. Domestic violence and human
trafficking are very different crimes and social behaviors,
but despite these differences, there is much commonality in
the approaches that the government may use to fight against
both phenomena regarding victim referral, assistance,
rehabilitation, and social reintegration. Bearing in mind
the progressing successes in the fight against human
trafficking and the adoption of the law against domestic
violence, USAID can provide valuable assistance. First, in
developing and further strengthening mechanisms to prevent
TIP and domestic violence and secondly by protecting victims
of both crimes by ensuring availability and usage of
appropriate and adequate mechanisms to punish offenders. Our
specific plans include:

-- Identification of a counterpart at the executive branch of
GoG who will work DC issues and create a working group to
discuss and coordinate issues

-- Develop and adopt a state action plan against domestic
violence which will include a separate line item in the
budget to provide funding

-- Development of referral mechanisms

-- Drafting of legislation to bridge current gaps in the law

-- Creation and approval of minimum standards for development
of domestic violence victims' shelters and rehabilitation
projects

-- Raising public awareness

-- Supporting GoG in the development of quarterly and annual
reporting tools


10. (U) The Georgian Government sees its fight against
domestic violence as a step by step action, which is not only
oriented on immediate action from its officers, but is also
oriented on explaining the content of the crime to people and
helping to change a mindset and mentality. In order to be
effective in implementing its long-standing anti- domestic
violence policies, GoG will need sufficient USG assistance,
which will be essential in achieving success gradually.
Drafting legislation to bridge the gaps and tracking
statistics related to the issue are achievable goals that can
go far in heightening awareness of the issue.
TEFFT