On January 9, 2018, Nino Lomjaria, the Public Defender of Georgia, appealed to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia for the purpose of taking effective measures to protect D.G., a victim of domestic violence.

The Public Defender calls on the law enforcement agencies to consider the grave situation of domestic violence and violence against women in the country, thoroughly analyze the threats facing victims and their family members, and take effective measures to protect them.

The appeal of the Public Defender is based on the practice, according to which, violence between partners or former partners contains high risk of femicide. In addition, high level of femicide in the country is still related to the absence of monitoring of cases of domestic violence and violence against women and risk assessment system. As a result, there are frequent cases of murder or attempted murder of women, damages to their health or cases of pushing them to commit suicide as a result of domestic violence, when the law enforcement agencies had been informed of alleged domestic violence before the crimes were committed, but they failed to protect and help the victims.

It should be noted that the Public Defender of Georgia is studying the media reports, according to which, a person who committed domestic violence was detained by law enforcers, but was later released on bail, on her own initiative. The victim has a real fear that the violence may be repeated and claims that her husband is a danger to her life.

The Public Defender expresses hope that the relevant agencies will take all measures to prevent the repetition of violence.