Georgian Police issue 5399 restraining orders in 6 months
By Tea Mariamidze
Wednesday, July 31
In January-June 2019 Georgian police issued 5399 restraining orders of which 144 ones were violated as a result of which, the violators were charged.
The information was released by Georgias Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), which reports that the rate of issuance of restraining orders in the first six months of 2019 has increased compared to the similar period of 2018.
The ministry reports they continue to pursue a strict policy to protect victims of domestic violence.
By the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsibility for violating restraining orders has been tightened and the first case of violating a restraining order is punishable by criminal law instead of administrative responsibility, the MIA said.
In the first six months of 2019, 144 persons were charged for the violation of orders, which is 3% of the total number of violations. The number of violations was 6% in 2018 and 9% in 2017.
This confirms the effectiveness of restraining orders, which is the real mechanism for victim protection, said the ministry.
Also, the violation of restraining orders was mainly caused by a violation of the prohibition on approaching the victim. The violators mostly were men - 137 cases, and female violators were 7.
The regional indicator for issuance of restraining orders in the six months of 2019 is as follows:
Tbilisi - 2655
Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi, Kvemo Svaneti - 563
Kvemo Kartli - 477
Kakheti - 443
Adjara - 428
Shida Kartli - 345
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti - 258
Mtskheta-Mtianeti - 131
Samtskhe-Javakheti - 66
Guria 33
10% of violations were reported by police during the monitoring of restraining orders, which indicates the effectiveness of the monitoring mechanism, which took place on September 1, 2018, MIA says.
In the January-June 2018, the police issued 3292 restraining orders out of which majority were issued following violence against women. According to the information provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, in 2018, under Article 151 of the Criminal Code, which envisages stalking, investigations were launched into 126 criminal cases.
Also, last year, 22 facts of murders of women were revealed, seven of which counted as domestic crimes. In the same year, out of the total of18 cases of attempted murder of women, 10 were related to the attempted murder of women by their husbands.
In January-June 2017, Ministry of Internal Affairs issued 1845 restraining orders.
