Trainings strengthen lawyers’ capacity to serve victims of domestic violence
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For victims of domestic violence, shelters and crisis centres are vital during a crisis as sources of refuge and assistance.
However, it’s equally important that victims have access to justice and legal services to seek child custody, manage divorce and settle property-related disputes.
In September 2017, within the framework of the EU-funded project “Unite to Fight Violence against Women”, UN Women launched a series of capacity development trainings for Legal Aid Service lawyers. The initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of the Legal Aid Service, a legal entity of public law charged with providing free-of-charge legal assistance to people otherwise unable to afford legal representation, as well as providing legal services to the victims/survivors of violence against women and domestic violence. The first training was held from 7 to 9 September 2017 in Kakheti and was attended by 20 lawyers representing various regional branches of the Legal Aid Service.
The two-day intensive training course focused on issues pertaining to the Legal Aid Service’s work, including the international and national legal framework on violence against women and domestic violence. This included the recent legislative amendments to 24 different national laws introduced as part of the harmonization of the national legislation with the Istanbul Convention, ratified by Georgia in June 2017.
“The Legal Aid Service plays an important role in the national response against violence against women,” noted Giorgi Chvinishvili, the head of the Monitoring and Analysis Department at the Legal Aid Service.“Strengthening the capacity of the Legal Aid Service in this area is especially vital in light of the expanding mandate of the Legal Aid Service to allow us to provide services to all victims of violence against women free of charge.”
Maia Nozadze, a training participant from the Legal Aid Service’s Qvemo Qartli branch, stressed the importance of the training, calling domestic violence “a growing public concern and a major human rights violation” and emphasizing that quality services provided to the victims are critical for preventing violence and even “saving lives.”
Within the framework of the initiative, UN Women in partnership with the Legal Aid Service will conduct three trainings in total, building the capacity of 60 Legal Aid Service lawyers over the fall of 2017. With the support of the EU, UN Women also plans to provide technical assistance to the Legal Aid Service by recruiting lawyers to provide legal consultations and court representation services to the victims/survivors of domestic violence.