Georgian law enforcement equipped with tool to manage risk assessments of domestic violence cases
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UN Women - in partnership with the US-based NGO Global Rights for Women, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and with the support from the European Union - conducted a workshop on implementing risk assessment methodology in domestic violence cases.
The lack of standardized domestic violence risk assessment methodology was repeatedly identified as a major gap in effective police response to domestic violence in the Public Defender’s 2015 and 2016 special reports on violence against women in Georgia. The importance of introducing such methodology in Georgia was further underlined by Dubravka Šimonović, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, in her 2016 country report.
Throughout 2017, UN Women in partnership with the Global Rights for Women, has provided assistance to the MIA in developing a domestic violence risk assessment tool in line with internationally established standards and best practices. The two-day workshop held in Tbilisi brought together more than 30 representatives of law enforcement agencies, including the MIA, Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Corrections and Probation and representatives of the judiciary, to review and validate the draft tool entitled Georgia Risk Assessment for Domestic Abuse (GRADA).
The Patrol Police Faculty Head at the Police Academy, Nodar Saakashvili, noted that introducing the tool as part of the police response in domestic violence cases will “significantly elevate the work by all of the responding officers in the MIA ”and that the reform could “ultimately lead to saving more lives. ”Representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office also noted that the tool will be instrumental for the criminal justice system in bringing perpetrators to justice.
The tool has been developed in broad consultation with national partners, ensuring their active engagement and ownership at every step of the process. GRADA has also been validated by victims and survivors of violence against women via focus group discussions to elevate the legitimacy of the process and to ensure the tool is based on the experiences of victims/survivors in Georgia.
GRADA is set to become an integral part of the management of domestic violence cases in Georgia and will enable law enforcement to evaluate risks for lethality and recidivism, thus ensuring improved management of perpetrators and safety planning for victims. The tool will also inform police and judicial decisions at the pre-sentencing stage for setting the conditions for sentencing, supervision and treatment of offenders.