Georgian Police launch new checklist to assess risks in domestic violence incidents
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A new ministerial decree issued by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia on 13 July 2018 introduces a milestone policy shift in police response against domestic violence.
The change requires police officers to fill out a risk assessment checklist to evaluate risks for lethality and re-abuse by perpetrators in order to identify and protect at-risk victims. The reform will ensure improved safety planning for victims, with the ultimate aim of saving more lives.
The domestic violence risk assessment tool, effective as of 1 September, enables police officers to document the history of violence suffered and evaluate risks for lethality and re-offence using a standardized methodology. The tool further informs the police, prosecution and courts during the investigation and pretrial stage to place appropriate restrictive measures against perpetrators and protective measures for survivors. It will further help the prosecution to build stronger cases for adjudication and thus achieve proportional sanctions for the crime.
“In other countries, the introduction of similar checklists has resulted in a significant drop in domestic violence related killings and deaths,” commented Londa Toloraia, Head of the Human Rights Protection Department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “We are hopeful that the introduction of the risk assessment tool will significantly elevate the work of all responding officers in the Ministry.”
The checklist was developed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the technical and financial support of UN Women and the European Union within the framework of the “Unite to Fight Violence against Women” project and in partnership with the US-based organization Global Rights for Women. The tool is entirely based on global research and studies on domestic violence risk assessment and is informed by internationally established standards and best practices. The draft version of the checklist was piloted in early summer 2018 to generate feedback from practicing officers in the field.
The official statement issued on 10 July 2018 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs further reasserts that ending violence against women remains a top priority for the Ministry, declaring that “the domestic violence risk assessment tool will enable us to… diagnose and thus minimize the risk of re-abuse.”
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.