Government of Georgia works on project supporting compensation for victims of violence

Helping the Government of Georgia implement its obligations under the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention) is an important priority for UN Women. One of these commitments is ensuring necessary legislative changes that regulate the granting of state compensation for victims. As such, cooperation with the respective state agencies is actively under way in this regard.

Notably, international practice related to the compensation for victims of violence against women (VAW) and domestic violence (DV) has already been analyzed with UN Women support. Based on this analysis, the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia developed a draft rule for determining the amount of state compensation to be given to victims and survivors of domestic violence and violence against women. The presentation of this draft document took place in August 2022, while a subsequent working discussion was held on 9 September.

Various state and non-governmental sector representatives working on women’s rights attended the meeting. The participants discussed feedback and comments related to the draft document, followed by a discussion on the changes that have already been implemented.

“By adopting the abovementioned rule, we will fulfil the obligation of both the national law and the Istanbul Convention. It is also important that during the development of the regulation, international practices were analyzed and that the draft document was prepared based on this analysis,” said Meri Maglaperidze, director of the Agency for State Care and Assistance for the (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking.

During the next stage, the finalized draft regulation will be sent to the respective state agencies, and it will thereafter be submitted to the Government of Georgia for approval. The amount of compensation to be provided to DV and VAW victims and survivors, while the rule for issuing compensation should be approved by 1 January 2023.

These activities are supported by the “Ending Violence against Women and Girls in Georgia” project, implemented by UN Women and the UNFPA, and generously funded by the European Union.