WUNRN
GEORGIA - RAPE CASES OFTEN
UNREPORTED - LEGAL PROCESS TRAUMATIC
Victims often
don't even file cases, or drop them later because legal process is so
traumatic.
By Nino Gvedashvili - 10 August 2012
As the Georgian
parliament looks at ways of combating sexual violence more effectively, rights
activists say official figures seriously understate the scale of the problem,
as victims often have a hard time bringing cases.
Lawyer
Eka Kobesashvili. (Photo: Human Rights Centre, Georgia)
Rape is not counted among the most serious
of crimes on
A 2008 survey conducted by the National
Network for Defence Against Violence indicated that 50 per cent of rape victims
were aged between 14 and 18. 14 per cent were younger, and the rest older.
Mari Meskhi, head of the State Fund for
Defending Human Trafficking Victims, said the official statistics were not
reliable, since rape tended to go unreported.
“We have recorded just a few cases of
sexual violence, but domestic violence victims [can also be] victims of sexual
violence,” she said.
Others agreed that underreporting skews the
statistics.
Nana Dzneladze, a gynaecologist with
Sapari, a charity that works with victims of domestic violence, said women
rarely reported rape.
“Of all the cases brought to us, I can’t
remember a single one where someone came to us because of sexual violence
alone,” she said. “It’s only after a few sessions that it becomes apparent that
the woman was a victim of sexual violence, but hasn’t spoken about it.
Sometimes it take years for a victim to speak out, and even then many won’t
admit it.”
Lawyer Eka Kobesashvili said the low number
of cases coming to trial reflected a failure to offer victims the right kind of
support.
“The problem is the way the law is
implemented in practice. There’s currently no protection for the victim’s
rights,” she said. “The victim has go to the police, the case is passed from
one investigator to the next, she has to go in again and again to give evidence
and recall the details. This results in the victim becoming more damaged,
suffering psychological trauma and refusing to continue with the case.”
Kobesashvili recalled one case where her
client had brought a rape allegation against two teenagers. “The case was
passed from one prosecutor to another, and after two years of waiting, she got
tired of it and refused to go and see the police again or continue with the
case,” she said.
All too often, police do not even take rape
allegations seriously.
Kobesashvili said she had two clients who
had gone to the police to report rape by their husbands. “The police treated it
as a joke and would not even accept their statements,” the lawyer said.
According to Ana Arganashvili, who heads
the women’s and children’s rights unit at the office of the
“The report by the National Defender for
2010-11 records numerous cases where the police’s response has been
inadequate,” Arganashvili said. “Although there have been improvements, the
information we have indicates that there’s still a lot of incompetence around.”
A working group in
Experts from the United Nations have
already suggested a number of changes to Georgian legislation.
Meskhi said she thought the law itself was
adequate, and the fact that more women were prepared to come forward to report
rape was encouraging.
“Cases [filed] have increased compared with
last year, and that indicates awareness and reporting are improving. There are
new protective mechanisms, which means there’s now a point to reporting cases,”
she said.