Court issues protective order on stalking
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, July 6
A Non-Governmental Organization, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), reports that Tbilisi City Court has issued a protective order of a six month period to protect a woman who has been stalked and suffered psychological violence.
“The woman was a victim of psychological violence at the hands of men. Along with other actions, she was assailed by unwanted communication and illegal surveillance which caused mental suffering and forced her to change her lifestyle significantly,” the GYLA reports.
The issue concerns the new changes enacted in the legislation based on the Istanbul Convention, which states that a protective order may be issued outside a family on charges of violence against women.
Until June 1st 2017, a victim could not be protected by a restraining or protective order, and there was no criminal law that would assess the action committed against him/her.
The government of Georgia approved a package of amendments on January 25 directed against domestic violence and violence towards women, according to which stalking, psychological violence and many other actions have become punishable.
The package of amendments, which can be applied to more than twenty laws, was prepared by the Ministry of Justice and aims at bringing Georgian legislation in line with the provisions of the Council of Europe (CoE) Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, which Georgia signed in 2014 and which is now ready for ratification.
Following approval by the government, Article 133 has been added to the criminal code, codifying the criminalization of female genital mutilation, stalking, forced sterilization and domestic violence.
