(Activists protest violence against women/OC Media)
On 6 March, the Legal Issues Committee of Georgia’s Parliament voted against a draft law against femicide.
The bill, introduced by the Republican Party in January 2017, proposed singling out femicide as an exceptionally serious crime and would recognise gender-based crimes as crimes committed in aggravating circumstances.
According to the bill, femicide is defined as the premeditated murder of a woman on the grounds of her gender, committed by a spouse, former spouse, partner, ex-partner, or other family member, and would be punishable by imprisonment of 11–15 years, or up to 20 years in exceptional circumstances.
A similar initiative by the Republican party was rejected by parliament in June 2016. However, legislative amendments to protect women’s rights and prevent domestic violence were approved by the Committees of Parliament on 27 February. The changes were part of the ratification process of the Istanbul Convention against all forms of violence against women and domestic violence.
The new changes criminalised stalking, female genital mutilation (which was uncovered in Georgia by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting), forced sterilisation, forced abortion, and domestic violence.
However, according to Tamar Kordzaia, former MP and Republican Party leader, the Istanbul Convention does not go far enough. She claims, that women must outline the problem themselves. ‘We believe that the initiative would have supplemented the Istanbul Convention package’, online media outlet Netgazeti quoted Kordzaia.
Netgazeti also quoted Davit Matikashvili, Deputy Chair of The Legal Committee, as saying that despite the negative response from the committee, the issue will still be discussed in the future. ‘If a similar initiative is introduced to parliament, a much more refined suggestion would be preferable’, he said.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Georgia failed to prevent and investigate an instance of femicide, and ordered the state to pay compensation to the family of the victim.
According to the ECHR ruling on Thursday, the 23-year-old woman took her own life in 2017 after years of reporting physical and verbal abuse by her partner to the police. Her partner and child were at home at the time.
They found that Georgia had violated the right to life and the prohibition of
A man in Terjola, western Georgia, has been accused of murdering his ex-wife and injuring several others after pouring petrol over her and setting her on fire.
The attack reportedly took place late on Thursday night at a supermarket where the woman worked late shifts as a manager.
According to TV Mtavari, the man attacked his former partner before locking her in a room and killing her. Several other employees received burns in the attack, while the suspect remains on artificial ventilation
A North Ossetian former police officer, sentenced to 16 years in a high-security prison for the murder of his ex-wife, is alleged to have been recruited by a Russian army regiment and sent to Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. A video circulating on social media suggests that the man has since been detained for possession of drugs.
Pavel Chikov, head of the Russian rights group Agora, reported on 17 November that Vladikavkaz-born Vadim Tekhov ‘had been detained for selling drugs’ to soldiers i
A 16-year-old girl has been murdered in Azerbaijan, allegedly by her 26-year old fiance.
Hasrat Rajabova was killed on Wednesday in the eastern Absheron District.
Police have arrested her fiance, Murad Hasanov, and charged him with murder.
According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, Hasanov attacked and killed Rajabova with a knife following a personal conflict.
Commentators in Azerbaijan have suggested the tragedy is an example of a broader issue of child marriage and violations of w
On 6 March, the Legal Issues Committee of Georgia’s Parliament voted against a draft law against femicide. 
