On September 12, 2024, Public Defender of Georgia Levan Ioseliani participated in a conference organized by the Special Investigation Service, where the issues of fighting pedophilia and children's safety were discussed.

A new initiative was presented at the conference - the registry and monitoring mechanism for persons convicted of pedophilia and sexual extortion, in order to protect the rights of victims. International practice in this direction was also discussed. The initiative covers crimes related to the obtaining and releasing of footage of private life, as well as blackmailing, in the Internet space and beyond, the victims of which, along with adults, are often children.

Speaking at the event, the Public Defender assessed the initiative of the Special Investigation Service as another step towards compliance of the national legislation with international standards and noted that the Office, within its mandate, will be actively involved in the legislative discussions and further implementation process.

In addition, he spoke about the challenges of protecting minors from violence, both in Georgia and in the world in general, including the gaps in timely detection of violence, effective and coordinated response, and the need to raise the awareness of society, especially minors.

It should be noted that the Public Defender’s Office annually studies more than 100 cases of violence against children, including sexual violence. Among the cases studied on the basis of applications of children themselves, there are cases of grooming, as well as pressure, threatening, intimidation in order to make a person send photo-video material of sexual content and engage in sexual action.