In accordance with the Public Defender's proposal of July 11, 2016, the Chief Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into the fact of threatening on grounds of refused partnership. Despite the fact that the Georgian legislation does not acknowledge illegal tracking or surveillance, or the definition of a gender-motivated violence against women, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office reacted to the Public Defender's proposal in a short period of time. On July 21, 2016, citizen J.Kh. was arrested and charged; later, Tbilisi City Court ordered him to pay bail.

The Public Defender's proposal requested the launch of an investigation into the violence carried out against citizen R.V. According to the applicant, she had been under psychological violence and threats from citizen J.Kh for refusing partner relations over the years. It should be noted that the violent acts had been committed since 2010 and R.V. had appealed to the law enforcement agencies several times. However, after each appealing, the law enforcement agency considered R.V.’s application as a single case and therefore, did not take into account the systematic nature of the crime. As a result, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had not considered the use of relevant criminal mechanisms until the submission of a proposal by the Public Defender.

During the preparation of the proposal, the Public Defender's Office cooperated with the NGO Anti-Violence Network of Georgia. In addition, a psychologist's evaluation was prepared, which clearly demonstrated the signs of systematic violence committed against R.V. for years. It should be noted that psychologist’s evaluation at the stage of submission of a proposal was used for the first time in the practice of the Public Defender's Office, which significantly contributed to strengthening of legal and factual parts of the appeal.

In the proposal the Public Defender of Georgia focused on the scale and persistence of violence against women, as well as importance of preventive measures and effective risk assessment. Analysis of the killing of women in recent years clearly shows that gender-based crimes are committed by partners, former partners or by persons who were denied partner relations. More specifically, in 2015, 50% of murders or attempted murders of women were committed by husbands or due to not-responded love, 25% - by other family members, 25% - under other circumstances, such as a robbery or a neighborhood conflict.

The Public Defender welcomes the effective and timely response by the Chief Prosecutor's Office, which is important for the prevention of violence against women.