The Public Defender has started to study the cases of alleged female genital mutilation in the Kvareli municipality, Kakheti region, on his own initiative. On October 24-25 and November 9, 2016, the Public Defender’s representatives met and talked with locals of the Kvareli villages, including school teachers, representatives of the governor, the chief of the Kvareli District Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a doctor-gynecologist of one of the maternity hospitals of the city of Telavi.

The local population confirmed existence of the practice of female genital mutilation, which is called "baptism". According to them, during circumcision of girls, small part of the clitoris is cut off and it is done at home. They said that the mentioned practice was fully spread in one of the villages, while it was applied only by few families in other two villages.

Unfortunately, the population is not informed of the complexity of the issue, as well as the risks and possible complications relating to it. They also are not aware of the aim of the practice and relate it to religious customs.

For the purpose of studying the scales and severity of the problem, the Public Defender’s authorized representatives met with the Chief of the Kvareli District Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to which, they had recently learnt about the mentioned facts, though none of the cases were confirmed after they checked them.

The doctor of the Telavi hospital did not have information about the widespread practice of circumcision and could not recall any patient with mutilated genitals. However, she pointed out that if small part of the girl's clitoris is cut off in her childhood, it may not be visible after years.

It should be noted that female genital mutilation is an extreme form of violation of rights, which infringes the woman's right to health, safety, physical integrity and prohibition of torture. Such a practice is mainly carried out in order to control the woman and her body. Female genital mutilation, especially done at home, may lead to many complications.

It should be noted that in 2014 Georgia signed the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, a separate article of which is devoted to female genital mutilation. The Convention calls on the States to take all measures to criminalize female genital mutilation, including inciting, coercing or procuring a girl to undergo it (Article 38). Unfortunately, Georgia has not ratified the Convention yet.

In addition, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution (A/res/69/150) of 18 December 2014 calls on Member States to take all necessary measures to prevent and eliminate this harmful practice and severe forms of violation of the rights of women and girls.

Bearing all this in mind, we once again call on the Government to ratify the Istanbul Convention in the near future and take all necessary measures to eliminate this newly discovered harmful practice.

On November 11, 2016, the Public Defender’s Office provided the obtained information about the abovementioned issue to the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor's Office.

The Public Defender’s Office will watch how relevant agencies respond to the issue and will continue to raise awareness of the population in this direction.