Human Rights activists state that the cases of violence against children are common in Georgia and blame the government for not making enough efforts and undertaking appropriate steps in order to study the scales of the problem. Last year the investigation of Anti-Violence Network of Georgia showed that 52% of fathers, 46% of mothers and 35% of teachers are ready to commit violence upon children. The investigation in which 1250 people participated has found out 4% of children upon who violence was committed also became victims of sexual violence. Nato Zazashvili, the psychologist of “Sapari” organization which struggle against the family violence notes that the violence against children is usual in Georgia. “The main reason of the problem is family violence. As a rule, a father commits violence upon a mother and in her turn she acts violently towards children. There are cases when the father commits violence upon children, however such cases seldom take place,” she said. In the words of experts, the amount of such cases of violence has reached the level of serious concern and very often the police and the court are unaware of all these. There are displeasures with the activity of Social Services agency, which should study and register the cases of violence against children. According to the data of the agency, last year over 100 cases of violence against children were registered, 38 of which were the cases of sexual violence. According to Human Rights Defender of Georgia George Tugushi’s last report, the regional office of Social service agency doesn’t often register or study properly the cases of violence against children. Besides, the agency not always informs the police about already revealed cases of violence. The experts for children’s protection note that the authorities should act more decisively for revealing the cases of violence, take appropriate actions, as well as rise the awareness of the society to value the violence against children as a crime.

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