LGBTQI community organizations call for the approval by the Government of Georgia of “determining the amount of compensation to be given to victims of violence against women and/or family violence and the rules for issuing it”[1].
Unfortunately, at this stage, transgender women cannot benefit from this important provision on compensation for victims, which the country adopted under the obligation of Article 30 of the Istanbul Convention[2].
According to the rule approved by the government, a victim of violence against women is “a person who, in accordance with the criminal procedure legislation of Georgia, is known to be a victim of a crime committed against a woman with a gender identity as provided for in the Criminal Code of Georgia, and who directly suffered health damage or who died as a result of a crime committed against a woman with a gender identity.” “[3] .
This kind of regulation and the fact that there is no mechanism for legal recognition of gender based on self-identification for trans people in Georgia excludes trans women from benefiting from compensation who experienced gender-based violence.
Thus, we remind the state that, despite adopting the compensation rule, it still does not comply with the agreement under Article 4 of the Istanbul Convention that measures to protect the rights of victims must be ensured without discrimination based on any grounds (including gender identity).
We also critically note that it is not possible for trans women in the country to take advantage of the administrative guarantees of the prevention of violence against women and the protection and assistance of victims of violence [4].
In Georgia, the mechanism of legal recognition of gender is not regulated by legislation, nor is there an administrative procedure.
“According to the established practice, a trans person who undergoes a gender-affirming surgical operation and submits confirmation of this from a medical institution to the State Services Development Agency, without any additional expertise, easily changes the gender entry in the birth certificate.
As for trans people, who do not want to undergo a surgical operation, or cannot perform a surgical operation due to their health condition, or do not have the material resources necessary for this expensive operation, their right to legal gender recognition is limited by the established practice”[5].
In 2017, due to the state’s refusal to legally recognize their gender, three trans men appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which will issue a decision on their cases on December 1, 2022[6].
LGBTQI community organizations address:
Parliament of Georgia
– to develop and create a legislative mechanism for legal recognition of gender based on self-identification with the active involvement of trans people and community organizations living in Georgia;
Government of Georgia
– to provide support for the implementation of the legislative and administrative mechanism based on self-identification with the intersectoral cooperation of agencies;
Ministry of Justice of Georgia
– To develop and create a fast, transparent, and accessible administrative procedure for legal recognition of gender based on self-identification.
Signatory organizations:
Equality Movement
Support group for women’s initiatives
Periphery
Queer Association – TEMIDA
[1] Resolution No. 523 of the Government of Georgia dated November 9, 2022 "On determining the amount of compensation to be given to victims of violence against women and/or domestic violence and approving the manner of giving it". [2] https://matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/3789678?publication=0 [3] Ibid., Article 2, paragraph one, sub-paragraph "a". [4] Bakhtadze st. "Legal Recognition of Gender in Georgia - Policy Document", WISG, 2022, p: 21. <Available here: t.ly/mVVl> [5] Ibid., p. 15. [6] WISG (November 14, 2022) “Strasbourg Court Expected Decision on Legal Gender Recognition Cases,” https://wisg.org/ka/news/detail/360