On February 9th, a 14-year-old teen girl Nini committed suicide in her home. Nini was reportedly sexually assaulted on two different occasions, by a 24-year-old man. She reported the assault almost three months ago, but the case was drawn on. It received no real movement before the tragic suicide. As of now, the 24-year-old has been arrested.
When the police don't believe the survivor and family rages for ruining their honor, it seems there is nowhere left to go. It takes an enormous amount of courage to report sexual assault to the police. That is what one teen in Kutaisi, Georgia did. As a result, her relatives beat her almost to the point of death for “tarnishing their family name and losing her dignity”.
How is it that somehow, the 24-year-old assaulter (who has not been named) was not the one who lost his honor the moment he forcibly laid his hands on a girl? How is it that the sexual assault case remained open for two months after the victim gave the inial confession? Many questions arise from the tragic case of teen suicide - the dismissal of sexual assault cases, incompetence of social workers, and the obliviousness of the society around assault victims.
Nini, the deceased victim, was living with her grandfather for most of the last six years. Her father passed away when she was younger, and her mother immigrated to Turkey. As the mother says, she lost the rights to her children and tried relentlessly to get them back from the abusive household. The mother was made aware of the sexual assault by Nini, and later the girl also told her mom that her grandfather and his relatives physically assaulted her. The mother demands justice and asks why the case was brushed aside when it was initially turned in to the police.
It’s important to note that the man who assaulted the teen was not arrested for two months the investigation was ongoing. The arrest only took place after the suicide. The police have yet to make a statement as to why that happened and why it took this much to get justice for the victim. It is never the victim's fault. So, how does it happen that society puts blame on the assaulted and not the assaulter?
Nini’s suicide started a new movement - #NinisGamo. The campaign is 100-days long, and wants the following things:
To have a special department for sexual assault cases.
Change the rape laws currently in the parliament.
Give education to children so they know what sexual assault is and how to protect themselves from it.
Investigate the prosecutor on the 14-year olds assault case.
Another problem that was brought to light was the incompetence (and lack) of social workers. As of now, there are only 250 social workers in Georgia, where there should be at least 400 by the recommendation of a European Union program. As of now, there is no answer whether Nini’s social worker knew of her sexual assault and Maia Mgeliashvili, the manager of the child protective services program of World Vision, said that there is a deficit of social workers, especially psychologists and that the deceased girl who needed the mental help who became a victim to it is another example of the dire need for more workers.
11-year old Avto committed suicide in august 2020 because of his father’s abuse. He is yet another victim of the negligence of social workers. It was said that there was no knowledge of Avto’s abuse by his father.
From June 2017 to June 2019, there have been 361 sexual assault allegations. Only 251 began the investigation and 26 reached judgment. 20 were convicted of sexual assault and 6 were set free. In the years 2018-2019 third of underage sexual assault cases were stopped. In the same time period, 317 underage children were recognized as victims of sexual violence.
Edited by Liza Jariashvili
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