When back in 2016, we started working in Georgia, it became very clear to us that we have to support women experiencing domestic violence. With time, we opened a shelter, which was for them a kind of safe haven. Our first beneficiaries, thanks to the support of experts from Merkuri organization, started a new life.
Lali took advantage of a municipal program – she is renting an apartment from the city. Etuna, Natia and Tea, thanks to our vocational courses, opened their own small businesses. Keti, together with her husband, with the assistance of a psychologist, participated in marriage mediations, and for 1.5 year now their home has been free from violence.
Violence hurts not only women, but also children and men themselves, who often cannot handle their aggression well. Even if they want to work on themselves, there are no places, where they could seek support. This is why, in November 2019, after a major renovation of the building, we opened a Family Support Center in Zugdidi. Everyone, who experiences violence, can turn to specialists for help – children, youth, women and men. Specialists offer legal and psychological support, as well as correction program for the perpetrators. This is the first initiative of this kind, offering such a wide range of services in the country.
One of the beneficiaries is a wife of a soldier, Tengiza. He took part in a mission in Afghanistan. After he came back, he couldn’t cope with his normal, “civilian” life. The reaction he knew and trained was aggression. Tengiza’s wife, together with her children, started to seek psychological support. Tengiza, after receiving encouragement from his supervisors, decided to take part in psychological consultations as well. At the same time, Tako – the psychologist, started conducting a marriage therapy. Tengiza’s wife has recently thanked Tako. She doesn’t remember the last time when their home was free from violence and screaming for such a long time. Each individual story is extremely important. It also shows, how needed are such centers with professional team, which is ready and prepared to help every person, who struggles with the problem of violence.
In HumanDoc we try to create such conditions and opportunities, so that there are more places of that kind.
