In Georgia, sexual abuse of minors is still a taboo subject. We want local educators to be able to respond quickly and effectively when they recognize that children are being harmed.
According to the Georgian Ombudsman, in 2020 there were 109 victims of rape and the number of other sexual offenses was 233. Almost half of the victims are minors. Unfortunately, legal regulations related to such cases are not widely implemented. The school should have a central role in prevention. However, educational staff do not have adequate tools and knowledge to take concrete action.
Some educators still prefer not to notice the problem of child sexual abuse, but a large group of them do and feel frustrated by society’s low level of awareness. It is to them that we want to activate so that they protect young people who have so far been left alone with this problem.
The project is a continuation of our previous activities in Georgia under the programs: RITA and Polish Aid of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. Their main idea is to familiarise Georgian education staff with the system of domestic and sexual violence prevention.
This edition includes classroom training for a selected group of teachers, pedagogues, and school psychologists, and four webinars conducted by Polish and Georgian specialists. Thus, based on the Polish experience and enriched with the local context, the Policy for the Protection of Children from Abuse will not only be implemented in ten selected schools but will reach a wide audience across the country.
Training topics:
- Sexual abuse – definition
- Symptoms of sexual abuse
- Stages in a child’s relationship with the perpetrator
- Psychological situation of the sexually abused child
- Abuser
- Non-offending parent
- When does disclosure occur?
- Disclosure as a process
- How to talk to the child about sexual abuse?
- Assessing the disclosure. Gathering information/ Ensuring the child is protected/ Reporting sexual abuse to the appropriate authorities
- Elements of a conversation with a non-offending carer
- Education of the non-offending carer during the interview
- Educational institution’s internal policy on responding to suspected child sexual abuse.
The project “Development of the Georgian training system for teachers and professionals on counteracting domestic and sexual violence against children and schoolchildren” is co-financed by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation as part of the RITA program – Transformations in the region, implemented by the Education for Democracy Foundation.
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