Who Violates UN Mandated Rights of the Child in Kutaisi?

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi

Several days ago TV Company Rustavi2 released an item in news program where under-age children were being publicly implicated in commercial prostitution. Georgian society became anxious about the revealed  fact; mostly they became very angry with the  people who brought such fact to public light. The administration of the City Service Department for Child Rights exposed the “shameful episodes” of 13-15-year-old girls.  Later, however, they explained their behavior as follows.

“I am really very concerned about the situation developments. Parents of these children have applied to our department for help for several times. The grandmother of the 13-year-old girl used to visit our office almost everyday. She complained that she could not keep the girl at home; could not control when she left home and when she returned. The girl was spending almost 24 hours a day in the street. In such circumstances how could not we remain indifferent? We were looking for the girl in athe central park when TV stations arrived on the scene and exposed the prostitution of the young girls – it all happened so spontaneously. Later, however, the incident looked more like a staged performance,” said Maguli Giorgadze, the head of Kutaisi City Service Department for Child Rights.

As it was found out, under-aged girls have been involved in the prostitution for a long time already. “I do not want to live so either but I cannot do anything more. I know that I am doing wrong. I am not the only person who is leading such life,” said one of the main heroes of the incident. She is pregnant and needs immediate medical treatment.

“The Kutiri Psychic Hospital refuses to accept such patients. We took the girl to the doctor and they concluded that the child has psychic problems. In addition to that we examined here for HIV/AIDS and now we are waiting for the test result. Nobody knows what will be the answer. It is difficult to judge somebody without being thoroughly informed about the problem. As a result of the TV documentary our service department and I turned out to be the enemies of these children. God knows how many children we have rescued from difficult situations. We wanted to assist them now too but the society misunderstood it,” said Giorgadze.

“How is it possible to understand anything otherwise, and especially when the same department, whose function is to protect the rights of children, publicly go about insulting adults? What is the difference whether they are prostitutes or not. Our country joined UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1999 and nobody has right to violate it. Whoever saw the news item would agree with me that it was horrible. Besides, the activities of these children became public and they were also physically assaulted. I do not think anybody will judge the activities of the City Service Department positively, it cannot be approved,” said Nana Idadze, social worker of the Department for the Prevention of Abandoning the Children without Parental Care and Orphans within the Ministry of Education and Science.

As for representatives of the Kutaisi City Service Department for the Rights of the Child, they might be charged under the law for their activities.