Our public order officers will go from door to door, deliver information brochures and booklets and inform the society that the child marriage is a crime and they should inform police about it, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia Natia Mezvrishvili.

According to her, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is starting an information campaign : “Do not deprive the children of childhood".

The opening of the campaign was held at “Rooms” hotel on Monday. According to the Deputy Internal Affair Minister, the campaign will last for 18 days.

“The campaign aims to raise public awareness of forced marriage and the crimes that usually accompany the forced marriage. This is sexual violence and mainly domestic violence. The victims are mostly minors, and as a rule, the offense is committed by family members. Although people call police for domestic violence cases more frequently, it still remains a challenge. Through this campaign we would like to call on the society, everyone who has any kind of information on this issue to inform the police about these facts immediately,” Natia Mezvrishvili said.

Representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, Public Defender's Office, MPs and representatives of international organizations attended the event.

The Human Rights Protection Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs presented the statistics about the early marriage.

According to the statistics, in 2018, an investigation has been launched into 180 facts of early marriages. “In most cases, law enforcement agencies are informed about these facts several months later, which makes it difficult to make an effective response. In this regard, the main challenge is the lack of public awareness.” According to the MIA, the information campaign aims to raise public awareness.

The information campaign is being implemented with the support of the UN population, under the UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality.