Sakhli’s work with victims of domestic violence has revealed many gaps in the legislation surrounding domestic violence and highlighted the very real need for legal reforms.

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One of the key strategic directions of Sakhli is to research current issues surrounding domestic violence and with our findings make recommendations for legislative reforms. The following activities have been carried out by the centre which have contributed directly to the implementation of recent reforms:

 

• Evaluation of women's de facto and de jure status in Georgia based on the CEDAW (American Bar Assosciation, 2003)

• Assessment and analysis of suggestions and recommendations for legislative reforms as well as an elobration of the draft law on domestic violence (GYLA, ABA, etc 2003-2005)

• Lobbying for legislative reforms with regards to the issue of violence against women (Public Defender’s Office, 2003)

• Participation in the Regional Consultations with the United Nations Special Reporter on Violence against Women, 2007;

• In 2007, initiated by Sakhli and Public Defender’s Office, a collaborative council was established aimed at collecting information on the imperfections of the Domestic Violence Law and its implementation. Sakhli played the role of a mediator between the population and law enforcers and worked on the further refinement of law

• Monitoring of the implementation of the State Action Plan for Combating Violence against Women (2000-2002, extended from 2003 up to 2005

• Participation in the elaboration of the State Action Plans for for Combating Violence against Women for 2009-2011; 2013-2014

• Participation in the introduction of changes to the Criminal Code criminalizing domestic violence in cooperation with governmental structures (State Fund for Protection and Assistance of victims of Human Trafficking, Interagency Council on Domestic Violence Prevention), 2012

• Participation in the elaboration of the package of amendments in Georgian legislation aimed at making steps towards ratification of the Istanbul convention, 2013

• Elaborating recommendations for the harmonization of the current legislation with the EU Convention on Violence against Women 2014-2015

• Participation in the elaboration of the State Work Plan on Domestic Violence (2016-2018). The process involved defining main objectives, activities, indicators and concrete institutions responsible for the implementation of each objective/activity; 2016