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Chinara

There are an estimated 17,000 people living in modern slavery in Georgia (GSI 2018). According to Equality Now, child marriages and bride kidnappings are still not uncommon in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the North Caucasus part of Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. In Armenia and Georgia the practice of bride kidnapping has largely disappeared in recent decades, though there still remain some largely unreported incidents in certain communities. Bride kidnappings and forced marriages disproportionately affect adolescent girls in many of the reviewed countries and give rise to sexual violence offenses against them. Chinara was 14 when her parents forced her to leave school and arranged her marriage to a 19-year-old man from her village. She informed the police who made her father sign a document agreeing not to marry her until she was 18. However, when she turned 17, they began planning her wedding again. She refused and sought help from local authorities.