Prominent Georgian women speak up against female violence
Tweet 
Share
Georgia’s first lady and other prominent female Georgians are taking to the stage to give a voice to women who have lost their lives at the hands of a husband, partner, lover or ex.
Seventeen well-known Georgian female politicians, artists and ambassadors will perform a piece about femacide at the Marjanishvili State Drama Theatre. It will be the first time the piece, written and directed by Italian journalist Serena Dandini in collaboration with researcher Maura Misiti, will be staged in Georgia.
Wearing black clothes and red shoes, the 17 Georgian women will tell true stories of 17 women who died in violent circumstances in domestic violence.
The idea came about six months ago following an initiative of the Ambassador of Italy in Georgia Federica Favi. The timing of the performance was poignant as it coincided with an issue currently facing the country. In recent weeks the topic of domestic violence has hit the headlines as the country experienced a recent surge in violence against women.
The performance will consist of a series of monologues that are based on real life situations, taken from Dandini’s book Wounded in Death (Ferite a Morte). Through these texts, each protagonist tells their own story in a thought-provoking, evocative way.
Georgia’s first lady Maka Chachua, Minister of Justice Tea Tsulukiani, Ambassador of Italy in Georgia Federica Favi, director and former Georgian Ambassador to France Lana Gogoberidze, first Deputy Chairperson of the Georgian Parliament Manana Kobakhidze, Minister of Foreign Affairs Maia Panjikidze, Head of United Nations Women Tbilisi Erika Kvapilova and others will perform in the play.
Wounded in Death first was performed on the stage at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on November 25, 2013. Since then the play has been performed in Washington, Brussels, London Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Geneva and Paris.
The Tbilisi event is sponsored by the Italian Embassy in Tbilisi and will be held on Tuesday, October 28 at 19:30 at the Marjanishvili State Drama Theatre, Tbilisi.
Of the almost 4,000 people questioned, two thirds (68 percent) believed there was no gender equality in the country, women were poorly represented in Parliament and having more women in leading roles would have a positive impact on the country.
Georgian designers are uniting to support the female victims of violence in a charity project called ‘Kindness is Always Fashionable’.
Dubravka Simonovic, who was on her first official visit to Georgia, said violence against women should be spoken about in society instead of it being regarded as "private, family business”.