Is there gender equality in Georgia?
Tweet 
Share
An independent agency has commissioned a nationwide survey to determine if there is gender equality in Georgia.
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.
Results of the October 2014 Public Opinion Poll on Women’s Political Participation in Georgia were released yesterday by USA-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and revealed the opinions of the community in terms of overall gender equality, acceptance of domestic violence and female participation in leadership and official roles.
Half of the population would be comfortable if a woman was their immediate boss, while only two percent said they would be "very uncomfortable” with this. Photo by N.Alavidze/Agenda.ge
The survey had four main objectives; to assess public attitudes towards women’s participation in politics, barriers for greater participation, gender roles and solutions for increasing women’s participation in politics.
Gender roles
When asked if there was gender equality in Georgia, 64 percent said no, 21 percent said yes, nine percent didn’t know and six percent didn’t know what the question meant.
The results were not as clear-cut when respondents were asked if women and men in Georgia had equal opportunities to succeed in any field; 45 percent said yes, 47 percent said no and eight percent didn’t know.
Just over half of the population would be comfortable if a woman was their immediate boss, while only two percent said they would be "very uncomfortable” with this.
According to some results, men and women had similar views (such as preferred gender of child) but on others, results were significantly different according to gender.
The child in traditional Georgian clothes. Photo by N.Alavidze/Agenda.ge
Seventy-one percent of males believed it would be justified to initiate a divorce if their spouse was unfaithful, but this dropped to 25 percent for female recipients. Similarly, more women (69 percent) believed they would be justified to initiate a divorce if there was physical violence of their spouse, while this dropped to 16 percent for males.
Domestic Violence
The Georgian public had varying attitudes towards physical violence.
More than a third (39 percent) believed physical violence was a matter that should only be resolved within a family while 73 percent believed it acceptable for a court to interfere in cases of physical violence. On a positive note, most people (85 percent) "strongly supported” the idea of strengthening laws against domestic violence.
The rally against domestic violence took place in 23 Georgian cities on November 25. Photo by N.Alavidze/Agenda.ge
When asked whether the situation in Georgia had changed compared to October 2012, about half (53 percent) believed the situation was the same, while a third (32 percent) said it was worse and five percent said it was better.
Women’s Political Participation
Politics played an important role in Georgia’s development but not all citizens showed an interest in politics. Thirty-eight percent said they never discussed politics with their friends and 59 percent said it was "very unlikely” they would ever get involved in political life, such as sign a petition, work at an NGO or participate in a rally.
Males continued to dominate this sphere, and many (53 percent) believed male Georgian politicians did not treat their female colleagues as equals. Only 23 percent believed they did. This could possibly reflect why there were only 17 females of the 150 Members of Parliament, which 55 percent of the population said was "too few”. At the other end of the scale, three percent said 17 women in Parliament were "too many”.
The place were gender equity exists for sure is Georgian dance. Georgian National Ballet's performance "Ramishvilebi".Photo by N.Alavidze/Agenda.ge
In terms of roles in power, men were favoured to hold influential roles. More than half believed Georgia’s president should be male while only four percent believed a woman could do a better job. Similar statistics were revealed for Prime Minister, Mayor, Prosecutor and Judge.
Conclusion
The survey was a national representative sample of the Georgian population, and those behind the survey said it accurately reflected the views of society, with a margin of error of +/- 1.6%.
Not for profit organisation National Democratic Institute (NDI) commissioned the study, conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centre Georgia (CRRC-Georgia) with financial backing from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
The nationally representative sample of Georgian speakers was conducted from October 10-30 and involved face-to-face interviews of 3,885 people from all over the country, including representative samples of the self-governing cities of Tbilisi, Telavi, Akhaltsikhe, Kutaisi, Zugdidi and Batumi.
See full results of the poll.
Georgia is uniting around a common goal – to stop gender-based violence.
Activists who believed gender equality and women’s rights were crucially important gathered in central Tbilisi today to tell victims of domestic violence they were not alone.
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.
A special task force, created to ensure the state appropriately responded to the increasing number of domestic violence cases in the country, held its first meeting today.
A multi-agency group has been established in Georgia following an order of the country’s Prime Minister to tackle the country’s escalating violence problems, including domestic violence.
The old fashioned norm of arranged or forced marriages could soon become a illegal if changes to Georgian law are approved, resulting in a maximum penalty of four years imprisonment.
Georgia’s Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Tchikaidze is pledging the country will intensify its efforts to stop domestic violence in Georgia.
Georgian designers are uniting to support the female victims of violence in a charity project called ‘Kindness is Always Fashionable’.
Georgia’s female leaders living in rural areas will be better educated of their political and civil rights and understand the importance of female engagement in the election process for the upcoming 2016 parliamentary elections.
72,726 staff employed in 141 public institutions in Georgia
The number of male and female civil servants in Georgia is nearly equal, a survey by the Georgian non-governmental organisation (NGO) Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) reveals.
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”.
Fathers all over Georgia are being celebrated and honoured today by their loved ones as the country celebrates Father’s Day for the first time in its history.
New crisis centre opens in Tbilisi
The country’s first crisis centre for victims of domestic violence has opened in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.
Hundreds of supporters of gender equality from different fields will gather today at the Radisson Hotel in Tbilisi to mark the beginning of Gender Week.
Georgia’s Justice Ministry has announced a large-scale campaign against violence and presented a webpage that will facilitate people’s involvement in the campaign.
Today Tbilisi marked the beginning of a global campaign: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The TV tower overlooking Georgia's capital Tbilisi was lit up in orange last night to mark the city joining in the international campaign.
The Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has stated that he welcomes all initiatives that will boost role of women in the Georgian parliament.
Despite the fact that women’s contribution to agricultural production is impressive, it still remains invisible and under-recognised, shows the latest report ‘Gender, Agriculture and Rural Development in Georgia’, presented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
Problems for gender equality still exist in Georgia but can be "completely eliminated" through joint efforts of the Government, civil society and the non-governmental sector, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said at a conference organised by the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia on Tuesday.