Do men have more property rights than women in Georgia?

It is no longer acceptable for women in Georgia to be deprived of their property ownership rights.

Contrary to Georgian law, men are still given all rights when it comes to property ownership while women often have no say in who owns what when dividing family estates. But a new campaign is pushing for gender equality in property ownership and raising awareness of Georgian legislation, that states males and females are equal when it comes to property ownership.

The National Agency of Public Registry launched the Gender and Property campaign, which aimed to increase awareness in society of their property rights regardless of their gender.

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The Agency explained that Georgian legislation stated gender did not determine property rights and women had exactly the same rights as men when it came to holding, controlling, benefiting from and transferring their property.

Despite this the Agency said very often citizens were guided not by the law but by the archaic opinion that there was no equality and priority be given to men when deciding property ownership issues.

The new campaign aimed to change this perception.

The Agency referenced its data which revealed that of all the property registration cases during the past four years, 56 percent was registered in the name of a man however in some rural areas this number was "dramatically higher”.

"The aim of our new project is to inform our citizens about the rights they have under the law and raise their awareness about the principle of equality,” said head of the National Agency of Public Registry Papuna Ugrekhelidze.

Within the campaign, the Agency will organise meetings in each region of Georgia, and prepare information videos, brochures and booklets to promote gender equality and property rights.

The project coincided with the global campaign of the Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

"We would like to contribute to the state policy of promoting gender equality in the country.”