Tbilisi. November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which aims to raise public awareness, recognize current challenges and outline future strategies to combat violence. In addition, this day marks the beginning of the 16-day global activism against gender-based violence.

Regardless of legislative and institutional changes, violence against women and domestic violence remain important challenges in Georgia. There are still many problems in terms of prevention, timely detection and effective response to the cases.

Accordingly, the Public Defender of Georgia calls on the Parliament of Georgia, as well as the central and local authorities, to prioritize the implementation of the following measures:

• Improve sexual abuse legislation and ensure that, in accordance with international standards, the definition of sexual abuse is based on the absence of free, genuine and voluntary consent of the victim;
• Integrate gender equality issues into all types of education and plan awareness raising campaigns in order to raise public awareness of gender equality and domestic violence;
• Approve the document of national referral procedures for the identification, protection, assistance and rehabilitation of victims of violence against women and/or domestic violence;
• Plan appropriate projects and programmes to promote women's economic empowerment.

Source: ombudsman.ge