Women's Rights Advocates Meet UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women

“Your work, what you are doing at the grassroots’ level, is feeding in into my work and contributes to our joint goal to eliminate violence against women; tackling the perception that it is a private matter and not a public concern,” stated Dr. Dubravka Simonovic, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences. She made the statement at a consultation meeting, organized by UN Women, attended by women’s NGOs and key development partners working on women’s rights and gender equality issues in Georgia.

UN Women's Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Region, Ms. Ingibjorg Gisladottir, in her opening remarks welcomed the participants to the meeting, stressing the importance of civil society and the contribution women’s rights activists make in accelerating the implementation of the gender equality agenda; holding governments accountable for their commitments around women’s rights.

The goal of the meeting was to discuss how the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur could further advance advocacy and technical support efforts aimed at ending violence against women and girls. The meeting participants also exchanged information and views on the causes and consequences of violence against women and girls, as well as strategies for combating such violence - especially in the Georgian context.

The Head of the Gender Equality Department of the Public Defender’s Office (PDO), Ms. Eka Skhiladze, presented the findings and recommendations of a PDO Special Report on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in Georgia (findings for 2014), prepared in cooperation with UN Women and released in November 2015.

This meeting took place as a side event of the International High-level Conference, “Achieving Gender Equality - Challenges and Opportunities in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Region”, held 9-10 November, 2015 in Tbilisi and organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, in partnership with the EU, UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA and the Swedish Government.