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OC Media

OC Media

Voice | ‘The occupation of Abkhazia makes us occupied too’

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Nona Bukia has been running the Khurcha branch of the Sokhumi Fund for 11 years. Photo: Tamuna Chkareuli/OC Media

Nona Bukia, 67, lives in Khurcha, a village bordering Abkhazia on the western side of the River Enguri (Ingur). Bukia, who has headed the local branch of women’s rights group the Sukhumi Fund, believes domestic violence and an increase in other social problems is directly connected to the increased poverty triggered by Abkhazia’s closing down of crossing points three years ago.  [Read more…]

Opinion | The killing of women in Azerbaijan is a product of our society 

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After a spate of recent killings of women by their spouses and ex-spouses, women in Azer­bai­jan are increas­ing­ly demanding change. But leg­is­la­tion alone is not enough; to tackle the scourge of domestic violence we need to go to the root of the problem — the societal norms under­pin­ning the violence. [Read more…]

Anti–domestic violence march goes ahead in Baku despite attempts by police to disperse it

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Women marching through Baku's central Nizami Street. Photo: Veli Shukurov.

Activists in Azer­bai­jan held a protest against domestic violence on Sunday despite attempts by the police to break it up. Police arrested several of the pro­test­ers, who were pre­dom­i­nant­ly women, with activists accusing them of using excessive force. [Read more…]

Opinion | We cannot build democracy in a country of family dictatorships

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(OC Media)

The recent domestic violence scandal involving the Popular Front Party has revealed a dark side of Azerbaijan’s oppo­si­tion. Those wishing to build a democracy in the country cannot hope to do so while sup­port­ing oppres­sive values. [Read more…]

Azerbaijani opposition rocked by domestic violence allegations

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Fuad Gahra­man­li (left) and a picture of his wife (right) released by women's rights activist Gulnara Mehdiyeva.

Azerbaijan’s oppo­si­tion Popular Front Party has been dealt a major blow after the daughters of the party’s deputy chair and his wife accused him of phys­i­cal­ly abusing them.

[Read more…]

Georgian social workers to begin strike after negotiations with Health Ministry break down

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Social workers held press-con­fer­ence and announced about the strike on 21 March . (Tabula)

Georgia’s social workers will begin a strike on Monday after nego­ti­a­tions with the Ministry of Health failed to achieve a res­o­lu­tion to their com­plaints. Staff from the Social Services Agency are demanding more resources and better working con­di­tions. [Read more…]

Child services blamed after 4-year-old ‘beat to death by mother’ in Tbilisi

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Toys and candles laid in front of the Chan­cellery of Georgian Gov­ern­ment to mourn the deceased 4-year-old. (Liberali.ge)

Four social workers have been fired and the head of social pro­grammes at Georgia’s Social Services has resigned after a four-year-old was allegedly beaten to death by her mother despite a restrain­ing order. Children’s rights groups blamed an ‘inef­fi­cient child pro­tec­tion system’ while social workers said they did not have enough resources. [Read more…]

Queer people in Georgia ‘completely defenceless’ against domestic violence

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Inter­na­tion­al Day Against Homo­pho­bia, Trans­pho­bia and Biphobia on 17 May 2017 (Mari Nikuradze /OC Media)

Queer people in Georgia are ‘com­plete­ly defence­less’ against domestic violence, a recent study conducted by Georgian rights group the Human Rights Education and Mon­i­tor­ing Centre (EMC) has found. The study said this fre­quent­ly results in victims being forced to leave their homes and impacts their education and careers, con­tribut­ing to home­less­ness. [Read more…]

‘If she goes out — her relatives will kill her’

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‘A woman should know her place. A woman should show love to us all. A woman is property, and she belongs to a man. If a woman walks around naked, or if she does not behave properly, she answers to her husband, her father, and her brother. According to our customs, if a woman goes out too freely, her relatives will kill her… That’s how it happens. A brother kills his sister, a husband kills his wife… But as President, I cannot allow them to be killed. So, women shouldn’t wear shorts.’ [Read more…]

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