Sexual Harassment

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Actor Kevin Spacey. Image via social media.

Armenia

Outcry after Kevin Spacey named ‘guest of honour’ at Yerevan’s Golden Apricot Festival

by Arshaluys Barseghyan

•2 min read

The announcement that disgraced Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey would visit Yerevan as a guest of honour at the Golden Apricot Film Festival has sparked controversy in Armenia. The festival announced that Spacey would attend the festival on Tuesday, in a post describing him as ‘one of the greatest artists of both stage and screen not only of his generation but, according to many, of all times’. The post was later edited to read that Spacey’s visit was made possible ‘with the support of the fest

Georgia

Pro-government Georgian TV station attacks woman who was harassed by its founder

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

The Georgian pro-government TV channel, POSTV, has run a series of negative stories on a woman who was found to have been sexually harassed by the channel’s founder, Shalva Ramishvili. It comes as Ramishvili faces an onslaught of new allegations of sexual harassment from at least six more women. Last week, the channel accused Tatia Samkharadze of taking money from the opposition United National Movement party (UNM) in exchange for ‘organising a campaign’ against Ramishvili. Samkharadze,

Shalva Ramishvili. Screenshot from his POSTV show Samni & Co

Georgia

Georgian pro-government media owner hit with sexual harassment allegations

by OC Media

•4 min read

Three women have accused Shalva Ramishvili, a prominent pro-government pundit and co-owner of the similarly aligned POSTV channel, of sexually harassing them during job interviews. On 20 March, journalist Mako Jabua accused Ramishvili of sexually harassing her during a job interview ‘7 or 8 years ago’. Jabua alleged that, during the interview, Ramishvili showed her a pornographic video, supposedly to test how she handled ‘awkward situations’, and afterwards asked her to masturbate in front

A taxi in Tbilisi. Photo: Robin Fabbro/OC Media.

Georgia

Reaction split on women-only taxi service in Georgia

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

A taxi service employing women drivers and serving only women and children has been met with enthusiasm from many women online and hostility from some men. On 29 August, a Facebook page for TaxiWoman was launched and the service began looking for drivers. According to the page, the company will offer more ‘safety and tranquility’ for women and boys under the age of 16. The idea received positive comments from many women, with several writing that using taxis was not safe for women and compla

Azerbaijan

Video sparks debate about sexual harassment in Azerbaijan

by Hamida Giyasbayli

•2 min read

Azerbaijani ex-MP and university professor Huseynbala Miralamov was fired after being caught on camera inappropriately touching his woman employee. In the video the woman smiles at first, but when she realizes that they are being recorded, covers her face in shock and runs away. The video rapidly went viral in Azerbaijan, where local media disseminated it without blurring the woman’s face. The story went so viral that American late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel included the clip in one

A police car on Freedom Square during curfew. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

COVID-19

Georgian doctor accused of sexually harassing quarantined woman

by OC Media

•3 min read

A doctor in Georgia has been accused of sexually harassing a woman in quarantine during a medical examination. According to women’s rights group Sapari, the male doctor touched her inappropriately and suggested that the alleged victim fully undress herself to check her lungs. On Thursday, Baia Pataraia, the head of Sapari, said in an online briefing that the measures the doctor suggested the patient take were completely unnecessary for the medical procedure. ‘The girl rejected the doctor’s p

Georgia

Georgian Dream official accused of sexual harassment by student

by OC Media

•5 min read

A 19-year-old student at Batumi’s Shota Rustaveli State University has accused her lecturer, a member of the City Council, of sexual harassment. Omar Makharadze, who taught Municipal Law, has since been fired from the university and has left the ruling Georgian Dream Party faction on the council. The allegations were first reported on 21 May by Batumelebi, which quoted the student, who asked not to be identified, as saying that Makharadze had demanded she send him ‘daring selfies’, as if ‘s