Rusudan Chelidze (Nino Baidauri / Women of Georgia)
‘You cannot really call what we went through back then childhood. There were only two of us. We had no one else out there in the whole world.’ [Read more…]
(Left) Zviad Devdariani (Dato Parulava /OC Media)
Zviad Devdariani, the former head of Georgian non-governmental organisation CIDA who is facing allegations of sexual harassment from at least 10 women, has announced he will sue his accusers for ‘violating his and his family’s dignity’. On Tuesday, Devdariani held a press briefing with his lawyer where he vowed to pursue legal means to ‘protect his dignity’, as he claimed the ‘court of Facebook’ had already found him guilty. [Read more…]
Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women holds a protest march under the slogan 'Stop being indifferent to violence' in Yerevan, 25 November 2016. (Photolur)
Spousal rape and sexual violence affects many women in Armenia, and cultural taboos and shaming of victims means that women often do not come forward. While changes in the law were supposed to counter this, many activists say the problem of sexual violence remains dire, and the women affected are still left with little protection. [Read more…]
Papuna Ugrekhelidze (/ipress.ge)
Two former employees are suing the former chair of Georgia’s Public Registry for sexaul harassment. Papuna Ugrekhelidze resigned on Tuesday after media reports citing similar claims of harassment from another former employee, Eka Meskhidze. [Read more…]
Maia Tskitishvili (news.ge)
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has announced that the new Minister of Infrastructure will be Maia Tskitishvili, the head of the government’s administration. She will replace Zurab Alavidze, who is resigning to return to the private sector, the PM said. Tskitishvili, who has headed the government administration since 2012, will be the third woman in the 14 member cabinet of ministers. [Read more…]
Papuna Ugrekhelidze (/ipress.ge)
Papuna Ugrekhelidze, the Chair of Georgia’s Public Registry, has resigned over sexual harassment allegations from former employees. He dismissed the accusations as revenge for firing the husband of one of his accusers, and has vowed to sue her. [Read more…]
Marina Khachatryan during the incident at the Yerevan City Hall (Screenshot /Azatutyun)
Armenia has passed a law banning reporters from attending Yerevan City Council. The law comes just weeks after reporters captured the physical assault of two female councillors in the council chamber. [Read more…]
Asya Khachatryan (Epress)
An Armenian citizen has claimed that police in Stepanakert ‘psychologically and physically abused’ her during multiple ‘illegal detentions’ in Stepanakert, allegedly because she smoked and because of the way she looked. [Read more…]
(Mari Nikuradze /OC Media)
Busy restaurants and cafes are a common sight in Georgia, and CRRC’s Caucasus Barometer data suggest that restaurants and cafés have become busier over the last five years. While 27% of Georgia’s population reported going to a restaurant in 2012, five years later, 50% did. There is an upward trend for both men and women, yet the data also suggests there is a significant gender gap. Taking into account other social and demographic characteristics, women are significantly less likely to go to restaurants than men. [Read more…]
‘More women in parliament’ (Mari Nikuradze/OC Media)
Georgia’s parliament has rejected a bill on mandatory gender quotas in parliament. The bill, put forward by several women’s rights groups and signed by 37,000 voters, would have required parties to field an equal number of men and women as candidates. [Read more…]
