Outcome GEO_D_3.1

By 2025, all people in Georgia have equitable and inclusive access to quality, resilient and gender-sensitive services delivered in accordance with international human rights standards (UNSDCF Outcome 2)

This outcome was not achieved as all people in Georgia do not have equitable and inclusive access to quality, resilient and gender-sensitive services delivered in accordance with international human rights standards. However, significant progress was made in terms of relevant policymaking and capacity development. UN Women continued to provide technical assistance to the Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CGE) to support development of the National Action Plan on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Measures to be Implemented for the Protection of Victims (survivors) (VAW/DV NAP) for the period of 2022-2024. Most of the state entities members of the CGE submitted their feedback on the draft NAP with the final review of the document with civil society scheduled in the beginning of 2022. To improve the response to sexual violence in Georgia UN Women, the Council of Europe and Equality Now have jointly developed Sexual Violence Investigation Manual. The manual is instrumental for improving the relevant practice and legislation related to sexual violence, ensuring de facto compliance with the standards set forth in the Istanbul Convention and the effective administration of justice. The manual represents an investigative methodology tool, designed primarily for practical application and implementation by investigators, prosecutors, and judges in Georgia. As such, it will cover the relevant procedures starting from the reporting process through the prosecution and punishment stages for acts of sexual violence. Based on its compliance with international human rights standards and commonalities among States concerning sexual violence, the manual will be valuable for post-Soviet countries and worldwide. Based on the manual, specialization of prosecutors and investigators with active support of UN women is underway on sexual violence crimes, as a result of which, only specialized prosecutors and investigators will be allowed to work on these crimes. In close cooperation with the Embassy of France to Georgia and under the RC’s leadership, UN Women Georgia CO held number of bilateral advocacy meetings to steer the interest of the Government of Georgia towards the Generation Equality Action Coalitions. Among others, together with the RC, UNFPA and the French Embassy a few advocacy events were organized locally to promote global Generation Equality Forums (GEF) in Mexico and Paris. As a result, President of Georgia H.E. Salome Zourabichvili took part in the GEF in Paris, spelling out Georgia's commitments under the following two Action Coalitions - Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality (TIGE). Among some of the key commitments of Georgia under the GBV Action Coalition are: a) full alignment of the country’s legislation with the Istanbul Convention including the legal definition of rape; b) commitment to scaling up behavioral correction programmes for domestic violence perpetrators in accordance with the national legislation; c) commitment to implement research-based and evidence-driven campaigns to prevent and eliminate violence against women in politics. In consultation with the Gender Theme Group and state and non-state national partners, UN Women selected sexual violence as the theme for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2021. To advocate for a legislative reform of sexual violence crimes and alignment of the legislation with the Istanbul Convention, UN Women organized a high-level advocacy meeting on Increasing Access to Justice to Survivors of Sexual Violence Crimes.[1] Representatives of the legislative and executive branches of the Georgian Government, the diplomatic corps, media and international and local non-governmental organizations attended the meeting. As a result, echoing Georgia’s existing commitment under Gender Based Violence Action Coalition of Generation Equality, political commitment has been reaffirmed to amend the legal definition of rape in the Criminal Code of Georgia making consent central to it (as per the Istanbul Convention requirement). Based on the progress made to date, the original strategy and theory of change for this outcome is largely still applicable. If, as expected, this strategy is successful, then the harmonization of Georgia’s legislative and policy frameworks with international standards and the country’s commitments will start having real impact on the lives of women and girls in Georgia by outlawing discriminatory practices and improving women’s access to relevant protection and support services. [1] Sexual violence is one of the most hidden offences in Georgia. According to the 2017 National Survey on Violence against Women, 9 per cent of women experienced sexual violence in childhood, although the rate of reporting is low. For instance, in 2020, investigations were started for only 31 cases of rape, while only 22 of the cases have reached the courts. One of the reasons for low reporting, is that the Georgian legislation does not comply with international standards, including the Istanbul Convention. In addition, women’s silence about rape is provoked by existing harmful stereotypes and societal attitudes, which often blame victims for what happened to them. Evidence Draft the National Action Plan on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Measures to be Implemented for the Protection of Victims (survivors) for 2022-2024 Sexual Violence Investigation Manual Generation Equality materials News on high-level advocacy meeting on enhanced regulation of sexual violence crimes

By 2025, all people in Georgia have equitable and inclusive access to quality, resilient and gender-sensitive services delivered in accordance with international human rights standards (UNSDCF Outcome 2)

UN Women has made strong progress towards partial achievement of this outcome in 2022. The Government of Georgia developed and adopted the National Action Plan on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Measures to be Implemented for the Protection of Victims (Survivors) for 2022–2024 (VAW/DV NAP) with UN Women’s technical support. The action plan aims to improve the implementation of the legal framework related to violence against women and domestic violence and to provide appropriate services and measures focusing prevention and awareness-raising of the public. The victims/survivors of violence against women and domestic violence have become entitled to state compensation in the amount of GEL 10,000 (USD 3,700). Georgia ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) in 2017. Article 30 of the Convention mandates the States Parties to take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that victims have the right to claim compensation from perpetrators for any of the offences established in accordance with this Convention. To meet this commitment, the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs with UN Women support prepared the rule and procedure for issuing state compensation that was adopted in November 2022. The maximum amount of the compensation equals GEL 10,000 (USD 3,700), to be issued to the VAW/DV survivor and/or the children in the case of the victim’s death. The Parliament of Georgia has adopted a package of legislative amendments that aims at increasing access to state-run VAWG/DV shelters for the survivors of violence. This package of amendments was prepared with UN Women support. According to the amendments, no formal procedures are required to access the shelters, such as having a restraining/protective order, being recognized as a victim in a criminal case or being granted ‘victim’ status by an independent expert group. Victims/survivors seeking a shelter shall now apply directly to a crisis centre, where a group of specialists will immediately determine the specific services needed in each individual case. The software for the nationwide toll-free 24/7 VAW/DV hotline (116 006) has been updated to improve the quality of and access to the service, as well as data entry and processing for hotline operators. As a result of the update, the potential beneficiaries can receive services online or participate in video calls if preferred. Operators are now able to redirect each call to the relevant services immediately without terminating the call. In addition, responses can now be generated via SMS or email. The system also includes a monitoring module that records feedback on service quality. In addition, the system is enabled to generate various types of reports to be used for data collection, analysis or monitoring. Institutionalized training curricula for judges, prosecutors and lawyers was improved to increase the capacities of service providers and meet the needs of VAWG/DV victims/survivors with UN Women’s contribution. Altogether 1081 professionals benefitted from UN Women capacity development interventions under this outcome; A total of 805 professionals, including 91 judges and judicial assistants (JAs), 545 prosecutors, 15 high-level managers and 98 investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 42 investigators of the Special Investigation Service (SIS) and 14 lawyers, underwent the training programmes and increased their knowledge, capacity and skills around VAWF/DV. In addition to that, a total of 192 professionals, including 100 police officers, 30 lawyers of the Legal Aid Service (LAS) and 62 social workers of the State Care Agency were trained to strengthen their capacity to ensure an efficient response to VAWG/DV cases and hate crimes against the LGBTIQ+ community and to provide quality services to DV and sexual violence victims/survivors from the LGBTIQ+ community. In order to increase understanding of VAW/DV and sensitivity towards the issues, UN Women organized trainings for the members of the Association of Mediators of Georgia, reaching out to 84 participants (57 women and 27 men). UN Women deepened its strategic partnership with the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics around gender-sensitive and ethical reporting on women’s rights and LGBTIQ-related issues. Together with the Charter, UN Women conducted 20 trainings reaching 201 media representatives (160 women and 41 men). Along with the trainings, the Charter has committed to conducting awareness-raising and advocacy meetings with media organizations and individual journalists to support the process of gender-sensitive and ethical reporting based on the guidelines and standards developed with UN Women technical support. The above-listed results became possible through UN Women’s work within the frameworks of two cost-share projects: “UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality?in Georgia”, funded by the Government of Sweden, and “Ending Violence against Women and Girls in Georgia”, funded by the European Union. Based on the progress made to date, the original strategy and theory of change for this outcome is largely still applicable. If, as expected, this strategy is successful, then?the harmonization of Georgia’s legislative and policy frameworks with international standards and the country’s commitments will start having real impact on the lives of women and girls in Georgia by outlawing discriminatory practices and improving women’s access to relevant protection and support services.

By 2025, all people in Georgia have equitable and inclusive access to quality, resilient and gender-sensitive services delivered in accordance with international human rights standards (UNSDCF Outcome 2)

UN Women has made strong progress towards partial achievement of this outcome in 2023, the progress is on track. The Government of Georgia further improved violence against women and domestic violence (EVAW/DV) legislation and policies to meet international standards. The Parliament of Georgia received a draft package of amendments to reform sexual violence crimes’ section in the Criminal Code of Georgia by introducing a consent-based definition of rape for their further discussion and initiation. UN Women in partnership with relevant state and non-state partners prepared draft package as part of its work to align legislation with the Istanbul Convention and other international standards. harmonizing Georgian legislation with the Istanbul Convention, Shelters/crisis centers use standards of operation that better ensure quality service provision The state-run services expanded; a new shelter in Tbilisi administered by the State Care Agency opened with 15 additional beds. The new shelter is adapted for persons with disabilities and will serve women victims of violence and their dependents. A local women’s NGO in ethnically diverse Samtskhe-Javakheti established a shelter for the survivors of violence to be later transferred to the state for sustainable funding. UN Women provided technical and financial support to achieve this result. The State Care Agency is actively applying rule on compensation for victims of VAW/DV, which were put into effect in 2022. Most cases of compensation are for femicide and issued to the family members of the VAW/DV victims. Since the enactment, 11 applications were submitted to the State Care Agency with 9 compensation requests already granted. As a result, a victim/survivor of violence is authorized to receive compensation from the state if the compensation for the damages is not paid by the abuser. The amount of the compensation is determined in accordance with the court's decision. The maximum amount of compensation is set at GEL 10,000. The provision of the necessary legislative amendments enabling victims to request the compensation also constitutes an obligation imposed by the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention). The country now has updated data on VAW in Georgia to report and track the progress on the implementation of SDG 5— “to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”—and SDG 16—“to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels”. This is a result of the Georgia CO publishing the findings of the second National Survey on Violence against Women at the end of 2023. The survey is a result of the CO effectively exercising UN Women triple mandate by convening and coordinating the work of levant stakeholders around the survey, generating data that will feed into programmatic and normative work that will be technically supported by UN Women. The VAW survey revealed that every second woman in Georgia has experienced at least one form of violence in her lifetime, while every fourth ever-partnered woman in Georgia has experienced violence from her intimate partner. The study also revealed the positive changes in public opinion, with fewer women and men sharing VAW-supportive beliefs and norms compared to 2017. The study findings are expected to spark national debate about VAW and inform government policies to prevent and address all forms of VAW. Between May and September 2023, law enforcement used electronic surveillance more often in cases of domestic violence (in 68 cases during that 5-month period, as compared to just 44 cases from 2020-May 2023). This resulted from an improved risk assessment tool, an instrument for law enforcement to decide on the application of GPS electronic monitoring for perpetrators of violence. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) updated the risk assessment tool in May 2023, using recommendations from an assessment of the effectiveness of the domestic violence risk assessment tool carried out by UN Women and MIA. Overall, in 2023 a total of 405 professionals have enhanced their capacities to handle VAW/DV cases. This includes 18 judges, 21 judge’s assistants (JAs), 101 prosecutors and prosecutorial managers, 36 Witness’s and Victim’s Coordinators of the Prosecutors’ Office of Georgia, 127 investigators, 18 middle level managers of the MIA, 56 Investigators of the Special Investigation Service (SIS) and 28 lawyers. Members of the public (1463 participants; 1,090 - women and 373 – men) engaged in interactive role-play through InHerShoes trainings. These trainings use scenarios based on the real experiences of victims/survivors to generate empathy for the victims/survivors of GBV and promote behavioural change in women, girls, men and boys through awareness-raising. As part of the training, role-play is used to initiate discussions about VAW/DV and gender equality among participants, highlighting the need to fight against existing stereotypes and to support victims/survivors. Overall, UN Women rolled out the InHerShoes curriculum and, with local NGO partner Women’s Information Center, conducted 83 training. Through the Voices against Violence (VaV) module, 249 youth participants (150 girls and 99 boys) increased their awareness of VAW/DV during information sessions conducted by the Georgian Girl Scouts Association, “Dia”. Dia successfully delivered final round of VaV trainings, carrying out 9 trainings in the reporting period. The above-listed results became possible through UN Women’s work within the frameworks of two cost-share projects: “UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality in Georgia”, funded by the Government of Sweden, and “Ending Violence against Women and Girls in Georgia”, funded by the European Union. The shelter is Samtkhe-Javakheti region is funded with generous contribution from the Government of France. Based on the progress made to date, the original strategy and theory of change for this outcome is largely still applicable. If, as expected, this strategy is successful, then the harmonization of Georgia’s legislative and policy frameworks with international standards and the country’s commitments will start having real impact on the lives of women and girls in Georgia by outlawing discriminatory practices and improving women’s access to relevant protection and support services.

By 2025, all people in Georgia have equitable and inclusive access to quality, resilient and gender-sensitive services delivered in accordance with international human rights standards (UNSDCF Outcome 2)

UN Women has made strong progress towards partial achievement of this outcome in 2024, the progress is on track. Specialized services for VAWG/DV victims/survivors, such as shelters/crisis centers continued quality service provision. The Public Defender’s Office completed annual monitoring of the services delivering recommendations to further improve their quality to relevant service providers. The network of services has been expanded one additional crisis center in Akhmeta (Kakheti region of Georgia) that since opening in 2024 rendered services to 14 survivors. This new center is operated by UN Women local partner NGO. The other UN Women supported and NGO operated shelter / crisis center for GBV victims/survivors is located in Akhaltsikhe (Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia); it rendered legal consultations to 29 women victims of violence, three claims were submitted to the court while four women and four children were placed in the shelter; 12 beneficiaries received psychological services at the crisis center. The process of improving VAW/DV service provision for LGBTIQ+ people has continued. The preparation activities of LGBTQI+ crisis center was completed by another local NGO partner. The renovation of the crisis center building located in the capital Tbilisi was finished and the service is due to open in early 2025. UN Women increased the capacities of service providers to VAWG/DV victims/survivors and contributed to the improvement of the institutionalized training curricula for prosecutors, investigators and lawyers to ensure sustainability of the UN Women’s capacity development results. More specifically, during the reporting period, 20 prosecutors and 20 prosecutor’s managers strengthened their capacities to prosecute femicide cases. In addition, 26 prosecutors and 19 judges increased their knowledge around the issue of access to justice for people with disabilities (PWD) and improved their capacities to prosecute and adjudicate cases involving PWD and 19 high level managers of the MIA and 43 investigators of MIA improved their capacities to handle VAW/DV cases. Furthermore, 17 prosecutors have increased their knowledge and awareness on sexual harassment, its prevention and formal sexual harassment complaints´ mechanism within the POG. Moreover, 20 judges and 20 prosecutors had discussed the main trends and challenges in prosecuting and adjudicating femicide cases. Also, four judges and 11 prosecutors had an opportunity to discuss the main trends and challenges in prosecuting and adjudicating sexual violence cases through interagency dialogues between the justice system representatives facilitated by UN Women to agree on common principles around the VAW/DV cases and the sexual violence cases. The State Legal Aid Service of Georgia (LAS) introduced specialized lawyers on VAWG/DV supported by UN Women. Two lawyers that work exclusively with VAW/DV victims have been recruited to provide legal consultations and represent them in court. In 2024 the specialized lawyers handled 36 VAWG/DV cases (regarding Domestic Violence, Crime against Sexual Freedom and inviolability inter alia lewd acts, threat against a family member, Disclosure of secrets of personal life as well as issuance of protection orders). UN Women advocated for the introduction of specialization of lawyers on VAWG/DV similar to the specialization within the prosecutor's office and supported conceptualizing it, as well as the recruitment of the specialized lawyers. A special training module/protocol for the enhancement of specialized lawyers capacities to VAWG/DV cases is being elaborated and mentoring will be provided with UN Women's support. Overall, 32 strategic cases were brought before the domestic courts of Georgia and eight cases - before the ECtHR on behalf of women and children with disabilities, women athletes who were victims of sexual harassment, women victims of DV and sexual violence and LBTI women to enhance their access to justice and develop landmark caselaw on these issues. Supported by UN Women, strategic litigation service were provided by local women’s rights NGOs. The training module “Gender Mainstreaming in the Education System: VAW/DV” has been updated to include the component related to Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TFGBV) in close cooperation with Teachers’ Professional Development Centre and the Office of Resource Officers of Educational Institutions of Georgia with UN Women’s technical assistance to enhance gender mainstreaming in the education system and increase VAW/DV reporting by school personnel. In addition, a pool of 11 trainers has been formed and their capacities have been developed and one training covering 26 participants (23 women and 3 men) has been conducted. Overall, 181 individuals (130 women; 51 men), including civil servants, kindergarten and school teachers and young adults in the Samtskhe - Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions were sensitized to VAWG/DV issues using the In her Shoes roleplay. Furthermore, 69 youths (58 girls and 11 boys) increased their awareness on gender equality and VAWG/DV issues through the Voices Against Violence curriculum. In addition, 60 rural and ethnic minority women and 35 children increased their knowledge around gender equality, women’s rights and existing VAW/DV specialized services. These trainings were organized by UN Women partner NGOs. Based on the progress made to date, the original strategy and theory of change for this outcome is largely still applicable. If, as expected, this strategy is successful, then the harmonization of Georgia’s legislative and policy frameworks with international standards and the country’s commitments will start having real impact on the lives of women and girls in Georgia by outlawing discriminatory practices and improving women’s access to relevant protection and support services.