The initiative of the monitoring group of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" was first of all supported by Bagdati Municipality - in order to respond to violence in a timely manner, the City Hall established an Interdepartmental Commission to eliminate violence against women / domestic violence, to protect victims of violence and assist them.
The commission is headed by Deputy Mayor Merab Zirakadze. The Commission will cooperate with the Council of Advisors of Bagdati Municipality on the issues of Gender Equality, as well as with the Interdepartmental Commission of the Government of Georgia, working on gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence. It will periodically inform them about the situation on the territory of the municipality, and will provide recommendations on activities to eliminate violence against women/domestic violence, protect victims of violence and provide them with assistance; will coordinate the activities planned by the Interdepartmental Commission of the Government of Georgia and the Gender Equality Council of Bagdati Municipality.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
The cycle of meetings in partner municipalities on: “Inclusion of society in the elimination of domestic violence” continues. The monitoring group and the Women Support Center of the Fund "Sukhumi" held a regular meeting in Chokhatauri municipality. The event was attended by representatives of the Mayor in administrative units, municipal services and different groups of society.
A dialogue was held on increasing the role of local governments in combating domestic violence and assisting the victim.
The meeting participants heard information about the research of the Women Fund "Sukhumi": the need for programs of correcting the rapist’s behavior at an early stage; women empowerment - childcare services. There was also a presentation of the web page “Digital Resource Center of Services for Victims of Violence” (http://sosfsokhumi.ge/).
Representatives of the Mayor spoke about conflicts in families, about the education of the future generation and the challenges that exist in society.
Creation of an interdepartmental commission on domestic violence is at an active stage in Chokhatauri municipality and this is a successful result of partnership with the Women Fund "Sukhumi".
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
“Inclusion of society in combating domestic violence” - an information meeting on this topic was held in Samtredia (organizers: the monitoring group and the Women Support Center of the Fund “Sukhumi”). There were representatives of the Mayor in the administrative units, as well as the services of the municipality and different groups of society.
They talked about increasing the role of local governments in terms of combating domestic violence and assisting the victim.
The participants listened to information about the research conducted by the Women Fund "Sukhumi" on the issues of violence in 10 municipalities, also they got acquainted with the web page "Digital Resource Center of Services for Victims of Violence" (http://sosfsokhumi.ge/).
At the end of the meeting, the participants expressed motivation to become more actively involved in the process of violence prevention and victim assistance.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
"If not such meetings, I would not have information about the self-government programs, it seems that many things were taken into account and, I am sure, not many people, like me have information about it".
"I not only got information, but also passed a little training on how to use the online space to get interesting information".
This is the feedback from meeting participants. Meetings were held with beneficiaries living in Terjola, Samtredia, Bagdati and Vani municipalities. They learned how to use the Internet properly, how to find the necessary material or document. Detailed information was also spread about the website of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" "Digital Resource Center of the Services for Victims of Violence".
The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)
Family conflicts, violence against women, victim protection mechanisms - meetings on these issues were held in the Women Support Centers of Vani, Senaki, Kobuleti, Terjola and Zugdidi.
Participants noted that openness on the facts of domestic violence has been increased, but at the same time, active work is still necessary to inform the population, since many do not know how to respond in case of violence, what is their responsibility.
Participants believe that such meetings are necessary to fill the information vacuum, and to make society ready to resist violence.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
The monitoring and advocacy group of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”, in cooperation with the Women Support Center, held an information meeting on violence in the hall of the main library of Tsalenjikha The meeting was attended by the officials of Tsalenjikha municipality: deputy Mayor, chairman of the City Council, deputy chairman, employees of the City Hall and City Council, representatives of the society.
The participants of the meeting were provided with information about a research carried out in Tsalenjikha municipality, which concerned the prevention of violence against women/domestic violence and an effective response in terms of facilitating the employment of women - childcare. They also received information about the importance of correcting the rapist’s behavior at an early stage and about existing best practices.
The meeting was held in the mode of questions and answers. The participants spoke about the need to strengthen coordinated work to prevent violence in the municipality.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
A meeting, organized by the monitoring group and the Women Support Center of the Fund "Sukhumi", was held in Tkibuli. The meeting was attended by representatives of the municipal services and various groups of society.
The series of meetings “Involvement of society in combating domestic violence” aims to increase the role of local governments of partner municipalities in the eradication of violence and assistance to victims.
The meeting presented the conclusions of the researches, conducted by the Women Fund "Sukhumi": the need to implement the programs correcting the rapist’s behavior at an early stage; strengthening the women-childcare services. Presentation of a digital resource center of the services for victims of violence was prepared (http://sosfsokhumi.ge/).
During the direct dialogue, it was noted that the society should think about the measures against violence. Women's economic empowerment programs were recognized as important. A positive assessment was given to the decentralization of social work, the result of which was a department for children's rights. After the reorganization, it was formed into a municipal service and this shows the importance of this direction in the issue of strengthening the family.
It was noted that the cooperation between the Women Fund "Sukhumi" and Tkibuli municipality has positive dynamics, the directions of the future partnership are outlined.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
The ordinary meeting in Baghdati was held as part of the cycle of information meetings planned by the monitoring and advocacy group. It was attended by representatives of local government, teachers and kindergarten educators. The organizer of the meeting is Bagdati Women Support Center.
In order to assess the problem of combating violence against women / domestic violence and assist the victims, the participants were provided with information about a research that was conducted in Bagdati municipality and related to the promotion of women's employment: what childcare services exist, what needs to be improved for women's economic independence. As noted, the research concretely showed the real barriers for women from vulnerable groups.
Participants also learned about the importance of correcting the rapist’s behavior at an early stage and about existing best practices. It was noted that a strategy needs to be developed as it takes time to receive effective results.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
"The importance of inter-agency cooperation and coordination on the issues of domestic violence/violence against women at the local level" was the topic of the training held in Borjomi.
The training was attended by the representatives of local self-government from 15 municipalities of Western Georgia (Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Khoni, Samtredia, Terjola, Bagdati, Tkibuli, Senaki, Zugdidi, Poti, Tsalenjikha, Lanchkhuti, Chokhatauri, Ozurgeti, Kobuleti).
On the first day, together with getting acquainted with each other, many things were interesting and important:
- Presentations of the research conducted by the Women Fund "Sukhumi" on: ”The importance of correction of the rapist’s behavior at an early stage” and the rapid assessment of the needs of the Mayor's representatives in 10 municipalities of western Georgia;
- Information about the website “Digital Resource Center of the Services for Victims of Violence” - http://sosfsokhumi.ge;
- Presentations and discussion of programs implemented by municipalities against violence towards the women.
