UN Women support leads to approval of sexual harassment prevention and response mechanism by Tbilisi City Assembly and Tbilisi City Hall
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UN Women is actively carrying on its cooperation with and support of public entities in the implementation of the mechanisms for the prevention of and response to sexual harassment. As a result of UN Women support, such a mechanism was approved in the City Assembly and City Hall of Tbilisi Municipality.
The framework prohibits sexual harassment by employees or political officials of municipal bodies and, if such an act is confirmed, provides for appropriate sanctions. In addition, the mechanism (1) promotes awareness of sexual harassment and its inadmissibility for the employees of Tbilisi City Assembly and Tbilisi City Hall; (2) stipulates a victim’s right to an efficient and timely response to the reported act; and (3) outlines the establishment of a non-discriminatory environment free from sexual harassment and a healthy organizational culture.
According to the Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council of Tbilisi City Assembly, Tinatin Nibloshvili, it is important for Georgia, as a candidate for EU membership, to align even closer with the EU legal system, remarking: “The approval of sexual harassment prevention and response mechanisms by the bodies of Tbilisi Municipality aims to contribute to the protection of the equality of individuals and the prevention of cases of discrimination. We had [received] recommendations from a number of international organizations and we considered each of them, because our goal is to become closer to the EU legislation every day.”
Based on the data from UN Women research, sexual harassment is a common problem in Georgia’s public sector. In fact, 34 per cent of civil servants have experienced sexual harassment during their employment in public service. Therefore, the efficient use of an appropriate framework serves to promote the prevention of and adequate response to cases of sexual harassment in organizations.
It should be mentioned that Tbilisi City Assembly is the first local self-government body to introduce a mechanism for the prevention of and response to sexual harassment. With the support of UN Women, the mechanism is already in effect in 19 public entities, and work to set up the mechanism is currently under way in several others.
Tbilisi City Assembly and Tbilisi City Hall implemented the sexual harassment prevention and response mechanism within the framework of two UN Women projects, “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia” (GG4GEG) and “Women’s Increased Leadership for Democracy in Georgia”, both funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). GG4GEG is also funded by the Norwegian Government, and WILD is implemented with further support from the SDC.