Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Response Mechanisms are One of the Priorities of the Georgian Public Sector
Date:
The public sector of Georgia continues to actively work on the introduction of sexual harassment prevention and response mechanisms, with the support of the UN Women. The problem is quite significant and common in public sector, as confirmed by the relevant survey: 34% of civil servants have experienced sexual harassment while working in the public sector.
On June 15-16, UN Women, in cooperation with the Office of the State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, Labor Inspection Service, LEPL - IDPs, Eco-Migrants and Livelihood Agency, conducted the training for the employees of the mentioned entities on sexual harassment prevention and response mechanisms.
Over the course of two days, 16 participants gained substantive knowledge on the issues related to the notion of sexual harassment, its forms and prevalence, legislation, and the national mechanisms in place; furthermore, the opportunities for establishing an internal sexual harassment prevention and response mechanism within their own institutions was discussed.
"Based on the existing reality and the sensitivity of the topic, as many women are alleged victims of sexual harassment in the public or private sector, the issues discussed at the training will significantly help each participant to improve their practical skills. The Labor Inspection Office will review the good practices of existing mechanisms and, by comparing them, will introduce a sexual harassment prevention and response mechanism tailored to the specifics of the agency, tailored to the interests and needs of each employee" – stated one of the participants, Chief Specialist of the Labor Inspection Office Salome Kuljanishvili.
The Chief Specialist of the Legal Support Division of the Law Department of Internally Displaced, Eco-migrants, and Livelihood Agency - Maro Mirotadze underlined the necessity of the mechanism:"often similar cases remain unreported and unpunished, therefore it is necessary to have a sexual harassment prevention and response mechanism in all public offices to further contribute to raising awareness among employees, prevent such cases, as well as to provide effective response to identified harassment cases."
This training was held in the framework of the UN Women project: “Accelerating Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Georgia”, supported by the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) of the UK Government.