First international conference held on support services for victims of gender-based violence

Over the past decade, Georgia has made significant progress in combating violence against women and girls, including through the creation of relevant specialized services, but there are still many challenges in this direction. It was these challenges and ways to solve them that were discussed at a conference held by UN Women and the Council of Europe, in partnership with the Agency for State Care and Assistance for the (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking.

The event was attended by representatives of state agencies working on issues related to women and domestic violence, as well as those representing local non-governmental and international organizations, academic circles and women’s rights defenders.

The aim of the conference was to improve the support services available to women and girls who are victims of and affected by violence, so that each of them has unhindered access to services tailored to their needs.

As mentioned during the conference, a number of important steps have been taken in terms of creating specialized services in Georgia: shelters, crisis centres and the hotline ‘116 006’ were launched. However, along with the progress achieved, problems still remain, for example, with the availability of long-term support programmes that would allow victims or women who have overcome violence the opportunity to acquire professional skills and achieve economic independence.

During the conference, the participants shared their international experience and best practices in this field and discussed how to strengthen the involvement of stakeholders and expand the joint work of state, non-governmental and international organizations. The event created a space to discuss progress and challenges in improving services for both the victims and the survivors of gender-based violence.

“This conference was important in many ways: after 2006, we once again summarized our achievements, we have come to the realization that without the development of services, no woman can fight against violence,” said Anna Arganashvili, the executive director of the non-governmental organization Partnership for Human Rights. “In addition, we saw ourselves in the context of other countries and the international movement, [and by doing so,] we realized that we are all united in this struggle. This made us feel much stronger, because fighting violence against women takes a long time—and sometimes we lose hope. However, when we see that we are not alone, this hope comes alive again.”

The conference was organized with the joint support of the Council of Europe project “Promoting an Integrated Approach to End Violence against Women and Enhancing Gender Equality in Georgia” and the project “Ending Violence against Women and Girls in Georgia”, which is implemented by UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with funding from the European Union.