Tbilisi, 25 November 2016: The Government of Georgia made the following statement today to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women:
"Georgia joins voices all around the world today in calling for a clear and unambiguous end to violence against women, in any form and under any circumstance. It is utterly unacceptable that such violence is still an integral part of today's society, and even worse, that it is overwhelmingly left unchecked.
Violence against women is an issue of grave concern that affects all levels of society. It makes little distinction based on age, religion, or country - the UN estimates that one in three women worldwide is affected. This cannot be addressed by legal measures alone.
Nevertheless, Governments worldwide have a fundamental role to play as absolute guardians of women's safety and basic human rights. It is through a sound legal system, through education, through freedom of expression - and thus, freedom from oppression - that we can build a society which truly makes gender dominance a thing of the past.
Georgia is greatly committed to advancing equal rights for women and ensuring their protection from any form of violence or discrimination. The Georgian Government has taken important steps to entrench this within the very fabric of Georgian society with two National Plans for 2016-2017 approved this summer, to implement UN Council Resolutions in this field and to combat violence against women and domestic violence and protect victims. Georgia is also since 2014 a signatory to the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence. In parallel, the Government is running important information campaigns to raise awareness.