On November 24, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia hosted the International Conference on the Tools and Mechanisms for Monitoring the Cases of Femicide with the support of the UN Women in connection with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The Public Defender has been a monitoring body of the cases of femicide since 2016 and makes detailed analysis of the court decisions in the cases of femicide in order to assess the real scope of the problem. The Public Defender also identifies deficiencies in the use of measures of prevention and protection.

At the opening of the event, Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili generally reviewed the situation of killing of women in the country and noted that the state still has not developed a uniform mechanism for combating femicide. "In 2014-2016, the Public Defender prepared about 50 recommendations and a special report as a result of studying the issue ... The reality is very hard and the victims cannot feel significant support," - said the Public Defender and expressed hope that the ongoing conference would show some new ways of solving the challenge. The Public Defender recommended the use of preventive measures in order to reduce/eliminate the number of the cases of femicide and effective response to all cases. In addition, the legislative authorities should define femicide as a separate crime, while the courts should take into consideration the gender motive while assessing the cases.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili emphasized the importance of combating femicide and the results of the ratification of the Council of Europe (Istanbul) Convention of 2011. "I declared the year of 2015, when we all were moved by the cases of violence that occurred in 2014, as a year of women, and the civil society had many interesting initiatives then. One of the most interesting initiatives was related to gender quotas in the political lists. This is not a matter of taste. Unfortunately, this is a reality in which we live," Giorgi Margvelashvili said.

Tamar Chugoshvili, First Deputy Chairman of the Parliament and the Chairwoman of the Parliament’s Gender Equality Council, noted that for the purpose of combating and preventing the violence against women and domestic violence, the Parliament ratified the Council of Europe Convention (Istanbul Convention) and made amendments to 21 legislative acts. However, the existing legislative framework needs further improvement and the Gender Equality Council actively works in this direction.

According to Niels Scott, UNDP Resident Representative in Georgia, femicide is a systemic problem and states are obliged to take active efforts for its prevention.

Speeches were delivered at the conference by Dubravka Šimonovic, United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; Shalva Weil, Chairman of the Israeli organization COST Action; Aleksandra Nestorov, representative of Serbia’s Women's Autonomous Center; and Ana Zhilozyan, representative of Women's Support Center from Armenia. The Public Defender's Office presented the main findings and methodology of the monitoring carried out in 2016.

In addition, Vika Bukia's teleblog Unruly Women, showing the killing of women in Georgia in 2014, was displayed within the framework of the conference.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the governmental agencies, international and local organizations, as well as international missions accredited in Georgia.