Deputy Public Defender Ekaterine Skhiladze attended the 61^st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York on March 13-17, 2017. The meeting was attended by the Georgian delegation, consisting of representatives of executive and legislative branches of government, non-governmental organizations and representatives of the Public Defender.

On March 17, the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations and the UN Women organized a meeting on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in Georgia: Achievements and Challenges within the frameworkof the session.

In her speech, the Deputy Public Defender emphasized Georgia's progress in terms of prevention and elimination of violence against women and domestic violence, including legislative changes and information campaigns. She spoke about the challenges in the field of violence against women, domestic violence and early/child marriage. In particular, according to her, notwithstanding the activities aimed at raising public awareness, stereotypes are still strong in the society, which impedes the detection of cases of domestic violence. In addition, the problem of femicide is particularly problematic. In many cases, law enforcement agencies find it difficult to realize the continuing nature of domestic violence and to prevent recurrence of the cases. According to her, effective response to the cases of early marriage and low public awareness remain problematic. Ekaterine Skhiladze also talked about the needs of vulnerable groups of women, including the LBT group, ethnic minorities and conflict-affected women, as well as the importance of making analysis of the issues relating to violence against women and domestic violence, and collecting relevant statistical data.

The meeting was attended by the members of the Georgian delegation and the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, stakeholders from various countries, as well as representatives of non-governmental and international organizations.