On November 8-9, 2017, representatives of the Department of Gender Equality and the Regional Department of the Public Defender's Office of Georgia held an information meeting with police officers of Samegrelo and Guria regions. The topic of the meeting was violence against women and domestic violence.

The meeting focused on the challenges of domestic violence in the region, the experience of the Public Defender and the practical cases in this field. The legislative changes envisaged by the Istanbul Convention concerning the protection and assistance mechanisms for victims of violenceagainst women and domestic violence were also discussed at the meeting.

When speaking about the identification of the cases of violence, the district inspectors emphasized the necessity of improving the legislative norms in relation to violence against women, which will facilitate the work of the police and make it more effective. In addition, they talked about various topics, such as low number of applications, hindering circumstances in issuing protective mechanisms for victims of domestic violence, program on correction of conduct, etc.

The Department of Gender Equality of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia will continue to work in the direction of the protection of women's rights and gender equality in the region in accordance with the Gender Action Plan.