March 31 is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, celebration of which is related to raising awareness of human rights, needs and problems of transgender people.

Unfortunately, effective realization of the rights enshrined in the Constitution and access to various services still remain problematic for transgender persons in Georgia. The transphobic attitudes of the society are closely linked to the scale of violence. In addition, the efforts made by the state are insufficient. All this makes transgender people an invisible social group and prevents creation of a violence-free environment for them.

Celebration of the International Transgender Day of Visibility is directly related to the absence of the procedure of changing the sex recorded in civil acts. Despite many recommendations of the Public Defender, the procedure of changing the gender marker has still not been defined, which creates problems in terms of access to education, employment, work opportunities and health services.

The Public Defender continues to work for the resolution of the problems and challenges faced by the transgender community and calls on the responsible agencies to act proactively in order to provide public spaces and services free of homo/transphobic violence.