On February 2, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia established sexual harassment of a woman on the social network. The interests of the applicant were represented in the Public Defender’s Office by Sapari - a non-commercial legal entity.

The applicant is a single mother, who was contacted by a man via social network during her search for an alimony lawyer. The applicant replied to the man as she considered that he had written to him in order to provide legal aid. During the communication, the man asked personal questions, made comments about the applicant’s private life and, in order to prove his influence, referred to his high income and influential people he knew. As the conversation became humiliating and intimidating for the applicant, she tried to say goodbye to the man, after which the latter wrote insulting comments, and he tried to contact her again in the following days.

In order to disprove the allegation of sexual harassment, the respondent said that the applicant had filed a lawsuit against him for revenge because he had married another woman. The Public Defender considers that the defendant failed to present a strong argument and therefore advised him in the recommendation not to commit sexual harassment in the future and not to create an environment that is offensive, humiliating and/or degrading for ​​individuals.

It is noteworthy that after the reflection of the norm on prohibition of sexual harassment in the law in 2019, the number of applications has increased in this direction. The Public Defender will continue to actively examine and prevent cases of sexual harassment in the future too.