On 6-7 May 2013, in Vienna, Austria, Deputy Public Defender Ekaterine Skhiladze attended an international conference on elimination of violence against women and delivered a report on the situation in Georgia.

The conference was aimed at sharing views between representatives of relevant agencies, non-governmental organizations and international human rights mechanisms about the OSCE survey on women's well-being and security, as well as the various countries’ best practices of combating violence against women.

Ekaterine Skhiladze spoke about the Public Defender’s role in the process of promoting the elimination of violence against women, information-educational activities and generally, the situation in Georgia. She noted that despite certain changes, it remains a problem in Georgia to promote economic independence of victims of violence against women and domestic violence, which often results in their return to the violent environment. The Deputy Public Defender also talked about the information campaigns being carried out in Georgia, including the activities involving rugby activists and supported by UN Women, as well as the UNFPA awareness-raising and positive fatherhood campaign MenCare.