In September 2022, representatives of the Gender Department of the Public Defender’s Office, Sopio Rusetski and Ana Lobzhanidze, held meetings in Imereti and Samegrelo on issues of ethical coverage of femicide and advocacy of women's issues.

On September 13, at the training held in Kutaisi for the representatives of local TV, radio and online outlets, Ana Lobzhanidze spoke about the principles of ethical coverage of gender issues, importance of gender-sensitive language and impacts of sexism. She also reviewed examples of the use of diverse sources and underlined the standards of ethical coverage of femicide, such as the focus of coverage, identification of alleged victims/perpetrators and ethical use of visual material. The event was organized by the Sokhumi Foundation.

On September 14 and 16, Ana Lobzhanidze and Sopio Rusetski held a working meeting on advocacy of women's issues with representatives of non-governmental organizations working in Kutaisi and Zugdidi municipalities.

Activities and involvement of the non-governmental sector has special importance for advocacy and continuous monitoring of women's rights in Georgia. In addition, the role of non-governmental organizations in raising awareness of human rights and preventing gender-based violence is immeasurably large. Accordingly, the working meeting aimed to strengthen regional NGOs in the direction of advocacy campaigns, as well as reporting procedures and capabilities. The importance of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), reporting mechanisms and procedures, as well as future cooperation prospects, both at the level of local self-governments and with the Public Defender’s Office, were also discussed at the meeting.

The meeting was organized by the Gender Department of the Public Defender’s Office with the technical support of UN Women.