Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694860431150.pdf (Georgia)
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA FINAL REPORT Authors: Prof. Marine Chitashvili Prof. Nino Javakhishvili Assoc.

Prof. Luiza Arutiunov Assoc.

Prof. Lia Tsuladze Ms. Sophio Chachanidze Tbilisi 2010 The Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia was conducted within the framework of the Govern- ment of Norway and UNFPA co-funded “Combating the Gender-based Violence in the South Caucasus” project in 2009.
Implementing partners of the research were the ACT Research and the Centre for Social Science at the I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNFPA and Gov- ernment of Norway.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA, 2010 Final report The authors of the photos on the cover page: Anna Sigua, Tamar Mamrikishvili, Keti Zubiashvili, Maria Shirshova, Ina Nerseniani, Tatia Nadareishvili Additional Information about this report may be obtained from UNFPA Georgia CO, Eristavi str.
9, Tel: 995 32 25 11 26 electronic version of the report : www.genderbasedviolence.ge Printed by: LTD Fountain Georgia ISBN : 978-9941-0-2861-8 UDC(უაკ)434.54+343.61 S-94 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface .

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6 Acknowledgements .

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8 Executive summary .

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9 INTRODUCTION .

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13 Chapter 1.

Introduction .

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13 Marine Chitashvili, Nino Javakhsihvili Background of the research .

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13 Legal infrastructure and institutional issues.

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18 pertaining to violence against women in Georgia.

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18 Statistics on DV.

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21 Objectives of the survey.

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21 METHODOLOGY.

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22 Chapter 2.

Methodology.

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22 Sophio Chachanidze, Marine Chitashvili Quantitative research.

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22 Sample design.

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22 Survey questionnaire.

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24 Pre-test study methodology.

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24 Data collection activities.

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25 Filed work strategy.

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25 Field work quality control methodology.

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25 Implementation of fieldwork activities.

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25 within the quantitative component.

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25 Data entry and cleaning.

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26 Data weighing.

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26 Data statistical analysis.

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26 Qualitative research.

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26 Focus groups.

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27 In-depth interviews.

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28 Participant observation.

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28 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST .

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28 WOMEN: NUMBERS AND FIGURES.

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28 Chapter 3.

Household population and characteristics of the respondents.

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29 Sophio Chachanidze .

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29 Household population and household composition.

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29 Background characteristics of respondents.

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31 Chapter 4.

Prevalence of violence against women .

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33 Nino Javakhishvili Violence by Husbands and Intimate Partners.

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33 Physical and sexual violence.

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33 Acts of physical violence.

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34 Acts of sexual violence .

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35 Experiencing both physical and sexual violence .

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35 Emotional violence/abuse.

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35 Economic violence/abuse.

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36 Acts intended to control women.

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36 Violence in the women’s own family in her childhood.

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37 Women’s attitudes toward gender role and violence.

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37 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 3 Women’s attitudes towards physical and sexual violence and the correlation with having experienced violence.

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40 Violence against women by perpetrators other than husbands or partners.

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40 Physical violence after age 15 by non-partners .

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40 Sexual violence after age 15 (by partners and non-partners) .

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40 Sexual abuse before age 15 .

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40 Discussion.

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41 Chapter 5.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.

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42 AND HEALTH CONSEQUENCES.

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42 Marine Chitashvili, Luiza Arutiunov Injuries due to violence.

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42 Physical violence during pregnancy.

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47 Physical or sexual violence and general health.

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48 Effects of violence on children.

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50 Chapter 6.

COPING WITH DOMESTIC.

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51 VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.

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51 Marine Chitashvili, Luiza Arutiunov Causes of violence from the female perspective.

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51 Sharing the violence experienced.

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53 Seeking help from social networks and official institutions.

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55 Fighting back.

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57 Leaving home due to violence.

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58 BEHIND THE SCENES: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH RESULTS Chapter 7.

Behind the scenes: .

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61 qualitative research results.

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61 Lia Tsuladze What is violence?.

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61 How and why violence is experienced.

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67 Factors effecting and perpetuating violence.

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70 What Women Do and Can Do Against Domestic Violence.

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73 Ideal world: How do women and others prefer to combat gender-based domestic violence?.

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76 RESULTS Chapter 8.

Overview of results and main findings.

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80 Marine Chitashvili Varieties of Violence Experienced.

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80 Women’s Coping Strategies against Violence.

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82 Controlling Behaviour and Causes of Violence.

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84 Chapter 9.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

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87 Marine Chitashvili, Nino Javakhishvili, Louisa Arutinovi, Lia Tsuladze, Sophio Chachanidze REFERENCES.

ANNEXES.

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94 Annex 1.

Research Team.

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95 Annex 2.


List of Personnel.

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96 Annex 3.

Questionnaire.

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98 Annex 4.

Qualitative research tool.

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144 Annex 5.

Detailed response rate by regions.

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148 Tables Research on Domestic Violence, Sample Allocation-Regions.

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23 Table 2.1 Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia, Results of field work.

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26 Table 2.2 Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia, Focus group sample.

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28 Table 2.3 Age Distribution of Household Population.

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30 Table 3.1 Household .

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31 Table 3.2 Composition.

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31 Number of Households and Household Population.

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31 Table 3.3 Background characteristics of the respondents – 1. .

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32 Table 3.4 Background characteristics of the respondents – 2. .

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32 Table 3.5 Physical violence experienced by women.

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34 Table 4.1 Emotional violence experienced by women.

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36 Table 4.2 Injuries due to violence.

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43 Table 5.1 Number of injuries as a result of violence.

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44 Table 5.2 Physical violence during pregnancy.

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48 Table 5.3 Physical or sexual violence (Does a man have a good reason to hit his wife if...?).

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50 Table 5.4 Causes of physical violence from women’s perspective – 1. .

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52 Table 6.1 Causes of physical violence from women’s perspective – 2. .

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52 Table 6.2 Sharing the violence experienced.

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53 Table 6.3A 4 Table 6.3B Table 6.4A Table 6.4B Table 6.5 Table 6.6 Table 6.7 Table 6.8 Table 6.9 Figures Figure 3.1 Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2 Figure 4.3 Figure 4.4 Figure 4.5 Figure 5.1 Figure 5.2 Figure 5.3 Figure 5.4 Figure 5.5 Figure 5.6 Figure 5.7 Figure 5.7 Figure 5.8 Sharing the violence experienced.

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54 Persons from immediate social network who offered help in relation to the violence experienced.

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56 Persons from immediate social network who offered help in relation to the violence experienced.

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56 Most common reasons cited for seeking help and not seeking help from an institution/person in response to violence experienced.

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57 Fighting back physically to protect herself against physical violence experienced.

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58 Most commonly cited reasons for leaving home due to violence.

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59 Most commonly cited reasons for returning after leaving temporarily because of partner violence.

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60 Most commonly cited reasons for not leaving home due to violence.

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60 Population Pyramid.

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30 Percentage of women who think that a wife is obliged to have sex with her husband even if she doesn’t feel like it according to place of residence, Georgia, 2009. .

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38 Percentage of women who think that a woman should obey her husband according to level of education, Georgia, 2009. .

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43 Percentage of women who have been ever injured as a result of physical or sexual violence, grouped according to their independent income.

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45 Percentage and distribution of number of injures during lifetime, Georgia 2009. .

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45 Percentage of injury types among women injured due to violence by intimate partners, Georgia, 2009 .

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46 Percentage of women who ever had lost consciousness due to violence by an intimate partner, according to their independent economic income.

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46 Percentage of women who have been subjected to severe injures due to physical or sexual violence by intimate partners and needed medical assistance.

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47 Percentage of women who during their lifetime have received medical care for injuries caused by violence perpetrated by an intimate partner, according to whether or not they have independent economic income.

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49 A Violence and general health How women having experienced physical or sexual violence perceive the degree to which the violence affected their health, according to age and income.
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49 B Violence and general health How women having experienced physical or sexual violence perceive the degree to which the violence affected their health, according to place of residence and education.

Georgia 2009. .

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49 A Violence and health condition Percentage of women who have ever received medical care after falling victim to violence, according to age, income.

Georgia 2009. .

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49 Figure 5.8 B Violence and health condition Figure 5.9 Percentage of women who have ever received health care, according to place of residence, education Georgia 2009. .

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50 The effect of violence on children (ages 5-12 years) Percentage of some behavioural problems of children according to their mothers’ experience of physical or sexual violence.

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50 Figure 6.1A Sharing the violence experienced Percentage of women who spoke about physical or sexual violence by a partner, according to whom they told, according to age groups Georgia 2009. .

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54 Figure 6.1B Sharing the violence experienced Whom women told about domestic violence, grouped based on whether or not the victim of the violence has independent income Georgia 2009. .

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55 Figure 6.1C Sharing the violence experienced Whom women told about domestic violence, grouped based on level of education Georgia 2009. .

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55 Figure 6.1D Sharing the violence experienced Whom women told about domestic violence, grouped based on type of residence, Figure 6.2 Figure 6.3 Georgia 2009. .

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55 Leaving home due to violence Percent distribution of number of times leaving home due to physical or sexual partner violence, grouped according to age, income, Georgia 2009. .

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58 Leaving home due to violence Percent distribution of number of times leaving home due to physical or sexual violence, grouped according to type of residence, education Georgia 2009. .

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59 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 5 PREFACE In the spring of 2006 the Parliament of Georgia adopted a law on the Preven- tion of Domestic Violence, Protection of and Assistance to Victims of Domes- tic Violence, through which the State acknowledged the existence of this ex- tremely important and disturbing problem and placed it within the legislative regulatory framework.
Since then, Georgia has witnessed significant developments in the field: Pre- vention, protection and elimination efforts as well as provision of relevant ser- vices for the victims of domestic violence have been established and improved; institutional mechanisms as well as coordination efforts in the field have been buttressed.

Up-do-date, one of the most significant impediments to formation of effective policies against the problem has been the general lack of research and data on domestic violence.
The National Research on Domestic Violence against Women conducted by UNFPA/Georgia within the framework of the “Combating Gender-Based Vio- lence in the South Caucasus” project is of an utmost importance to us as it brings to the table nation-wide data on prevalence, causes and consequences of domestic violence endowing us with a baseline for elaboration of informed strategies to eliminate violence against women.
The survey findings will assist the state structures, including the Parliamentary Council on Gender Equality in elaborating national policies against gender- based violence.

Our sincere gratitude goes towards the UNFPA/Georgia for their extensive work in carrying out the research and contributing to creating GBV free envi- ronment and empowerment of women in Georgia.
RUSUDAN KERVALISHVILI Deputy Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Gender Equality Council 6 PREFACE In the 21st century, public consolidation against all forms of domestic violence has become a pressing issue.

Although, domestic violence is considered a hu- man rights violation and Georgian society is becoming increasingly open and intolerant against this problem, studies show that domestic violence is a wide- spread phenomena throughout Georgia.
78 % of women still consider that domestic violence issues can be discussed within family only, while 34 % of women justify men battering their wives in certain cases and do not regard as it as a violation of law.

Violence against women is a public issue and encompasses virtually all spheres of public relations.

It influences various spheres of social life, including public health, protection of juvenile’s rights and social and economic welfare.
Studies conducted reveal the complexity of domestic violence character, variety of its causes and need for inter-sectoral cooperation and multi-pronged approach in addressing the issue.

Nation-wide data on the forms, prevalence, causes and consequences of do- mestic violence will aid formulation of informed state policies, elaboration of combating strategies against the problem and establishment of an effective system on prevention, elimination and protection of victims of domestic vio- lence.
LALI PAPISHVILI Member of the Constitutional Court of Georgia Chairman of the Interagency Council on Domestic Violence NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to extend our immense gratitude to Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its efforts and financial contribution to support National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia.
We wish to thank Parliament of Georgia, especially H.E Rusudan Kervalishvili, Deputy Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia and Chairperson of the Parliamentary Gen- der Equality Council, for her invaluable contribution for building partnerships and col- laboration in the field.

Thanks are also due to Interagency Council for Prevention of Domestic Violence, es- pecially Ms. Lali Papiashvili, the Chairperson of the Council for her consistently helpful cooperation and support.
We recall the participation of our national experts (Prof. Marine Chitashvili, Prof. Nino Javakhishvili, Assoc.

Prof. Luiza Arutiunov, Assoc.

Prof. Lia Tsuladze, Ms. Sophio Chachanidze) and the benefit from their wide academic expertise and contribution.

We would like to thank our international experts, Dr. Turgay Unalan and Dr. Sibel Ka- laycioglu for their guidance and support during the process.
Our special thanks go to the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GeoStat) for the extensive collaboration.

Special thanks are also extended to the UNFPA Georgia Country Office staff: Tamar Khomasuridze, Assistant Representative, Lela Bakradze, National Programme Officer, UNFPA Turkey Country Office staff: Dr.
Peer Sieben, UNFPA Representative in Turkey and Country Director for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia (during 2007-2010), Dr. Zahidul A. Huque, UNFPA Representative in Turkey and Country Director for Armenia Azerbaijan and Georgia, Dr. Selen Ors, Regional Programme Coordinator and “Com- bating Gender-based Violence in the South Caucasus” project staff: Thea Maisuradze, National Project Coordinator (during 2008-2009), Tea Jaliashvili, National Project Co- ordinator, Tamar Vashakidze, Communications Specialist, Shorena Dzotsenidze, Proj- ect Assistant (during 2008), Nino Edilashvili, Project Assistant – for their assistance in design, planning and financial management.
Most of all, we would like to thank the 2,385 women for their contribution to our knowledge of Gender Based Violence/Domestic Violence phenomenon in Georgia by their participation in this survey.

Without participation and support of all above mentioned, the production of National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia would not have been pos- sible.
8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction In 2009 United Nations population Fund (UNFPA) com- missioned the nationwide survey on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia within the frames of the UN- FPA implemented project “Combating Gender Based Violence in South Caucasus”(GBV-SC).

GBV-SC project is a regional, multi-pronged initiative supported by the Norwegian government and co-funded by UNFPA imple- mented in the three South Caucasus Countries – Arme- nia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Main objective of the proj- ect is to contribute to the national response to domestic violence and strengthen the democratic governance in the three countries by promoting the respect for human rights, gender equality and women’s participation.

Gender-based violence is regarded as one of the forms of violating human rights.

Domestic violence is a global phenomenon without national, economic, religious, geographic and cultural borders.
Violence on woman is mostly performed in her direct social environment af- fecting the physical and mental health of the woman.

Violence has negative consequences for social welfare, children, families and community.

Domestic violence restricts the woman’s right to be involved in social life.
According to the annual data of Global Economic Forum, Georgia occupies 84th position by gender gap index among 134 world countries: by economic contribution and capacity, Georgia is on the 55th position, by edu- cation level -82, health and life expactancy – 131 and political empowerment opportunities – 103.
UNFPA had aimed to support formulation of effective GBV/DV response policies and contribute to establish- ing effective mechanisms for better implementation of international treaties on elimination of violence against women, to which Georgia is a signatory.

For this pur- pose, UNFPA carried out a nationwide survey to study the forms of domestic violence against women as well as prevalence, causes and consequences of violence countrywide.
The overall aim was to use research find- ings as a baseline for formulating national policies and plans to combat domestic violence and establish greater gender equality in Georgia.

Thematic studies on the issues of domestic violence had been conducted in Georgia a number of times.

There are two national surveys (in 1999 and 2005) on repro- ductive health, which also include the topic of domes- tic violence.
Neverthless there was a clear need for a national survey project which one the one hand would , generate information on prevalence of gender-based violence, its forms and intensivity, attitudes and percep- tions, personal and social history of violence, mecha- nisms for combating domestic violence and on the other hand, would enable making comparison of the social picture of Georgia with the data of international studies.
The presented Nationwide Survey on Domestic Violence against Women in Georgia is the first comprehensive survey carried out on the subject of domestic violence against women in the country and it has the biggest sample, which provides information on urban and ru- ral settlements all over Georgia.
The survey combines quantitative and qualitative approach in exploring the causes and consequences of domestic violence, as well as perceptions and attitudes of women on domestic violence; this is the first survey collecting data on physi- cal and sexual violence for under-aged group of wom- en, as well as sexual abuse by perpetrators other than husbands and family members.

The survey is the first base-line study on the issue.
The nationwide survey was conducted using mixed methodology quantitative and qualitative components and overall 2391 women were interviewed age 15-49 within the quantitative compo- nent; qualitative component comprised 14 focus groups, 34 in-depth interviews and 2 participant observations.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 9 Objectives of the Study The overall objectives of national research on domestic violence against women in Georgia were to identify: • the extent of domestic violence including physical and sexual violence, emotional, economic types of violence against women by their husbands/part- ners the extent on underage (below 15) sexual abuse attitudes of women toward gender roles and vio- lence violence in pregnancy and injuries due to violence the methods of coping with violence by women who experienced domestic violence effects of violence on general health of women and children witnessing violence • • • • • The study was designed to provide the data that could be used to develop national policies on prevention of domestic violence in Georgia, informing, communicat- ing and educating the public on gender rights and is- sues, engendering laws, policies and plans, supporting establishment of service mechanisms to prevent, pro- tect and respond to gender-based violence acts and in- crease the efficiency and effectiveness of efforts aiming at addressing gender based violence.
Research Methodology In this survey two research methodologies have been used - quantitative and qualitative, in order to explore the depth and breadth of domestic violence against women.

Quantitative research Sample design The sample design for Research on Domestic Violence used a weighted, stratified and multi-staged cluster sample approach.
The major aim of the sample de- sign was to arrive at estimates of indicators related to violence against women for the national level as well as urban/rural strata and Tbilisi city centre with an ac- ceptable (accurate) precision within a defined 95% confidence interval.

It should be noted that Tbilisi was considered as a separate unit.

Sampling was based on the Clusters Database available at the State Department 1.

The Cluster Database at the statistics department was available for the research.
There are about 16,500 clusters in the database.

10 of Statistics of Georgia (SDS) and two-listing/updating processes were performed.

Households were selected systematically within the selected clusters.

Overall 2391 women in age group 15-49 were interviewed.

Questionnaires The research questionnaires were designed according the needs of the country and they were based on the questionnaires of World Health Organization’s Multi- country study on Women Health and Domestic vio- lence against Women.
Two questionnaires were used: a household and a women’s questionnaire.
The following information was collected: • Household population and the housing characteris- tics of the households; Background characteristics and marriage history of women; general health women and behavioral problems of their children; Physical and sexual violence, emotional and eco- nomic violence experienced by the women (during the life-time and in the past 12 month priori to in- terview) perpetrated by husband/partner; Sexual abuse before age 15; Attitudes of women towards gender roles and vio- lence; Violence in pregnancy and injuries due to violence; Coping with violence by women experiencing do- mestic violence Causes of domestic violence cultural specifics • • • • • • • Field work and response rates Women in age group 15-49.
In selected 5,080 house- holds, 3,872 household interviews were completed suc- cessfully and a total of 3,768 women aged 15-49 was found in these households.

2,621 women were selected by the Kish method of one woman per household.

Inter- views with 2,385 women were completed.


Qualitative research Qualitative research aimed to collect first-hand informa- tion about the underlying differences between men’s and women’s of understanding of violence, practices of domestic violence, experiences of participants, their perception and coping strategies towards violence and their evaluation and vision about the services provided to the victims of domestic violence.
Overall 14 focus groups, 34 in-depth interviews and 2 participant observations were conducted within the qualitative component.

Focus Group discussions were conducted in Tbilisi, (5 groups), Kakehti (Telavi - 5 groups) and Samtskhe-Ja- vakheti (Akhalstsike- 4 groups).
The groups’ composi- tion was as follows: group of women (urban 1 and rural 2) age 35-59, married and not abused; group of men (urban 1 and rural 2) age 35-59, married and without any criminal record; experts group (government, Inter- national NGO, policy makers -1 group and local NGO/ policy makers/ women activists -2 groups); service pro- viders (medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, social agents, lawyers -1 group per city Tbilisi-Telavi- Akhaltsikhe, police and penitential system personnel - 1 group per Tbilisi and Telavi).
In-depth interviews were conducted with 34 women: 10 severely abused women in shelters and out of shel- ters; 10 IDP, 5 ethnic minority women (urban and rural), 5 rural women activists working on issues on domestic violence and 4 rural women.

Two participant observations were conducted at a shel- ter.

The research was implemented by two organizations ACT Research and the Center for Social Sciences at the Iv.

Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.


Part of the quali- tative data (4 focus groups and 9 in depth interviews in Samtskhe-Javakheti) was collected within the frames of UNIFEM-administered UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women funded Project “Interdepartmental and Public Measures for Elimination of Family Violence in Georgia”.
FINDINGS Domestic violence against women [total 2385] While traditional cultural norms in Georgia treat the family as a safe place where all troubles disappear, the results clearly show that there is a big difference be- tween the imagined, idealized family and the real fam- ily, where direct or indirect forms of violence oppress women and violate human rights in very basic sense of this concept.

“I experienced all types of violence from my husband at different stages of our life together.
It happened quite frequently.

As soon as he got disturbed, he immediate- ly became aggressive to me.

And it has been lasting for a long time - I have been married for 20 years now...

In my case, the main cause was my husband’s fam- ily members’ behaviour - they provoked my husband.
My father-in-law was less responsible for this, mainly mother-in-law influenced my husband.” (Victim not liv- ing in a shelter) «I have been married for six years now and my hus- band has been beating me for six years... My husband is dependent on women - his mother and sisters.

He doesn’t have his own opinion.


They have always insult- ed me and I couldn’t defend myself...” (Victim living in a shelter) Physical and Sexual Violence against women [total 2385] A relatively small number of women in Georgia ac- knowledged being victims of physical or sexual violence.

Overall, 6.9% of women reported having experienced physical violence.

Of them, 2.6% reported having expe- rienced moderate physical violence and 4.3% reported having experienced severe physical violence.
Place of residence, level of education, marital status and earning potential turned out to be not significantly linked to experience of physical violence.

Age groups 25- 34 and 35-44 yielded significant results.

3.9% of women reported having experienced sexual violence.

Of those having reported sexual violence 64% were married and 37% were unmarried; the vast major- ity of these unmarried women - 32.6% said they do not have partner and are not involved in sexual relations ei- ther.
Also, 0.7% of women said they were forced to have sex the first time they had sex.These data do not change by residential area, education level and independent economic income parameters, with only exception in age, women of 35-44 age group tend to be victims more often than other age group women.

2,3% of women are the victims of both types of violence, i.e.

physical and sexual.

Interestingly, sexual abuse is often accompanied by physical violence.
Acts of physical violence Moderate and severe acts of physical violence are stud- ied in the survey.

Out of the various forms of physical violence experienced, women admit to having experi- enced two of them: • Getting slapped, or hurt by having something thrown at her - 6.8% - moderate violence NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 11 • Pushed, or shoved, or pulled by hair – 2.9% - mod- erate violence distributed by regions in this way: capital 21,7%, urban 30.3% and rural 48,0%.
• Getting hurt by a punch or hit with something else • • • – 3.9% - severe violence Kicked, dragged, or beaten up – 2.0% - severe vio- lence Choked or burnt– 1.6% - severe violence Threatened with – or actually hurt with - a gun, knife or other weapon– 1.0% - severe violence The survey revealed different forms of domestic vio- lence nationwide: emotional violence, reported by 14% of women respondents; acts intended for controlling women (35%), e.g.
29% of women are not allowed to have relations with family, 11,6% need permission to use medical services and husbands of 11,1% of women get angry if they talk to another man.

These data point that women are more open to talk about the forms of violence which are socially acceptable and are trying to hide the truth when it comes to physical and sexual abuse (because of fear and shame).

Interestingly, actions intended for controlling woman are closely related to the educational level.
The lower is the educational level of woman, the higher is the per- centage of such actions, for instance, 60% of women with incomplete secondary education become subject to their husbands’ control more often than women with complete secondary, professional or higher educational levels (35%).

Another important finding of this survey is women’s per- ception of a family being a secret place, where anything can happen inside, but should never be put outside for discussion or public debate.
This kind of perception is one of the factors maintaining the domestic violence.

The number of women with such attitudes is 78,3%, Only 0.1% of women report sexual abuse experience from family member or a stranger after the age 15.

None of the respondents gave positive responses when asked directly about the sexual abuse experience before the age of 15.
At the same time, in indirect questions, 6.5% of respondents marked sad face (they were shown smiling and sad faces) which makes us think that facts of sexual abuse are common before the age of 15, even though, the respondents do not talk about it openly.

Among women who have ever been married, every eleventh is a victim of physical abuse and 34,7% has had injuries several times.

The biggest number of these women belong to the age group 45-49.
The most fre- quent forms of injuries are scratch, abrasion, bruise (84,4%) and internal injuries.

(29,1%).

18,8% of women report brain concussion due to the violence of husband/ partner, 15,3% of women who have ever been victims of their husband’s/partner’s physical or sexual violence, have needed medical assistance at least once.

Among them, 18,2% of women have received medical assis- tance.

The number of days spent at the hospital varies from 2 to 30 days in case of 33.3% of women.
The health state of 2,7% of pregnant women who have ever been victims of physical abuse during pregnancy period, has worsened twice as compared to women without such experience.

28,2% of urban and rural respondents stat- ed that they could not get any kind of support.
Survey results clearly indicate on the need of effective policies and mechanisms for elimination of gender in- equality and for combating domestic violence, as well raising public awareness on gender equality and gen- der-based violence issues.

12 Chapter 1.

INTRODUCTION Marine Chitashvili, Nino Javakhishvili Background of the research Domestic violence (DV) against women is a global prob- lem without cultural, geographic, religious, social, eco- nomic or national boundaries.
Gender-based violence is considered one of the most serious violations of hu- man rights and is a widespread phenomenon which does not discriminate based on race, religion, ethnicity or language.

Violence against women as a social prob- lem -mostly within close/immediate social settings - has serious consequences affecting not only female victims’ physical and emotional health, and social well-being, but has considerable effects on children, family and so- ciety as whole.
Domestic violence against women de- prives them of their right to participate in societal life as a whole and holds them prisoners under the special conditions set by the immediate social setting such as family, kinship, social norms and values shared by the majority.
The practice of violence against women and particularly domestic violence is a constant variable that deviates depending on societal vectors like social and economic development of the country as well as the societal norms perceived as a “normal” for the current culture of the nation-state.

The major impact domestic violence has on women is hindering their full inclusion and participation in social life.
Combating gender-based violence is important for building a truly democratic so- ciety founded on the principles of human rights.

In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly ado - pted the Declaration on the Elimination of Vio le n ce against Women (DEVAW), identifying the sub ordi nation of women as a principal cause of domestic violence.
DEVAW states: “Violence against women is a manifes- tation of historically unequal power re lations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men”.1 Domestic violence is defined by the UN as a “… form of violence that occurs in private life between individuals who are generally connected by sexual intercourse or blood relation”.2 International policy documents – the ICPD programme of action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development (1994), Beijing Platform of Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995) outline the forms of violence against women and highlight methods of combating it.
The issue of domestic violence has been studied and discussed in the context of health issues since 1985.3 The results of the “WHO Multi-Country study on Women Health and Domestic violence against Women” (by Garcia-Moreno et al.
2005) carried out by WHO showed that reported lifetime physical violence against women varied be- tween 15% and 71%.4 Since 1992, when Georgia was officially recognized as an independent state and member of the UN, domes- tic violence as an issue has been widely discussed and combating it has been the operational mission for many governmental and non-governmental, local and inter- national organizations based in the country.
However, 1. http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/svaw/domestic/laws/interna- tional.htm#unconf 2. http://www.ksgm.gov.tr/tdvaw/doc/Main_report.pdf (pp.19) 3. http://www.un.org/en/development/devagenda/gender.shtml 4. http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/ Chapter3-Chapter4.pdf NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 13 the nationwide data providing information about the domestic violence for 2008 was limited in quantity and quality.
There was only two reliable dataset providing limited information on the issue of domestic violence – RH Survey and MICS3 in 2005.5 These data clearly show that combating domestic violence is a complex endeav- our that must not be approached only by seeking to eliminate external causes - instead it requires a more in-depth approach that includes raising women’s aware- ness about human rights and violence.
Lack of data on prevalence, causes, effects and con - sequences of domestic violence seriously un de r mines efforts to elaborate country-sensitive policies for com- bating violence against women.

The presented survey was conducted in 2009 within the frames of the Unit- ed Nations population Fund (UNFPA) implemented project “Combating Gender Based Violence in South Caucasus”(GBV-SC).
GBV-SC project is a regional, multi- pronged initiative supported by the Norwegian govern- ment and implemented in the three South Caucasus Countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia by UNFPA Country Offices.

Main objective of the project is to con- tribute to the national response to domestic violence and strengthen the democratic governance in the three countries by promoting the respect for human rights, gender equality and women’s participation.
GBV-SC is the first region-wide project to hold a multi- pronged approach to combat gender-based violence through: - Informing, communicating and educating the pub- lic on gender rights and issues; Engendering laws, policies and plans; Supporting establishment of service mechanisms to prevent, protect and respond to gender-based violence acts; Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of ef- forts aiming at addressing gender-based violence - - - With the support of UNFPA/Georgia the research was conducted by two non-governmental organizations: ACT-Research6 and the Centre for Social Sciences (CSS)7 at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia.8 5.
The data were collected about women’s perception and beliefs regarding when a husband is justified in beating women/his wife under the following conditions: when she goes out without asking him 1.8%; when she neglects the children 5.9%; when she argues with him 2.4%; when she refuses to have sex with him 1.3%; when she burns food 1.0%; for any of those reasons 6.9%.

Multiple indica- tor cluster surveys, MICS3, Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women, Reports.
Georgia 2005. http://www.childinfo.org/ mics3_surveys.html 6. http://www.act.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG 7. http://www.ucss.ge 8. http://www.tsu.ge 14 The qualitative research was enriched by the data col- lection in Samtskhe-Javakheti region within the frames of UNIFEM-administered UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women funded Project “Interdepartmental and Public Measures for Elimination of Family Violence in Georgia”.
The National Survey on Domestic Violence against Wom- en comprised of quantitative and qualitative research, aimed at generating the first nation-wide data on the causes and consequences of gender-based violence (particularly domestic violence) to be used as a baseline for the formulation of appropriate national policies and strategies to combat gender-based violence.9 The Nationwide Survey on Domestic Violence Against Women in Georgia is the first comprehensive study into many aspects of domestic violence: • The study is first comprehensive survey carried out on the subject of domestic violence against women in the country and it has the biggest sample, which provides information on urban and rural settle- ments all over Georgia; • The questionnaire used in the quantitative survey allows for cross-cultural comparison, as it was de- veloped from a WHO questionnaire with minor ad- ditions proceeding from the country's unique char- acteristics; • The survey combines quantitative and qualitati ve approach in exploring the causes and consequenc- es of domestic violence, as well as perceptions and attitudes of women on domestic violence; • This is the first survey collecting data on physical and sexual violence for under-aged group of wom- en, as well as sexual abuse by perpetrators other than husbands and family members.
The target group of the quantitative research of this na- tionwide survey were women in age group 15-49.

Inter- views with 2,391 women were completed.

The imple- mentation of the Qualitative research on DV took place in parallel with the Quantitative research.

Qualitative Research methodology as well as sample design was re- vised and approved with the International Consultant.
25 in-depth interviews have been conducted; 10 focus group meetings were conducted in Urban and Rural Settings and 2 participant observations have been com- pleted.

This mixed methodology study gives detailed information on the prevalence of domestic violence experienced by women, forms of violence, causes and 9. http://www.unfpa.org.tr/gender.htm consequences, attitudes of women towards gender and violence, the effects of violence on health, relationships within the family and children.
Georgia, as one of the independent states that forme rly comprised the Soviet Union, belongs to the ranks of tra- ditional/closed societies taking their first steps towards democratization and striving to develop economically.
The research shows that violence against women widely is especially widespread in traditional, close-knit socie- ties, where religious institutions undermine the role of women and effectively render them second-class citi- zens.10 The lack of data on domestic violence as well as on women’s issues is very much determined by the Sovi- et past – the issue of gender equality was solved by the Communist Party officially and formally and there was no need to collect any data on social issues like gender- based violence and discrimination.
as such injustices simply did “not exist” in the Soviet Union.

After the break-up of Soviet Union the newly indepe- ndent states starting their transitions to democracy mostly had to work in crisis management mode – all three Caucasus countries were involved in armed eth- nic conflicts: Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia and Nagornyy Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
These “big politics” are central for politicians and gov- ernment, as well as for the general public and the essen- tials of social life like violation of human rights, equality issues, the rule of law, and democratic institution-build- ing are considered secondary issues or never discussed.
Example: Georgia, since declaring independence and embarking on building a new democratic state, has faced a dramatic decline of female participation in so- cial life – high unemployment rate, high drop-out rates from schools, and unequal representation in politics and even in fields that are considered traditionally the realm of women, such as education and health care.

The pro- portion of women in parliament is currently only 6% versus 11% in 2003.
In the 2009 global report on the gender gap index by the World Economic Forum - which examines economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment and health and survival in terms of gender equality access countries on how well they are dividing their resources and opportunities among their male and female population, irrespective of the overall lev- els of these resources and opportunities - Georgia ranked 10. http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/ Introduction-Chapter1-Chapter2.pdf 84th (in 2008 it was 82nd, for 2007 – 67th, for 2006 – 54th).
Georgia could be characterized as a traditional society with deeply-rooted notion of family as a private unit whose closed nature is sacred.

Everyone is obliged to uphold the family’s honour and disregard their own personal preferences.

Georgians very often say – no one takes a quarrel outside the home.

This means that the family becomes a citadel where whatever happens inside is not subject to outside discussion or public de- bate.
Men taking the place of head of household, by gender role distribution, are in a position to lead the family based on their own views.

Women’s gender role is strictly prescribed as a mother and housewife.

The So- viet Union’s “liberation” of women through giving them equal rights with men in every dimension of social life was never supported by serious institutions like gender- oriented social policy.
The right to work, generously given to women, was nothing other than an additional slavery engagement in the labour force on top of their traditional obligations.

After the collapse of the Soviet regime the formal equality slide back clearly pointed to the vulnerability of women and the issue of violence was raised once again.
Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Georgia has undergone drastic changes – civil wars, collapse of the economy, inflation, unemployment, corruption, armed conflict and the de facto loss of one fifth of the country.

These factors had a major impact in terms of the public’s switch from the enthusiasm that resulted from breaking free from the Soviet Union to the anxiety and instability that come with developing an independent state.

Wom- en lost and gained from this shift.


They lost the notion of man as breadwinner - due to high unemployment among men, many women were forced to become the only earners in their families; many women migrate to seek work outside the country; self-employed women mostly engaged in informal economic activity not befit- ting their education and qualifications (more than 50% of women in Georgia have obtained professional or higher education).
Goi ng out from the home environ- ment has created a cognitive disconnect of sorts from the values and reality of women’s life.

At the same time, religious revival and the conversion of atheists back to Orthodox Christianity has been associ- ated with the revival of conservative family traditions, which even further expands the disconnect between real life and reinvented traditions.

All over Christendom, women generally are more likely to attend church and are more conservative than men.
As believers, women NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 15 seek both to be obedient to their husbands and to fully engage in the process of building free market and demo- cratic institutions in Georgia.

Their freedom of expres- sion is now controlled not only by family traditions, but by church edicts about the roles of women and men.
There is not any other current of critical discourse about the women issues in Georgia outside women’s rights- oriented nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which focus on social aspects of women’s role and place in so- ciety.

The media’s attachment to traditional stereotypes and gender roles constantly encourages sexism against women; media also do not pay sufficient attention to issues such as abandoned children, migration, crime, in- creasing violence, IDP women and their inclusion.
The absence of gender-sensitive policies contributes to gender-based violence.

Georgia has ratified Convention of the elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1994 yet more than 15 years later little has been done to reduce gender-based violence.

Budgets are gender-blind and women’s involvement in politics and decision making is minimal, as is the em- ployment level of women.

These conditions serve to make women more vulnerable in society.
There are several research reports on the issue of vio- lence against women.11 Existing reports and surveys ad- dress the issue of the scope of domestic violence as well as attitudes and knowledge about the problem.

Differ- ent sources indicate a reported rate of violence from 5% to 31% in families.

This disparity clearly shows that fur- ther research is needed to identify levels of violence in families.

Below are some results from previous research about domestic violence or related issues.
UNFPA conducted Georgian Reproductive Health Sur- veys (RHS) in 1999 and 2005.

According to both surveys, less than 20% of the women reported verbal abuse by a current of former partner, 5% reported physical abuse and approximately 2% reported sexual abuse.

According to the 2005 survey only 5% of victims reported the do- mestic physical violence to police and 4% sought medi- cal consultation.
The most common reason cited by bat- tered women for not seeking formal help was distrust in law enforcement agencies or healthcare providers (38%) and embarrassment associated with disclosing the abuse (32%).

other reasons mentioned were fear of tarnishing the reputation of the family (10%), the physi- cal abuse “was not severe” (7%), fear of more beating (5%) and fear the marriage would break up (3%).12 11.

Almost all of these reports are focused or specialized surveys and studies on the topic.

12.
12.

Serbanescu F, et al.

Reproductive health survey, Georgia, 1999-2000.

Serbanescu F, et al.

(2005).Reproductive health survey, The same research points to the gender asymmetry in domestic violence: 89% of men stated that there was no excuse for women to use any type of force against their husband; 38% of the same men argue that men can use force and physically beat women if they are unfaithful.
The same dataset (1999, 2005) points to a high rate of verbal abuse by the spouse (20% in both surveys); 5% of women reported physical violence – of them 1% re- ported at least one instance of physical violence against them in the past year.
According to the data of the Caucasus Women’s Research and Consulting Network (CWN) from 2005, of 1000 women interviewed throughout the country 22.2% re- ported that their husbands had physically abused them at least once; 5% frequent abuse; 25.5% reported sexual assaults by their husbands.
The study also showed that there are significant barriers for women seeking protec- tion and services in case of violence: 13.1% reported that they had considered calling the police to protect them from physical violence at home, but only 1.8% of the interviewed women actually approached police for help.

A similar trend could be observed concerning medical/health treatment –8.4% said they had needed medical attention while only 2.7% sought it.
Over 90% of the surveyed sample considered that women should be more modest and try not to provoke violence and 60% responded that no matter what happens in the family it should stay within the family.13 The data of Sakhli NGO from 2002 (“Violence in the family – Study of Gender relations”, which explored the cultural-specific notion of violence) show that 94.8% of women and men believe that only beating/battering constitutes domestic violence (no gender differences were found in terms of defining the concept of domes- tic violence).
In 2003, Sakhli conducted research on “Gender Aspe cts of Family Conflicts” with the stated goal of identifying reasons for gender-related violence, as well as exam- ining the links between domestic violence and socio- economic status, family functioning, conflict resolution styles, and self-esteem.

The sample size was 400 peo- ple (43.3% female and 56.8% male).
The results show that economic difficulties were the main cause of fam- ily violence and that men tended to blame women for domestic violence and vice versa.

It was concluded that Georgia, UNFPA, Tbilisi.

13.

Tsikhistavi.

N.Berekashvili N.

(ed.)

(2006).

Family violence on Women: Multi-Component research.

The Caucasus Women’s Re- search and Consulting Network (CWN).Tbilisi 16 to reduce the tension within families there should be a clear division of responsibilities between the parties.
sponded that beating a wife could be justified if she had behaved inappropriately.

Sakhli conducted the project “Domestic Violence – Per- sonal Profiles”, on the psychological aspects of domes- tic violence between husbands and wives, in 2005 and conducted “Domestic Violence – Threat to the Health”, examining the attitudes of health care professionals re- garding domestic violence in 2006.
79.5% of respond- ents acknowledged that domestic violence was a social problem and 20.5% reported that domestic violence was a private family problem.

95.2% of respondents did not report domestic violence in their own homes.

49.4% of respondents expressed discomfort about discussing domestic violence with their patients.

56.4% indicated that discussing domestic violence may offend the pa- tient.
57.8% reported that the lack of available services for referring patients hinders them from addressing domestic violence, and 31.3% reported that the lack of an appropriate health care policy on domestic violence hinders them from addressing domestic violence.
62.7% consider registration of domestic violence cases neces- sary, and 16.9% consider it not necessary as the social issues are not addressed and general health care poli- cies are not in place.14 The baseline study on public opinion on domestic vio- lence done by the American Bar Association in 2006 clearly shows that domestic violence is not perceived as something that should be debated outside the family (75.7%); 26.7% of respondents consider that discuss- ing the topic is not in line with the Georgian mentality and 20.5% think that disclosure of the issue is useless since the problem will still exist within families and it will not affect its elimination.
The absolute majority of respondents are sure that facts of domestic violence are concealed from society and the main reason they name for this is fear of public opinion (80.8%); the ma- jority (55.5%) think that the reason is in the lack of de- sire to reveal family problems as this is against of social norms.15 The Institute for Policy Studies conducted a survey in the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti.
About 16.8% of respond- ents (14.4% of men and 19.2% of women) indicated that they know families where husbands beat wives.

15.9% of respondents (22.2% of men and 9.9% of women) re- 14.

Thomas C., Nelson L., Ellingen M., Sumbadze N. (2006).

Domestic Violence and Child abuse in Georgia: An Assessment of Current Standings of Law and Practice Regarding Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Georgia, and Recommendations for Future United Nations Country Team Involvement.
Institute for Policy Studies, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights.

Tbilisi., pp.4 15. ibid.

14, pp.5 In their 2005 study on youth attitudes toward dome- stic violence, researchers found that while 47.1% of respondents hold the abuser responsible for domestic violence, 8% blamed the victim and 32.4% reported that victims and abusers share responsibility.

Additionally, their 2006 survey on social change included three ques- tions on attitudes towards domestic violence.
The re- searchers found that while the vast majority (97.6%) of the population find it unacceptable to physically abuse elder family members, only 66% found it unacceptable to physically abuse a wife in case of adultery.16 In 2006 Amnesty International published a compre- hensive report on government policy’s failure to pro- tect women from domestic violence and to provide ad- equate support via the criminal or civil justice sys tem.17 Marital rape is reported to take place frequently in Georgia.
The CWN 2006 study data says 25.5 per cent of all women interviewed stated that their husband had forced them to sexual activity for which they were not ready at the moment and 4 per cent responded that this happened frequently18.

Amnesty International reports: “…There is still no law specifically criminalizing rape in marriage19”.

According to medical doctors and policemen inter- viewed in 2008, married women under 30 should be considered as a risk group.
35% of medical doctors said they had treated victims of DV.

Police reports, that every 4th case is a case of DV20.

Part of Georgian society, unfortunately, still does not recognize the existence of this problem even - this is confirmed by the results of the baseline research of the public opinion on domestic violence conducted in 2006 in Georgia by the American Bar Association (ABA).
Spe- cifically, 75.7% of interviewed individuals consider that the topic of domestic violence must not be discussed 16. ibid.

14, pp.6 17.

Amnesty International (2006).

Georgia: Thousands suffering in si- lence: violence against women in the family.

http://www.amnestyu- sa.org/document.php?id=ENGEUR560092006 18.

Tsikhistavi.

N.Berekashvili N.

(ed.)

(2006).

Family violence on Women: Multi-Component research.

The Caucasus Women’s Re- search and Consulting Network (CWN).Tbilisi 19.
Amnesty International (2006) Georgia: Thousands suffering vio- lence against women in the family.

www.wunrun.com 20.

Kaze, H., Pettai, I.

(2008).

Domestic violence and violence against Women by Survey results of Medical Personnel.

Tbilisi.

Kaze, H., Pettai, I.

(2008).

Domestic violence and violence against Women by Survey results of Police.

Tbilisi.

NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 17 publicly since speaking about family problems is taboo.
According to the opinion of 26.7%, discussing this issue is not in line with the Georgian mentality; while 20.5% think that disclosure of the issue is useless since the problem will still exist within families and it will not af- fect its elimination21.

In sum, the available data make it clear that focused and specialized surveys give only a preliminary understand- ing of the severity of problem in different dimensions.
Still, these studies do contribute to a better understand- ing of the necessity to address the issue of violence, the consequences of domestic violence on women social status, the causes of domestic violence, the impact of domestic violence of women health, social wellbeing, and interfamily relations and women’s empowerment.

Legal infrastructure and institutional issues pertaining to violence against women in Georgia Women in Georgia had the same rights and oppor- tunities as all women in Soviet Union.
According to the state constitution, women were equal to men, but in reality they had fewer opportunities.

At the same time, many Western feminists envied Soviet women for their access to good schooling, medical services and jobs.

Day care centres, almost nonexistent in Western countries at the time, supported working women.
The Soviet gov- ernment encouraged women to work not for ideological gender equality reasons, of course, but because Soviet state needed a whole army of workers to ensure eco- nomic prosperity for the country.

At the political level, women were underrepresented, but they had quotas in executive and decision-making bodies.
At home, the traditional image of man as the head of the family and bread winner and the traditional image of woman as mother and caretaker of children, as well as double bur- den for women were prevalent.22 All of the above can be easily applied to independent Georgia after the Soviet Union (with the exception of quotas in politics).

Article 14 of the Constitution of Geor- gia states: “All human beings are equal to the law de- spite of race, skin colour, language, gender/sex, religion, 21.
Aladashvili I., Chkheidze, K. (2008).

Monitoring of Implementation of the Action Plan on Elimination of Domestic Violence and Protec- tion and Support to its Victims 22.

Javakhishivli, N., Bregvadze I.

(2000), Women Roles at a State and Family Levels; In: Exploring Gender Issues in the Caucasus Workshop Materials political views, national, ethnic, social identity, property and status, residential area”23.
According to national laws, women have the same right to vote as men and women have the same right to be elected.

But the real- ity tells us opportunities are not equal for women and men.

Gender analysis of the results of the parliamentary elections of 2003-2004 showed that only 11.8% of can- didates were women and only 15.7% of the top ten list of political parties were women, among them only two women had the first place and three were in the second place in party lists24.
Currently, only 6% of members of the parliament of Georgia are women.

Georgia is a party to international and regional human rights treaties.

Georgia joined CEDAW on 24 September 1994 with no reservations; therefore, Georgia is respon- sible for fulfilling all parts of the convention.
At the 1995 Beijing Conference Georgia joined the countries that agreed to elaborate action plans for improving the con- ditions of women and in 2002 Georgia joined the addi- tional decree of “Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”.

In addition, Georgia endorsed an important document: “Millennium Devel- opment Goals in Georgia” and according to its third goal, the Georgian government takes responsibility for ensuring: 1.

Gender equality in employment 2.


Equal access for women to participate in the politi- cal sphere and at all levels of government These two tasks are to be fulfilled by the year 2015.

Ac- cording to a gender expert Tamar Sabedashvili, however, “there has been no trace of progress so far”25.
Indeed, no activities are being implemented by those respon- sible for completing the goals, but on the other hand, thanks to the joint effort of grassroots movements and international donor organizations’ will, certain steps are being taken to achieve gender equality in politics.

The Gender Equality Advisory Council was created un- der the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia in Oc- tober 2004 and supported by the UNDP project “Gender and Politics in the South Caucasus”26.
The Council acted as a lobbying unit for gender issues elaborating propos- als and recommendations on national gender policy, discussing and issuing relevant recommendations, en- suring gender mainstreamed legislation, cooperating 23. http://www.parliament.ge/files/68_1944_951190_CON- STIT_27_12.06.pdf 24.

Women Political Resource Centre.

(2004) Gender Analysis of 2003-2004 Parliamentary elections.

Tbilisi 25.

Sabedashvili T. (2007) Gender and Democratization in Georgia 1991-2006.

Tbilisi.

26.
Tbilisi.

26.

Official website www.parliament.ge 18 with international and local organizations working on gender issues etc.

In July 2006 the council developed the State Concept on Gender Equality.

Among other things, it states the need to encourage “full and equal participation of women and men in all divisions and at all levels of government; and support equal participa- tion of women and men in political parties and their executive and monitoring structures”27.
The positive as- pect of the council was the fact that it was comprised of representatives of government, the parliament and non-governmental organizations working on women’s and gender issues.

The Council lead the development of the new law “On Gender Equality” through a participatory process with the support of UNDP project”Gender and Politics”.

The new law “On Gender Equality” entered into force from April of 2010.
According to the new legislation, Women and Men have equal rights in political, economic, social and cultural lives.

The law excludes sexual discrimina- tion and assures equal access to the education, freedom of choice of profession, professional promotion.

The law envisages the equality of rights of the spouses, equal obligations of women and men before children.

Men, as well as women, have equal rights to be the child’s guard- ian, trustee, and adopter.
According to this legislation, the Council will become a permanent unit at the Parlia- ment of Georgia.

There is still no entity responsible for gender equality at the executive branch of the government.

The periodic 2-year National Action Plans of Gender Equality are be- ing developed and adopted by the government, how- ever they are not implemented in full scope.
In politics, recent local self-government elections show a decrease in the percentage of women elected (the first such elections were held in 2000, the second in 2003 and the third in 2006).
One of the main reasons, according to experts, is the fact that men did not realize importance and power of local self-government bodies in the first elections, therefore, negative correlation is apparent: the more men realized the importance of lo- cal polls, the fewer women were able to obtain seats in all government bodies28.
Introducing a quota system is not considered seriously at the leadership level, only some non-governmental organizations worked on introducing quota system in the parliament of Georgia, but this initiative failed (in 2004).

Other NGOs supported the idea of introducing a 27. www.parliament.ge/files/gender/Conc.pdf 28. International Center of Women Education and Information (2005) Woman and Power.

Tbilisi, in Georgian language.


quota system in political parties, but again, this initiative was nipped in the bud.

In general, concept of affirma- tive action is not welcomed in Georgia.

In 2008, NGOs renewed their effort to introduce a quota system for po- litical parties, similar to the French model.
With support of international donor organizations, local NGOs man- aged to collect 30,000 signatures to demand a quota system, but first the war and then political problems have hindered discussion of this initiative29.

Overall, there are not equal career opportunities for men and women; the glass ceiling effect is present in every state organization and in every sector - educa- tional, cultural, legislative, health care, business30.
Neg- ative gender stereotypes and traditions still operate in the country, with mass media and other institutes of socialization supporting their maintenance.

Tradition- ally: a) the “institution of virginity” is still quite strongly enforced, especially in regions; b) double standards of evaluating the morals and behaviour of men and women are actively applied; c) the main heir of family property is the man, which makes his wife dependent on him31.
Proceeding from the above, one can conclude that “If the government is at all worried by the gender equality problem, it is only within the context of being consistent with international standards and principles”.

32 The Georgian parliament approved the Law on Elimi- nation of Domestic Violence, Protection and Support to its Victims in 2006, although most MPs failed to under- stand it and even cracked jokes about it.
The law un- derwent a long preparatory process through local non- governmental organizations supported by international donors and was finalized within the fra mework of the “Gender and Politics in the South Caucasus” project.

In respect to the Law of Georgia on Elimination of Domes- tic Violence, Protection of and Support to its Victims’, amendments were made to a number of legislative acts.

Namely, these are: the Administrative Procedure Code, the Law on Police and the Law on Weapons.
The law introduced the definition of domestic violence into the Georgian legislation for the first time: “do me stic violence refers to violation of constitutional rights and 29.

Javakhishvili, N. 2009 Opposition to Positive Discrimination: Posi- tions of Students and Non-governmental organizations’ Representa- tives.

In: Journal Politika 30.

Khomeriki L. (2002).

Gender Equality Issues in Post-Soviet Geor- gia.

In: Democracy in Georgia 31.

Javakhishvili, N. Khomeriki, L. (2003).


Gender Dimension in Geor- gia.

In: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Women’s Issues Worldwide.

Europe.

London 32.

Sabedashvili T. (2007) Gender and Democratization in Georgia 1991-2006.

Tbilisi.
Tbilisi.

NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 19 freedoms committed by one family member in relation to other family member, through physical, psychologi- cal, economic, sexual abuse or violence, with which the legal grounds were prepared for issuing protective and restrictive orders”33.

The Law requires a large-scale prevention effort thro ugh cooperation of government ministries, cour ts, prosecu- tors, and other stakeholders.
The new Law calls for the use of administrative, criminal and civil penalties where appropriate, and provides two new remedies: a protec- tive order and a restrictive order, to be issued by courts and police to provide immediate protection for the vic- tim.

The Law requires the establishment of shelter and social services and requests that the government of Georgia approve an Action Plan to support these meas- ures within four months of publication of the new Law34.
In December 2008, the Presidential Decree establi shed the advisory and coordination body on DV enti tled the State Inter-agency Council on Domestic Violence (the Council) to support and strengthen the implementation of the Law on DV.

This step is widely viewed as a demon- stration of the political will and state commitment to the elimination of DV.
The Council, composed of the repre- sentatives of the line ministries, international organiza- tions, and independent experts, is tasked with fostering the effective implementation of the governmental func- tions and coordinating the multi-stakeholder efforts in preventing, eradicating and eliminating all forms of do- mestic violence.
Furthermore, in December 2008 the Statute of the State Fund for Protection and Assistance of (Statutory) Vic- tims of Human Trafficking (hereinafter – State Fund) was also amended to include in its mandate the work with victims of domestic violence and implementation of the respective preventive mechanisms.
The State Fund was established under a presidential decree of 18 July 2006.35 The adoption of the Law was followed by the elabo- ration and adoption of the periodic 2-year Action Plans on Elimination of Domestic Violence, Protection and Support to its Victims (2007-2008 and 2009-2010).

The 33.

Aladashvili, I., Kiknadze, Z., Nozadze, N. (2009).

UNPFA Regional Legislative Analysis and Mapping for Regional Partners.

Country Report-Georgia 34.

Thomas, C., Nelson, L., Ellingen, M., Sumbadze, N. (2006).
DO- MESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILD ABUSE IN GEORGIA: An Assessment of Current Standings of Law and Practice Regarding Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Georgia, and Recommendations for Future United Nations Country Team Involvement.

Institute for Policy Studies, Min- nesota Advocates for Human Rights 35. presidential decree of July 18, 2006, The state fund for victims of trafficking, protection and support of victims action plans lay out concrete ways to implement the ar- ticles of the Law.
On the positive note, it is worth men- tioning, that the practise of assessing the implementa- tion of the Action Plan has been intro duced to inform the formulation of the next Action Plan36.

Such Assess- ment Report on implementation of the 2007-2008 Ac- tion Plan by Irma Aladashvili and Ketevan Chkheidze, lists a number of activities have not been fully imple- mented and gives corresponding recommendations for the next action plan.
The adoption of the law was followed by the need to de- velop the National Referral Mechanisms for the Victims of DV (NRM)37.
In March, 2009, with the initiative of the Interagency Coordination Council on DV, and in part- nership with the Young Lawyers Association of Georgia (GYLA), UNFPA Georgia co-funded the efforts to develop the National Referral Mechanisms for the Victims of DV (NRM), which was adopted by the Inter-Agency Council in the summer of 2009 The absence of the legislative basis for introduction and regulating the institute of social workers quali- fied to deal with domestic violence issues, the lack of shelters, as envisaged by the Law, as well as insufficient involvement of the health care system in the preven- tion and response mechanisms remain a barrier to ad- equately support victims.
In 2010 UNIFEM Launches with the generous support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) implementation of the project “Enhanc- ing Prevention and Response to Domestic Violence” – ShiEld.

In the frame of the project UNIFEM will Support the State Fund for Protection and Assistance of (Statu- tory) Victims of Human Trafficking to build two shelters for DV victims in Tbilisi and Gori.
There are number of NGOs, working on the Domestic Violence issues with relatively extensive experience of combating domestic violence and implemented many projects in the field.

The activities of these agencies, as well as other new and useful information about efforts to end the most 36.

With the support of the UNFPA implemented “Combating Gender-based Violence in the South Caucasus Project” 37.
NRM-The action plan for the prevention of domestic violence and the protection and rehabilitation of victims of domestic violence is a document for cooperation and mutual agreement between Georgian State Institutions, international organizations and NGOs working on the issues of domestic violence.

The objective of the National Referral Mechanism is to determine actions to be taken to prevent domestic violence as well as to protect and support victims.
20 endemic forms of violence against women in the region are easily accessible the Stop Violence Against Women website (STOPVAW).

Advocates for Human Rights de- veloped this website as a tool for the promotion of women’s human rights in countries of Central and East- ern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union (FSU)38.

This site addresses violence against women as one of the most pervasive human rights abuses worldwide39.

gions41.
gions41.

Also, the statistical booklet Women and Men in Georgia, produced under the UNDP project “Gender and Politics in South Caucasus”, gives the following num- bers of victims of domestic violence and perpetrators in Georgia for years 2007-2008: 320 men are offenders and 313 women are victims, while 38 women are of- fenders and 45 men are victims; most of the offenders and victims are from the age group 25-4442.
Statistics on DV Discussion of domestic violence was taboo in Georgian society and discussing it outside the family was consid- ered inadmissible since the disclosure of this topic was perceived as interference into one’s private life.

“How- ever, gradually, the approach to the issues of domestic violence altered since it became impossible to disregard the problem which poses a threat to the safety, health and life of individuals and families”40.
Only after the anti-violence Law was adopted did offi- cial bodies start collecting statistics.

Representatives of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), a non- governmental organization, studied the efficiency of the implementation of the law from 2006 to 2008, this peri- od was divided into two - September 2006 to June 2007 and July 2007 to October 2008 - and studied separately, however, the data from these two periods are very simi- lar.
The monitoring was carried out in three regions of Georgia: Tbilisi, Imereti region and Shida Kartli region.

The authors of the study conclude that cases of psy- chological and physical violence are the most common, while sexual and economic violence are rare.

The study yields interesting results in terms of administering re- strictive orders by region: while more than 200 such or- ders were issued in Tbilisi, only around 15 were issued in the regions.
The highest number of protective orders was also issued in Tbilisi – about 20 and only 5 in re- 38.

STOPVAW was developed with support from and in consultation with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Open Society Institute’s Network Women’s Programme.

39. http://www.stopvaw.org/Stop_Violence_Against_Women.html 40.

Aladashvili, I., Chikhladze, N. (2009).


Monitoring of Use of Legisla- tive Protection Mechanisms Envisaged by the Law on “Elimination of Domestic Violence, Protection and Support of its Victims”.

Young Lawyers Association, Georgia These studies dedicated to the topic of domestic vio- lence in Georgia have examined the scope of domestic violence as well as attitudes and knowledge about the problem.

According to these studies, reported rates of violence vary from 5% to 31% of families43.
Objective of the research The objective of the research is to obtain nationwide data about violence against women that will enable the formation of policies and programmes on the state level to improve and elaborate new policies for combating gender-based violence more effectively and efficiently.

The overall objective of this survey is to provide reliable data for all stakeholders for better advocacy of human rights and women rights, as well as for building demo- cratic governance in the country.
The current survey is conducted within framework of all data requirements to obtain the reliability and possibil- ity of further comparisons in the global context and par- ticularly in regional - South Caucasus - context.

41.

Aladashvili I., Chkheidze, K. (2008).

Monitoring of Implementation of the Action Plan on Elimination of Domestic Violence and Protec- tion and Support to its Victims 42.

Women and Men in Georgia.

Statistical booklet (2008).

Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia.


Department of Statistics.

43.

Thomas, C., Nelson, L., Ellingen, M., Sumbadze, N. (2006).

DO- MESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILD ABUSE IN GEORGIA: An Assessment of Current Standings of Law and Practice Regarding Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Georgia, and Recommendations for Future United Nations Country Team Involvement.
Institute for Policy Studies, Min- nesota Advocates for Human Rights NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 21 Chapter 2 .

METHODOLOGY Sophio Chachanidze, Marine Chitashvili The methodology of the Nationwide Survey on Domes- tic Violence against Women in Georgia was designed to ensure the collection of data in the most reliable way.
The research design was composed using a qualitative and quantitative approach to gain the best understand- ing of the breadth and essence of the issue.

Data on prevalence of different forms of domestic violence and its causes and consequences were obtained through- out the country.

Domestic violence is considered a very sensitive topic for research in terms of both surveys and qualitative methods.
The research team paid special at- tention to ensuring the safety of respondents, as well as training and safety for interviewers.

The Ethical and Safety Guidelines developed by the WHO (2001) were followed though the research development at all stages of planning, training, field work and data analysis.

Quantitative data focused on gathering reliable data on different forms of violence for urban and rural settle- ments, as well as data for the capital and the country as a whole.
The prevalence of the forms of violence is presented as basic variables, as are age groups, educa- tion level and socioeconomic status.

Quantitative research methodology sought to collect in- depth knowledge about the concrete experiences and practices of domestic violence, perception and opinions of different groups on domestic violence and vision and anticipation of policies combating domestic violence by different institutions and stakeholders involved in ef- forts to overcome gender-based violence.
Quantitative Research The quantitative research phase of the project aimed to obtain data on the prevalence of forms of domestic violence against women for urban and rural settlements and for the capital and the country as a whole.

Sample Design The sample design for Research on Domestic Violence used a weighted, stratified and multi-staged cluster sam- ple approach.
The major aim of the sample design was to arrive at estimates of indicators related to violence against women for the national level as well as urban/ rural strata and Tbilisi city centre with an acceptable (accurate) precision within a defined 95% confidence interval.

It should be noted that Tbilisi was considered as a separate unit.

Sampling was based on the Clusters Database available at the State Department of Statistics of Georgia1 (SDS) and two-listing/updating processes were performed.
Households were selected systemati- cally within the selected clusters.

Georgia was divided into 21 strata that will enable esti- mates for the national level, urban/rural and Tbilisi.

The initial target survey sample size of 4,720 households is equally distributed among the 12 regions.

Aside from Tbilisi, which is considered one of the 12 regions, the allocations of urban and rural strata was proportional, since Tbilisi has a negligible number of households con- sidered rural (39).
The urban/rural split in the remaining 11 regions and Tbilisi city formed 21 strata.

In Georgia, the distribution of households in the urban and rural 1.

The Cluster Database at the statistics department was available for the research.

There are about 16,500 clusters in the database.

22 areas is approximately even (48/52%).

The sample was equally distributed within urban and rural areas.
The initial target survey sample size of 4,720 house- holds was equally proportionally distributed among the strata.

The target sample size was calculated as such in order to ensure the conduct of 1,500 completed inter- views for both urban and rural settlements, as the WHO domestic violence study suggested.
The household and individual level non-response was estimated at 80 per- cent therefore a 0.64 overall initial non-response factor (0.8*0.8) was applied and it was found that about 2,350 households would be needed for urban/rural.

The fixed cluster size was set at 20 households and 236 clusters were selected for the study - 118 urban and 118 rural.

The State Department of Statistics of Georgia granted UNFPA access to the 2002 Census Database.
As previ- ously mentioned, from this database 236 clusters were selected randomly.

Because the census data was report- edly outdated, a listing exercise took place in each of the selected clusters whereby listing agents were sent to all 236 sample clusters to do a quick listing.
During the field operation the response rates for Tbilisi were less than the assumed values, therefore in order to have a sufficient number of completed interviews with women (about 500) the allocated number of clusters were added.

In other words, initially 55 clusters were allocated, then an additional 17 clusters selected.
So, the targeted sample size increased from 4,720 to 5,080 households.2 Table 2.1 Research on Domestic Violence , Sample Distribution-Regions Strata Urban/Rural Region urban urban urban urban urban urban urban urban urban urban urban rural rural rural rural rural rural rural rural rural rural Adjara Guria Tbilisi Imereti Kakheti Mtskheta-Mtianeti Ratcha-Lechkhumi-Kvemo Svaneti Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Samtskhe-Javakheti Kvemo Kartli Shida Kartli Adjara Guria Imereti Kakheti Mtskheta-Mtianeti Ratcha-Lechkhumi-Kvemo Svaneti Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Samtskhe-Javakheti Kvemo Kartli Shida Kartli Total Total No.
selected clusters 8 2 (55+17)=72 16 6 2 2 8 4 10 6 10 6 22 18 6 4 16 8 16 12 cluster size HHs Number HHs selected by strata 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 160 40 (1100+340)=1440 320 120 40 40 160 80 200 120 200 120 440 360 120 80 320 160 320 240 182 5080 2.

The detailed table of response rates by region sees in annex 5.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 23 Within the 5,080 households, 3,872 household inter- views were completed successfully and a total of 3,768 women aged 15-49 were found in these households.

2,621 women were selected by the Kish method of “one woman per household”.

2,391 interviews with women were completed.

1,188 interviews with women were completed in rural areas, 1,203 were completed in ur- ban areas and 500 of them were in Tbilisi.
The number of completed interviews with women was less than planned but for both urban and rural domains there were more than 1,000 completed interviews.

Sample weights were calculated for strata levels by tak- ing care of estimated number of household for survey date, household and women level allocation, and house- hold and women level non-response correction.
A final procedure of age calibration was also applied to each of the seven five-year age groups within the 15-49 range by CONSIDERING OF actual distribution from census and survey distribution Final sample weights include all the above factors; weighted analyses were performed.
Survey Questionnaire The survey questionnaire was designed according to the requirements of the country based on the question- naire of the World Health Organization’s “Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health on Domestic Violence against Women”.3 Two questionnaires were used in the survey – a household questionnaire and a questionnaire pertain- ing to the individual women interviewees.
The following information was collected:  housing characteristics of the households;  background characteristics of women, marriage his- tory;  general and reproductive health of women and chil- dren's physical and psychological well-being;  background characteristics and behavioural patterns of the husband/partner;  Forms of domestic violence – physical and sexual violence, emotional and economic violence/abuse experienced by women during their lifetime, perpe- trated by husband/partner;  physical and sexual violence against women by per- petrators other than intimate partner after age 15;  sexual abuse before age 15;  women's attitudes toward gender roles and vio- lence; 3. http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/ Annex3-Annex4.pdf.
Country modification removed several non- relevant questions and put additional questions to identify country- specific causes of domestic violence against women.

For full text of questionnaire see Annex 3.

§ violence during pregnancy and injuries due to vio- lence; § coping strategies of women who have experienced the domestic violence.
To identify if a respondent was subjected to sexual vio- lence before the age 15 without having to reveal their reply to the interviewer the indirect projective tech- nique was used.

The respondent was given the card with two faces – smiling and crying and they were asked to mark the face to identify their inner feeling.

The target population of the survey was women aged 15-49 years.

Both marital and non-marital partnerships (boyfriend, fiancé) were considered.
One woman per household was selected for the individual interview ac- cording to the Kish method.4 A pre-test conducted in order to ensure the proper wording of the questionnaire prepared during sum- mer 2008.

The aim for pre-test study was to test the adapted Georgian version of the internationally applied questionnaire and develop its final version.

Namely, the questionnaire was checked for: text perception, text simplicity/relevance, relevant moves, relevant question- naire format.
Pre-test study A group of ACT professional interviewers was selected for conducting the pre-test testing of the survey.

These interviewers had attended a general training regarding pre-test study.
During the pre-test study interviewers had to fill out the technical report prepared specially for collecting the following information: to identify the problematic questions for respondents, to identify the difficult terms and concepts for respondents; respond- ents attitudes toward the issue and format of question- naire and technical consistency.
Within the framework of the pre-test study 50 complet- ed interviews were conducted Tbilisi 10; East Georgia – Urban (10)/Rural (10); West Georgia – Urban (10)/Rural (10); The age and marital status proportions of respond- ents were observed in each segment.
Pre-test study showed that structure of the question- naire did not bore respondents; the topics followed a natural progression; the questionnaire did not contain issues that may cause protest on the part of respond- ents; respondents were quite interested in the target 4.

The Kish method is generally used to ensure the objectivity and unbiased selection for a survey.

24 issues.

However there were some problems regarding the terms and concepts to understand as well as trans- lation of some questions.
With consultations of experts the terms and concepts were replaced with simpler syn- onyms and translation of questions were edited.

Based on the pre-test study results, the final question- naire was elaborated.5 Data Collection Activities Selection and Training of Field Teams: For the field work 89 ACT field workers received 9-day training as in- terviewers.

The group of trainees included 79 interview- ers, nine regional supervisors and two fieldwork coordi- nators.
Training was carried out by five academic staff of CSS and four ACT representatives.

The training was separately provided in two different places: in Kutaisi for the interviewers of West Georgia fieldwork and in Tbilisi for East Georgia fieldwork staff.
Each training session consisted of four modules: intro- duction to gender and gender-related issues, including elaborate sessions on domestic violence; questionnaire/ survey instruments familiarizing and training, sampling and field activities, ethics of fieldwork, practical exer- cise.
The training educated the interviewers about the theory and philosophy of gender-based violence as well as equipped them with practical skills to conduct inter- views on this extremely sensitive issue in accordance with the ethics of the research, respecting women with- out putting them in risk.

A fieldwork manual was developed that included points to consider during the interview, general rules regarding the questionnaire and directions regarding questions.
Another part of the manual was for the organization of field work and supervising.

Field work strategy According to the WHO methodology and specifications of the study, ACT designed an original field work plan.

A diversified approach was elaborated for Tbilisi, regional cities and village areas: (1) Tbilisi - During the first week of fieldwork in Tbilisi, one supervisor and two questionnaire revision special- ists attended interviews in order to revise question- naires on the spot.
From the second week completed questionnaires were brought to ACT’s Tbilisi office at the end of each day, where revision specialists together with a coordinator scrutinized completed questionnaires.

In case of any inaccuracy in the completed questionnaires, the interviewers had to interview the same respondents repeatedly second time.
(2) Regional cities / towns – In regional cities/towns, completed questionnaires were brought to regional of- fices at the end of each day of fieldwork, where regional supervisors were revising them.

In case of any inaccu- racy in the completed questionnaires, interviewers were to interview the same respondents again.

(3) Villages - Fieldwork in villages was conducted with rented cars.

Regional supervisors accompanied each in- terviewer in the field and revised questionnaires on the spot.
Field work quality control methodology The quality control group was comprised of experienced and trained ACT staff.

Members of the quality control group were given detailed information about interview- ers’ routes and, according to the random sampling, visit- ed specific address to check the validity of the interview and the consistency of the information obtained from the respondent.

Only after comparison of quality control results and the original questionnaire were data entered to the data- base.
Implementation of fieldwork activities within the quantitative component In the framework of the quantitative survey 5,077 ad- dresses were visited in total.

Detailed results of each field visit are given in the table below.

5.

See annex 3.
Questionnaire NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 25 31 32 41 Table 2.2 – Research on Domestic Violence Against Women in Georgia, Results of field work No completes HH refused Dwelling vacant/not a dwelling Dwelling destroyed Dwelling not found/inaccessible HH absent for extended period (No HH member at home) (HH respondent postponed visit) Entire HH speaks only a language incomprehensible to researchers Selected woman refused No eligible women in HH HH questionnaire only (Selected woman not at home) (Woman postponed interview) Selected woman incapacitated Refused to continue (Rest of interview postponed) Women questionnaire partially Completed Total Number of Visited HH 242 170 16 99 440 256 0 2 93 1237 82 0 52 3 0 2385 5077 Data entry and cleaning The completed questionnaires were entered into the SPSS database for further processing.
After the insertion of the data into SPSS format, a data cleaning procedure was conducted.

The data cleaning process included identification and correction of the following type of er- rors:      Skip error Entry error Other type of inaccuracy Data omitted from questionnaire or database Logical control of variables The main difficulty of the cleaning procedure concerned correction of wrong/meaningless values.
This problem was caused by mistakes made by interviewers filling out the questionnaires and mistakes made by operators during data entry (incorrectly perceived or entered fig- ure).

Correction of wrong digit figures was carried out by checking the data on corresponding questionnaires.

As for the mistakes made by interviewers (wrong code), they were corrected through re-contacting the relevant respondent.
Data weighing Based on the demographic data obtained through the fieldwork, international experts, recruited by UNFPA, provided ACT Research with guidance for the data- weighing procedure.

The survey database was weighted based on the data obtained from the State Department of Statistics of Georgia according to the strict procedure prescribed in data-weighting guidance.
Data statistical analysis Based on the guidance provided by the international experts and in cooperation with CSS analysts, statistical processing of the survey data was conducted.

An ACT database specialist prepared frequency tables and cross tabulations for further analysis.
Qualitative research The aim qualitative research was to collect the data that make it possible to identify the core points of violence on different levels of experience as well as the existence of different institutions to cope with violence.
The ma- terial collected centred around the following issues: 26 a) Understanding of the concept of violence by women and men (perceptions and attitudes, experiences and coping strategies); b) Identifying the personal, institutional and cultural peculiarities of gender-based violence in Georgia c) Identifying country-specific features in order to de- velop policies for combating gender-based violence.
The qualitative data was collected in focus group discus- sions and in-depth interviews, as well as two participant observations.

The training for the qualitative research part was designed specifically for more qualified gradu- ate students in gender studies from Tbilisi State Univer- sity.

Graduate students already had sufficient experi- ence in fieldwork on gender related issues and were at the stage of masters’ thesis writing.
During there studies at masters course students were trained in research eth- ics as well as sensitivity matters of the issue and subjects of domestic violence.

The training for the qualitative re- search was given in May 2009 and covered qualitative research methodology and guidelines for interviewing and each topic was discussed during the interactive training process.

All training was built on role play – one interviewer, one respondent and a group of observers.
At the end of interview each party shared their thoughts and identified weaknesses in questions or interviewers’ conduct.

There was not any specific training for the focus group moderator as the experienced academic (TSU professor) was the only moderator for all 10 focus groups.
The qualitative methodology was used to col- lect the data in in Samtskhe-Javakheti region within the frames of UNIFEM-administered UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women funded Project “Interdepart- mental and Public Measures for Elimination of Fam- ily Violence in Georgia”.
The following organizations: Women’s Information Center, International Advisory Center for Education of Women, Democrat Women’s Or- ganization, Women’s Hope and “Dynamic Psychology for Development and Democracy” took part in the project.

Within the above mentioned project 4 focus groups and 9 in-depth interviews were conducted.6 Interviewers, representatives of NGO Women’s Information Center, who have the experience working with severe abused women, were trained with masters’ students of Gender Studies.
The collected material was analyzed with UN- FPA survey data, 7 6.

Overall 14 focus groups and 34 in-depth interviews were analyzed.

Anallysis of qualitative research see chapter 7.

7.

Moderator for the focus groups in Samtskhe-Javekheti was the same academic who lead the all 10 focus groups in UNFPA survey 2009.and two employees of NGO Women Infrmation Center were collecting interviews .
Focus groups: Data collected within the focus group aimed to collect first-hand information about the underlying differences between men’s and women’s of understanding of vio- lence, practices of domestic violence, experiences of participants, their perception and coping strategies to- wards violence and their evaluation and vision about the services provided to the victims of domestic violence.

Group composition:  Women – three groups.


Selection criteria: rural (2) and urban (1), age 35-59, vocational or higher edu- cation, employed and currently unemployed (who had been working but have been unemployed for at least five years).

 Men – three groups.

Selection criteria: rural (2) and urban (1), age 35-59, vocational or higher education, employed and currently unemployed (who had been working but have been unemployed for at least five years).

 Experts in domestic violence – three groups.


Selec- tion criteria: Governmental and international NGO representatives, policy makers (1), local NGO leaders and policy makers, women activists (2).

 Service providers - three groups.

Selection criteria: professionals – medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, social agents, lawyers working with victims in various settings  Police officers and penitential system officials – two groups.
Selection criteria: police who work on is- sues of domestic violence; penitential system per- sonnel who work with women in detention due to violent behaviour which resulted from domestic vio- lence.

It should be emphasized that the questions for discus- sion were slightly modified based on the focus group category.8 8.

Detailed description for topics in focus group discussion see annex 4.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 27 Table 2.3 - Research on Domestic Violence Against Women in Georgia, Focus group sample age 35-59 35-59 Urban Rural * women, married (non-abused) women, married (non-abused) men, married (without any criminal record) men, married (without any criminal record) experts’ group government, international NGO, policy makers local NGO and policy makers, women activists service providers medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, social agents, lawyers medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, social agents, lawyers police and penitential system police officers working with cases of domestic violence professionals who are working with women in detention due to violent behaviour caused by domestic violence * Note: urban/rural criteria apply only to women and men groups.
The members of the focus groups of women and men were representatives of the same age group, same level of education and employment/unemployment.

In-depth interviews The depth interviews were aimed at collecting informa- tion on women exposed to different types of violence.

The data was collected on women subjected severe forms of domestic violence as well as on women at risk of falling victim to domestic violence.
Overall 34 inter- views were conducted.9 The sample design for in-depth interviews was 10 severely abused women in shelters and out of shelters; 10 IDP, 5 ethnic minority women (urban and rural), 5 rural women activists working on issues on domestic violence and 4 rural women.
In-depth interview topics explored perceptions of vio- lence and causes of domestic violence, coping strategies individual women use to overcome the problem and their thoughts on the best way to deal with problem; perceptions of men in general and violent men/perpe trators specifically; and finally access and awareness of women about supporting institutions and social net- works.
There was slight difference in the format of the in-depth interview with rural NGO activists.10 Participant observation: The participant observation sessions were difficult to hold in Georgia.

Only two participant observations (at a shelter) were conducted instead of the planned six – two more were planned at a police station and two at IDP collective centres equipped with social or health- care services.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not give the researchers access to police stations.
None of the collective housing centres in Tbilisi had social or healthcare services on site at the time of research.

The aims of the participant observation were to identify cul- turally sensitive aspects of gender-based violence and evaluate the performance of service providers and ben- eficiaries in conflict situations based on gender-biased cultural stereotypes and value-based approaches.11 9.
It was planned to conduct 5 in-depth interviews with women in the detention system who committed violent crimes due to continues violence within family by their partners were denied to participate in research by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for security reasons that were followed after the outbreak in women detention.

10.

Detailed description of in-depth interview themes see annex 4.

11.

Collected material is not of sufficient quality to draw a reliable conclusion, see chapter 7.

28 Chapter 3.
28 Chapter 3.

HOUSEHOLD POPULATION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RESPONDENTS Sophio Chachanidze In this chapter, background socio-demographic charac- teristics of households and women interviewed in the survey are examined using data derived from answers given in the questionnaires of the Gender-Based Vio- lence Survey in Georgia.
In addition to describing the survey population, the examination of background so- cio-demographic characteristics of interviewed women, especially of household population, bears out that the survey sample was appropriately selected.

Household Population and Household Composition The population pyramid based on age distribution of household members in the survey presented in the fig- ure below provides important information about current age and gender structure of the Georgian population.
Some demographic trends might be observed in this data.

The pyramid shows a declining fertility rate over the last two decades but this trend seems to have sta- bilized over the past several years.

The small size of the middle aged population seems to have been caused by the high migration rate of this age group, which is borne out by other surveys as well.
According to the survey results, only one fifth (19.5%) of the Georgian population is under the age of 15 and the picture is uniform across rural and urban areas.

The proportion of elderly people (aged 65 and over) in the total population is 9.9%.

This proportion is higher in ru- ral areas - a fact probably related to the migration of young people from rural to the urban settlements.
As the result of migration process, the share of the middle age population (from 15 to 65) is higher in urban areas and especially in the capital.

Therefore the economi- cally productive segment is more concentrated in urban settlements.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 29 Female Figure 3.1 Population Pyramid 75 - 79 70 - 74 65 - 69 60 - 64 55 - 59 50 - 54 45 - 49 40 - 44 35 - 39 30 - 34 25 - 29 20 - 24 15 - 19 10 - 14 5 - 9 0 - 4 Male Table 3.1 Age Distribution of Household Population Per cent distribution of household population by age group, according to the place/ type of residence, Georgia 2009 Place of Residence 0 - 14 15 - 64 65 + Total Number Rural 19.9 68.2 11.9 100.0 5959 Urban 19.8 71.6 8.6 100.0 3109 Tbilisi 18.3 74.7 7.0 100.0 2080 Total 19.5 70.6 9.9 100.0 11148 Table 3.2 shows quantitative information on the interviewed households and de facto household population living in the households covered by the National research on domestic violence against women in Georgia 2009.
For urban areas, including the capital, the most common household size is four members, while in rural areas the average size of the household is five members.

Also, small size households with only one or two members are common in urban settlements, especially Tbilisi.
30 Table 3.2 Household Composition Per cent distribution of households by household size, according to the place/type of residence, Georgia 2009 Number of HH members Total Unweighted number of Households Mean size Rural 0.3 3.5 11.3 22.5 26.4 20.8 9.2 3.0 1.4 1.2 0.1 0.4 100.0 1188 5.06 Urban Tbilisi Total 1.1 6.2 15.1 27.2 23.1 15.9 7.4 2.1 0.8 0.8 0.0 0.3 100.0 2391 4.66 According to the survey data, 46% of total households live in rural areas.
From urban households about half (25%) are concentrated in the capital.

As for the population, due to the bigger size of households, more than half of the population (53%) is concentrated in rural settlements; and just 19% of the population lives in the capital.
Table 3.3 Number of Households and Household Population Percentage distribution of households and household population according to place/type of residence Georgia 2009 Number of Households Number of Population Weighted per cent 46 Weighted number 1104.8 Unweighted Number 1188 Weighted per cent 53 29 25 100 697.1 589.1 2391.0 703 500 2391.0 28 19 100 Rural Urban Tbilisi Total Weighted Number 1104.8 697.1 589.1 2391.0 Unweighted Number 5959 3109 2080 11148.0 Background Characteristics of Respondents Tables 3.4 and 3.5 provide information on percentage distribution of women aged 15-49 interviewed for the of Gender-Based Violence Survey in Georgia by some background characteristics and weighted and unweighted obser- vations.
The survey shows that a small minority of women respondents (0.5%) aged 15-49 have no education at all; about the tenth of women (9.8%) have incomplete secondary education.

It is noteworthy that every third woman (33.2%) aged 15-49 in Georgia has received a higher education, while every fourth woman has received a vocational (professional) education – 25.4%.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 31 As for marital status, 27% of women said they had never been married while about 5% were widowed or divorced.

The majority of women (68%) in Georgia were married at the time of the survey.
Table 3.4 Background characteristics of the respondents – 1 Per cent distribution of women according to education and marital status Georgia, 2009 Background characteristics Per cent Unweighted number of women Education No education Incomplete secondary Complete Secondary Technical Higher Marital Status Never married Currently married Widowed Divorced/separated Total 0.5 9.8 31.1 25.4 33.2 27 68 2 3 100 [11] 193 731 656 800 530 1722 57 82 2391 As for place/type of residence, the survey shows that 46.2% of women live in rural areas, and about a fourth (24.6%) are Tbilisi residents.
Table 3.5 Background characteristics of the respondents – 2 Per cent distribution of women by the place/type of residence and age Georgia, 2009 Background characteristics Weighted per cent Unweighted Number of women Weighted Number of women Type of residence Rural Urban Tbilisi Age 15 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 49 Total 46.2 29.2 24.6 29.8 27.1 30.0 13.1 100.0 1188 703 500 712 649 717 313 2391 1104.8 697.1 589.1 515 718 716 442 2389 32 Chapter 4.
PREVALENCE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Nino Javakhishvili Violence by Husbands and Intimate Partners The prevalence of violence against women was stud- ied in a number of questions in this survey.

The study sought to find information about the prevalence of physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence and acts intended to control women’s behaviour by either their husbands or partners, or by non-partners.

These forms of violence are broken down into sub-forms and studied separately.
Attitudes of women towards these forms of violence are also studied.

The research also sought to find out whether women were subjected to these forms of violence during the past 12 months and they were under 15 years of age.

Answers to these questions are provided in percentages according to five background variables.
 Independent income (two groups are given: women who earn money by themselves and those who do not)  Age of respondents (four groups are given: group I -15-24 years old, group II - 25-34 years old, group III - 35-44 years old, group IV – 44-49 years old)  Education (four groups are given: incomplete sec- ondary education, secondary education, secondary- technical education and high education)  Place of residence (three groups are given: residents of rural area, residents of urban area and residents of Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia).
 Marital status (two groups are given: married and unmarried) Physical and Sexual Violence A relatively small number of women in Georgia ac- knowledged being victims of physical or sexual violence.

Overall, 6.9% of women reported having experienced physical violence.

Of them, 2.6% reported having expe- rienced moderate physical violence and 4.3% reported having experienced severe physical violence.
At the same time results showed that in Georgia 9.1% women who have ever been married/or had an intimate partner have experienced violence from their husbands/part- ners.

This means that one of every 11 women in a mar- riage or serious relationship has been a victim of physi- cal or sexual violence.

Place of residence, level of education, marital status and earning potential turned out to be significantly linked to experience of physical violence.
Age is a separate issue: out of the four age groups, only two age groups yielded significant results.

The data is presented in table 4.1.

3.9% of women reported having experienced sexual violence.

Of those having reported sexual violence 64% were married and 37% were unmarried; the vast major- ity of these unmarried women - 32.6% said they do not NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 33 have partner and are not involved in sexual relations ei- ther.
Also, 0.7% of women said they were forced to have sex the first time they had sex.

3.9% - severe violence  Pushed, or shoved, or pulled by hair – 2.9% - moder- ate violence Acts of physical violence Moderate and severe acts of physical violence are stud- ied in the survey.
Out of the various forms of physical violence experienced, women admit to having experi- enced two of them:  Getting slapped, or hurt by having something thrown at her - 6.8% - moderate violence  Getting hurt by a punch or hit with something else –  Kicked, dragged, or beaten up – 2.0% - severe vio- lence  Choked or burnt – 1.6% - severe violence  Threatened with – or actually hurt with - a gun, knife or other weapon– 1.0% - severe violence Of the forms of physical violence reported, only one - getting slapped or hurt by having something thrown at her - provided significant results according to back- ground variables.
The data is presented in table 4.1: Table 4.1: Physical violence experienced by women.

Percentage of women who experienced physical violence according to background variables and percentage of women who experienced one form of physical violence - getting slapped, or hurt by throwing something on her - by background variables.
Georgia, 2009 Physical violence Unweighted Number Getting slapped, hurt by throwing something Unweighted Number Place of residence capital rural urban Age 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-49 Education secondary technical higher Independent income yes no 32.1 36.9 30.9 - 32.2 43.0 - 27.8 33.4 21.1 28.5 71.5 34 50 38 39 49 36 43 26 90 37 31.6 37.8 30.6 - 30.3 43.9 - 27.3 32.2 22.0 27.9 72.1 34 50 38 39 49 32 38 26 35 87 Data on various forms of physical violence by frequency of occurrence either during or before the last 12 months did not yield any significant results, meaning that al- most equal percentage – 3.9% - of women experienced violence either during or before the last 12 months.
Ei- ther during the past 12 months, or before the past 12 months, the largest proportion of women report that these cases have happened a few times.

The wording “a few times” is quite vague in the Georgian language: it might mean anything, including many times.

Presum- ably, this answer was used by some for not selecting the “many times” option.
34 Acts of sexual violence Questions about three forms of sexual violence were posed to the respondents of the study:  3.5% of women had sexual intercourse they did not want to  3.0% of women had sexual intercourse they did not want to because they were afraid of the man’s reac- tion  1.0% of women were forced to do something sexual that they found degrading or humiliating Data on various forms of sexual violence by frequency of occurrence either during or before the last 12 months did not yield any significant results, meaning that almost equal percentage – 1.95% - of women experienced sex- ual violence either during or before the last 12 months.
Similar to physical violence, in most of the cases ei- ther during the past 12 months, or before the past 12 months, the largest proportion of women reported that they had been victimized a “few times”.

Physical and sexual violence The data show that physical violence is more frequent than sexual violence: 6.9% of women reported physi- cal and 3.9% of women reported sexual violence, while 2.3% of women said they had experienced both.
There is no significant difference in the prevalence of physical and sexual violence according to place of resi- dence: women from rural and urban areas and the capi- tal city show similar trends – around 2% everywhere re- port both physical and sexual violence.

There is no significant difference in prevalence of physi- cal and sexual violence according to education of wom- en; nor is there much difference from the standpoint of whether they earn money by themselves or not.
Sexual violence is more frequently experienced together with physical violence, rather than physical violence to- gether with sexual violence:  Out of those, who reported having experienced physical violence, 33.7% reported having experi- enced sexual violence;  Out of those, who reported to have experienced sexual violence, 60.6% reported having experienced physical violence.
These findings indicate that when encountering cases of sexual violence against a woman, one should expect that she experienced physical violence as well.

Emotional violence/abuse 14.3% of women report having experienced emotional violence.
In most of the cases they were subjected to several forms of emotional violence:  13.9% of women reported that her partner insulted her and made her feel bad about herself  5.3% of women said that their partner belittled or humiliated her in front of others  5.1% of women said that their partner did things to scare or intimidate her on purpose  3.8% of women said that their partner threatened to hurt her or someone she cares about Data on emotional violence, as well as data on various forms of emotional violence by frequency of occur- rence, either during or before the last 12 months did not yield significant results, meaning that almost equal percentage – 7.15% - of women experienced violence either during or before the last 12 months.
Almost 12% of women with incomplete secondary edu- cation report having been subjected to emotional vio- lence, while about 24% of women with complete sec- ondary education and 32% of women with higher and technical education report having been subjected to emotional violence.

This means that education is a fac- tor.

These data suggest that the more educated women are, the better able they are to recognize emotional vio- lence.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 35 Below significant data on emotional violence according to background variables are presented: Table 4.2: Emotional violence experienced by women.

Percentage of women who experienced emotional violence according to background variables.
Georgia, 2009 Emotional violence Unweighted Number Place of residence Capital Rural Urban Age 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-49 Education Incomplete secondary secondary technical higher Independent income yes no 33.8 36.2 30.0 - 27.7 48.1 14.7 11.9 23.9 32.0 32.3 29.6 70.4 76 99 77 74 112 48 29 63 82 78 73 179 Economic violence/abuse Economic violence was measured by three questions: 1.

Were they able to spend the money they earn by them- selves?

2.
2.

Had their husbands/partners ever taken their earnings or savings from them against their will?

and 3.

Had their husbands/partners ever refused to give them money for household expenses, even when they have money for other things?

6.0% of women said they have to give some of the money they earn to their husband/partner and 0.8% of women said they have to give all the money they earn to their husband/partner.

4.7% of women admitted that their husbands/partners took their earnings against their will.
Of this group:  2.2% of women said her husband/partner took her earnings or savings from her against her will once or twice  1.8% of women said her husband/partner took her earn- ings or savings from her against her will several times  0.7% of women said her husband/partner took her earnings or savings from her against her will many times 5.1% of women said their husbands/partners refused to give them money for household expenses.
Out of them:  4.2% of women said her husband/partner refused several times to give her money for household ex- penses, even when he has money for other things  0.9% of women said her husband/partner refused many times to give her money for household ex- penses, even when he has money for other things Earning potential is significantly related to cases of eco- nomic violence, but, in total, three times more women with independent income answered “no” to the above question.
The same can be said about marital status of the respondents: 97% of married women and only 3% living with a partner and unmarried women answered “no” to the above question.

Acts intended to control women Besides physical, emotional, sexual and economic forms of violence, there are other forms which are grouped under the umbrella of acts of control.

35.9% of women reported having experienced acts intended to control their behaviour by their husbands or partners.
These 36 women experienced various forms of control by their partners: asked whether their mothers were hit by their fathers or boyfriends and whether the women saw this violence.
 29.0% reported her partner tries to restrict her con- tact with her family;  11.6% reported her partner expects her to ask his permission before seeking health care for herself;  11.1% reported her partner gets angry if she speaks 3.2% of women said her mother was hit by her father (or her husband or boyfriend) when she was a child.

Of the 3.2%, who reported acts of violence against her mother:  66.7% - were present, i.e.
saw or heard the violence  33.3% - were absent with another man;  5.5% reported her partner is often suspicious that she is unfaithful;  4.0% reported her partner tries to keep her from seeing her friends;  3.9% reported her partner ignores her and treats her indifferently;  3.8% reported she has given up/refused a job for money because her husband/partner did not want her to work;  2.4% of women reported her partner insists on knowing where she is at all times;  1.4% of women said her husband or partner prevented her from attending a meeting or participating in an or- ganization.
60% of those with incomplete secondary education ad- mitted to having experienced acts intended to control their behaviour by their husbands or partners, while around 35% of those having complete secondary, tech- nical, or higher education acknowledged having experi- enced acts intended to control their behaviour by their husbands or partners.

Education level does matter only up to the point of secondary education level.
Of those who reported having experienced acts in- tended to control their behaviour by their husbands or partners, 76.6% do not earn money by themselves while 23.4% do.

Earning potential does matter.
The highest proportion of women having experienced acts intended to control their behaviour by their hus- bands or partners - 36.5% - comes from the 35-44 age group of respondents, then comes the 25-34 age group - 30.9%, followed by the youngest age group 15-24 – 18.1%, and the lowest proportion is within the oldest age 45-49 group - 14.5% Violence in the woman’s own fam- ily in her childhood Research shows that having been exposed to violence during early years affects women’s lives.
Women were Women’s attitudes toward gender roles and violence A number of questions were posed to women to find out their attitudes towards violence and gender roles.

The attitudes of the women will shed more light on their reactions to acts of violence.

For example, knowing the coping styles of our respondents helps predict their re- action to acts of violence experienced.
Coping  78.3% of women think that family problems should only be discussed within a family;  52.1% of women think that if a man mistreats his wife, others outside the family should not intervene;  30.7% of women think that family abuse is a private affair and the law should not interfere.

Out of 78.3% of women who think that family problems should only be discussed within a family, 48.0% are ru- ral, 30.3% - urban and 21.7% from Tbilisi.
All these data show attitudes of women towards cop- ing with problems.

Comparative analysis of these three questions shows that some women do not classify DV as a family problem: out of those who think that fam- ily problems should be discussed only within a family, 30.5% think that when a man mistreats his wife, others should not intervene, but out of those who do not think that family problems are only a family matter, almost the same proportion, 31.1%, think that others should not interfere.
Obedience Respondents who think that husbands are the heads of their families and women should obey their husbands - including in choosing friends, having sex with their hus- bands contrary to their wish and being beaten by their husbands - will probably not qualify acts of physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence as violence.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 37  58.3% of respondents believe a woman should be able to choose her own friends even if her husband disapproves;  50.7% of women think that a good wife obeys her husband even if she disagrees;  44.9% of women believe it is important for a man to show his wife/partner who is the boss in a family;  34.1% of women think husbands are justified in beating their wives in certain cases;  16.0% of women think it is the wife’s obligation to have sex with her husband even if she doesn’t feel like it.
Place of residence of the respondents brings in addi- tional information to the data on the above questions: the least percentage of women from Tbilisi, 14.5%, think women should obey their husbands, a larger percent- age of women from urban areas – 27.7% think women should obey their husbands and the largest percentage of women - 57.8% - from rural areas think they should obey their husbands.
Of the 44.9% of women who think that it is important for a man to show his wife/partner who is the boss in a family, 55.3% are rural, 26.3% - urban and 18.4% are from Tbilisi.

Of 16.0% of women who think wives are obliged to have sex with their husbands, 57.3% are ru- ral, 25.6% - urban and 17.2% - from Tbilisi.

Therefore, regarding residential area, rural women are the most obedient to their husbands wishes, urban women are less obedient and women from the capital – the least obedient.
Figure 4.1 Percentage of women who think that a wife is obliged to have sex with her husband even if she doesn’t feel like it according to place of residence, Georgia, 2009 100 80 60 40 20 0 89,50 91,40 96,60 10,50 8,90 3,40 rural urban capital yes no 38 Education also plays a role: the more educated respond- ents are, the less likely they are to think women should obey their husbands: Figure 4.2 Percentage of women who think that a wom- an should obey her husband according to level of educa- tion, Georgia, 2009 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 58,7% 50,7% 36,4% 43,6% disagree agree complete secondary no education 61.4% of those with higher education do not think it is important for a man to show his wife/partner who is the boss in the family, and the percentage of those think- ing the same way decreases together with the level of education: Figure 4.3 Percentage of women who think that a hus- band should show that he is the boss in the family by level of education, Georgia, 2009 52,7% 41,7% 48,6% 49,9% 61,4% 36,1% 100 80 60 40 20 0 65,7% 53,4% 42,6% 25,5% agree disagree The percentage of women who think that it is a wife’s obligation to have sex with her husband even if she doesn’t feel like it decreases as the level of education increases: Figure 4.4 Percentage of women who think that a wife is obliged to have sex with her husband even if she doesn’t feel like it according to level of education, Georgia, 2009  She disobeys him – 3.1%  She does not complete her household work to his satisfaction – 1.5% 70,3% 73,4% 79,9% 16,8% 14,3% 11,5% 100 80 60 40 20 0 68,8% 57,8% 27,7% 5,9% agree disagree The percentage of women who think that they can refuse their husbands sex if they do not want it, increas- es as the level of education increases: Figure 4.5 Percentage of women who think that a wom- an can refuse her husband sex if she does not want it according to level of education, Georgia, 2009 12,9 87,1 9,6 8,1 5,4 90,4 91,9 94,6 100 80 60 40 20 0 50 50 no yes Women who have earning potential are more independ- ent in relations with their husbands.
A lower percentage of those who earn money by themselves - 43.3% - agree that a wife should obey her husband, than those who do not earn money by themselves – 53.0%.

39.3% of those independently earning money think it is important for a man to show his wife/partner who is the boss in a family.

46.8% of those not earning money think it is important for a man to show his wife/partner who is the boss in a family.

34.1% of women think husbands are justified in beating their wives in certain cases.
The top circumstances they list are:  He finds out that she cheated on him – 28.5%  He suspects that she is unfaithful – 4.0%  She refuses to have sex with him – 1.4%  She asks him whether he has other girlfriends – 0.6% Most of the respondents do not approve of beating in any circumstances, but those who do mainly say it is ac- ceptable in case of cheating - 28.5% - and in case the husband suspects his wife is cheating – 4.0%.
Other reasons for a husband to beat his wife received support from a very low percentage of respondents.

Of those who justify beating, 57.9% of respondents also think that a man should show his wife who is the boss in a family.

Out of those who think that a man should show his wife who is the boss in a family, 43.9% justify beat- ing by husbands and of those, who do not think that a man should show his wife who is the boss in a family, 26.2% justify beating by a husband.
Thus, attitudes are related: those who agree that a man should be the boss and should show this are more likely to agree that a man can beat his wife.

Only 16.0% of women think it is a wife’s obligation to have sex with her husband even if she doesn’t feel like it.

The reasons for refusing to have sex were provided.
A married woman can refuse to have sex with her hus- band if:  Wife does not want to – 81.5%  Husband is drunk – 82.4%  Wife is sick - 90.1%  Husband mistreats her - 88.1% In terms of obedience, it is not very clear what women regard as being obedient to their husbands, as most of them apparently would not agree to have sex with their husbands if they do not want to, but generally think that they should obey their husbands.
Of the women who think they should obey their husbands, 24.4% also agree to have sex when they do not want to.

Of the women who do not think they should obey their husbands, 6.9% agree to have sex when they do not want to.

This cross tabulation shows that women do not apply being obedi- ent to all situations in terms of relations with their hus- bands.
Attitudes regarding justification of beating and the no- tion of the man being head of the family are related: those who agree that a man should be the boss and should show this tend to agree that a man can beat his NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 39 wife.
Of women who think it is a wife’s obligation to have sex with her husband even if she does not want to, 53.3% justify beating by husbands; whereas when a woman does not think it is a wife’s obligation to have sex with her husband even if she does not want to, 30.3% justify beating by husbands.

These attitudes are related: obedient wives justify beating more than “disobedient” ones.
The respondents were given a list of statements to find out whether they understand these situations as cases of gender-based violence.
The data provided shows that the majority of respondents perceive the activities listed as violence:  93.4% - husband abuses his wife physically  89.9% - husband forces his wife to have sex with him  89.0% - husband humiliates his wife publicly  81.3% - husband does not allow his wife to work  80.5% - husband threatens wife verbally (with di- vorce, or injury)  79.7% - husband abuses wife verbally (defamation, slander, shouting)  68.4% - husband refuses to give his wife money Physical abuse most widely acknowledged as a form of violence, public humiliation and forced sex are regarded as violence by almost an equal number of women; a quite high percentage of women consider being able to work a very important issue and therefore, consider it to be violence if a husband does not allow her to work.
In terms of forms of violence, the highest percentage of women would regard physical, then sexual, then emo- tional and then economic forms as violence.

Women’s attitudes towards physical and sexual violence and the correlation with having experienced violence Of those women (6.9%) who have experienced physical violence in any form, 45.9% think that a man has a good reason to hit his wife.
Out of those women who have not experienced physical violence in any form (93.1%), 36.3% think that a man can be justified in hitting his wife.

These data show that a higher proportion of women subjected to violence justify violence than do women who have never been victims.
Violence against women by perpe- trators other than husbands or partners (Overall prevalence of non-partner violence since age 15 and comparison with partner vio- lence) Questions were asked in this survey to find out whether women are subject to physical and sexual violence by perpetrators other than their husbands or partners.
Physical violence after age 15 by non-partners Only 2% of women report they have been beaten or physically mistreated in any way by someone other than their husbands/partners since the age of 15 years.

The answers of these 2% of respondents are distributed into many small percentages to various family members and relatives.

While 6.9% of women report physical violence by the husband or partner, only 2% of women report physical violence by non-partners.
Sexual violence after age 15 (according to partner and non-partner perpetrators)  0.1% of women report that they were forced to have sex or to perform a sexual act when they did not want to since the age of 15 years by another male family member  0.1% of women report that they were forced to have sex or to perform a sexual act when they did not want to since the age of 15 years by a stranger 3.9% of women report sexual violence by her husband or partner, only 0.2% of women report sexual violence by non-partners.
2.3% of women experienced both physical and sexual violence by husbands and partners, while 1.9% of women experienced both physical and sexual violence by non-partners.

Sexual abuse before age 15 Two questions addressed the issue of sexual abuse be- fore age 15 - one of them directly asked respondents 40 whether they have been subjected to sexual abuse.
The other one was asked at the end of the interview: the interviewer would show a card with the smiling face of a girl and another of a girl with a sad face, and then ask respondents to mark any of these faces and put the card in an envelope, so that the interviewer would not see the card.

No woman reported that any one in her family ever touched her sexually, or made her do something sexual that she didn’t want to before the age of 15 years.
6.5% of women marked a sad face, meaning that at some point someone has touched her sexually, or made her do something sexual that she didn’t want to before she was 15 years old and 93.5% of women marked the hap- py face as a sign that this has never happened to them.

Comparing answers of the indirect question to answers of the direct question about experiencing sexual vio- lence under age 15 shows that women admit being vic- tims of DV indirectly, but not directly - 6.5% versus 0%.
Discussion The data on forms of domestic violence provided the following results: 35.9% of women reported having ex- perienced various acts intended to control their behav- iour by their husbands or partners; 14.3% of women re- ported to have experienced emotional violence by their husbands or partners; 6.9% of women acknowledged being victims of physical violence by their husbands or partners; 6% of women reported having experienced economic violence by their husbands or partners; 3.9% of women acknowledged being victims of sexual vio- lence by their husbands or partners.
According to the survey data, an even lower percentage of women are subjected to physical and sexual violence by other perpetrators – i.e.

non-partners.

Also, the per- centage of physical and emotional violence is the high- est with residents of the capital city.

As many studies worldwide have shown, victims are hesitant to disclose information, so actual the actual prevalence of DV should be higher than reported.
With the given data it is interesting to look at the distribu- tion of percentages of women acknowledging having been subjected to different forms of DV.

Acts intended to control behaviour are reported by the highest per- centage of women because these are probably the least shameful to disclose.
Indeed, it is easier to admit that a husband or a partner tries to restrict a woman’s contact with her family of birth and her friends, than the fact that her husband beats her, or makes her do something sexual that she finds degrading or humiliating, or insults her and makes her feel bad about herself.

The highest percentage of women named physical, then sexual, then emotional violence, then acts intended to control behaviour and then economical forms as violence.
Scheme 4.1 Forms of DV reported, as experienced by respondents, and forms of DV considered by respondents to constitute “violence”.
Georgia, 2009 Reported forms of DV: acts intended to control behaviour emotional abuse physical abuse economic abuse sexual abuse Forms of DV considered as violence: physical abuse sexual abuse emotional abuse acts intended to control behaviour economic abuse Data on the various forms of physical and sexual vio- lence show that victims are never subjected to single forms of violence - they instead experience a number of forms together.
The interesting result from Georgia is that 32.6% re- ported they have never had sexual relationships.

As was mentioned in Chapter 1 of the report, the “institution of virginity” is still strong among Georgians and many women do not admit to having had sexual relations be- cause family and broader community opinion is very important for them as members of a collectivist society.
In terms of reaction to violence, the data show that women who have been subjected to violence them- selves are more likely to justify domestic violence than women who have never been victimized.

Also, women from Tbilisi and other cities of Georgia say they would choose a more active coping strategy than women from rural areas of the country.
Around 35% of women would follow a passive coping strategy in cases of DV – just dis- cuss it within a family or do not discuss it at all; 34.1% of women say a husband is justified in beating his wife in certain cases.

Women say they are not obedient to their husbands in all situations.

They maintain that a wife should generally obey her husband, but can refuse to have sex with him.

NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 41 Chapter 5.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND HEALTH CONSEQUENCES THEREOF Marine Chitashvili, Luiza Arutiunov The damage wrought on women’s physical and mental health by domestic violence clearly show that the issue must be considered a problem that must be urgently ad- dressed, one that is directly linked to public health and indirectly linked to social welfare and equality issues.
The research shows that women who have experienced physical and sexual violence give overall poorer assess- ments of their own health compared to those who have never experienced such violence (WHO, 2005).

Women self-reporting on general and mental health problems include a wide range of indirect effects of physical and sexual violence which particularly affect their social and psychological well-being.
Injuries due to violence The questionnaire collected data on the health of wom- en in Georgia who have experienced physical and sexual violence by their intimate partners.

The respondents were asked several questions about the injuries they suffered due to that violence, frequency and types of injuries.

The results showed that in Georgia 9.1% women who have ever been married/or had an intimate partner have experienced violence from their husbands/part- ners.
This means that one of every 11 women in a mar- riage or serious relationship has been a victim of physi- cal or sexual violence.
Table below shows percentage of women injured as a result of physical or sexual violence by intimate partner(s), according to type of residence, age, education level and income, (Table 5.1) 42 Table 5.1 injuries due to violence Percentage of women injured as a result of physical or sexual violence by intimate partner(s), according to type of residence, age, education level and income, Georgia 2009 Background characteristics Injured women Number of women experienced physical or sexual violence (unweighted) Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Age groups 15 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 49 Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income Yes No Georgia 36.2 35 32.6 12 28 45 15 30.8 31.7 38.3 37.1 42.9 31.5 34.7 [21] [17[ [14] [10] [24] 38 [13] [8] [13] [18] [13] [18] 34 52 In total, 34.7% of women who have experienced violence have been injured by their husbands/partners.
Figure 5.1 Percentage of women who have been ever injured as a result of physical or sexual violence, grouped according to their independent income, Georgia, 2009 in your life, have you ever been injured by your husband(s)/partner(s)?

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 67,6 64,7 57,1 42,9 31,5 34,7 do you earn money by yourself?

No do you earn money by yourself?


Yes 0,9 0 0,7 total yes no don't know NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 43 The proportion of women who have been injured and those who have not does not vary much based on whether the woman has her own source of income, or she does not.

Out of women earning money by them- selves 42.9% said they had been injured while 57.1% said they had not.

For women who don’t have their own income, these figures stood at 31.5% and 67.6%, respec- tively.
No consistent difference was found between the re- spondents according to level of education.

Still, there is a tendency for a higher percentage of women who have technical (injured due to violence reporting 38.3%)1 and higher education (IDVR 37.1%) having been injured by their husbands/partners, than women with secondary (IDVR 31,7%) or incomplete secondary education (IDVR 30,8%).
Place of residence (capital, urban, rural) does not cor- relate to any difference in percentage of women experi- encing the physical and sexual violence.

The age of women shows some tendencies on inju- ries due to violence in Georgia.

The highest percent- age (45%) is observed in age group 35-44, then the age group 25-34 follows.
The same indicator decrease in other age groups (12% in age group 15-24 and 15% in age group 45-49) The questionnaire collecting data on the health of women in Georgia who have experienced physical and sexual violence from their intimate partners asked sev- eral questions about the injuries due to that violence, frequency and types of injuries.

1.
Injured due to violence reporting - IDVR Table 5.2 Number of injuries as a result of violence Frequency of injuries and percentage of women ever needing medical care for injuries (among women who have been injured as a result of intimate partner physical or sexual violence), by type of residence, age, education level and income, Georgia 2009 Background characteristics Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Age groups 15 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 49 Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income Yes No Georgia Frequency of injuries 1-2 3-5 More then 5 Injuries requiring medical treatment Number of women injured due to violence (unweighted) [17] [20] [13] [7] [12] [20] [10] [7] [13] [18] [12] [16] 34 50 44 Women who reported being injured in physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner were asked how many times they were injured as of the date of the study.
Fig- ure 5.2 represents the distribution of frequency of life- time physical or sexual violence among Georgian wom- en (Georgia 2009).

Figure 5.2 Percentage and distribution of number of in- jures during lifetime, Georgia 2009.

In your life, how many times were you injured by (any of) your husband(s)/partner(s)?
60 50 40 30 20 10 0 57,1 52,6 46,2 35,8 35,8 30,8 23,1 21,1 22,6 23,8 15,8 14,3 10,5 0 0 3,8 4,8 1,9 0 0 once/twice several many don't know refused answer Rural Urban Tbilisi Total The discrepancies between the different places of resi- dence are statistically reliable (Asymp.

Sig.

(2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square = 0,040; Likelihood Ratio = 0,039).

The research showed that the most women living in rural areas (57.1%), unlike the representatives of oth- er groups, report such an incident only once or twice.
Among the respondents of this group, a higher percent- age of women living in urban areas (outside Tbilisi) or in Tbilisi, claim that they have had such injuries for several times (15.8% and 46.2%, respectively) or many times (52.6 % and 30.8% while living with their husbands/ partners).

The total indicator of such incidents which have happened more than once is the following: for rural residents- 38.1 %, for urban respondents: 68.4%, Tbilisi respondents - 77%.
There is no difference of according to whether the wom- an has independent economic income or not, or accord- ing to age groups or level of education.

The same group of women (who reported being injured because of physical or sexual violence perpetrated by an intimate partner) was asked about violence during the past 12 months and results show that 25% of women who have been injured due to their husbands/part- ners’ acts have experienced such injuries in the past 12 months.
This percentage was maintained for all samples irrespective of place of residence, age group, level of education and having independent economic income or not.

The same trend as for the reporting of numbers of injures during the lifetime is maintained for the percent- age of women reporting injuries in the past 12 months - the number for urban settlements is higher (capital 30.8%, non-capital urban 26.3%) against 19% for rural residents.
Also, while there were no statistically signifi- cant differences among the age groups, still younger women were found to be more susceptible to violence than others (age group 20-24 – 42.9%; age group 25-29 - 50% vs. 30% in age group 30-34 and 25% in age group 35-49).

Injures due to intimate partners physical or sexual vio- lence occur in different forms.

With regard to the types of injures, the most common were “scratches, abra- sions, bruises” – 84.4%, and the second is the internal injuries -29.1%.
The Figure 5.3 presents the distribution of different types of injuries inflicted by a woman by her intimate partner in Georgia, 2009.
Figure 5.3 Percentage of injury types among women injured due to violence by intimate partners, Georgia, 2009 84,4% 100 80 60 40 20 0 3,7% 4,5% 7% 16,2% 1,3% 29,1% scratch; abrasion; bruises sprains; dislocations burns penetrating injury; deep cuts; gashes broken eardrum; eye injuries broken teeth internal injuries The picture does not change much according to char- acteristics like age and having independent economic income.
Still, it should be highlighted that the less com- mon injury types usually happen either only to women who have their own income (sprains, dislocations; bro- ken teeth, faint/loss of consciousness) or only to those, who do not have it (miscarriage, psychological damage, brain concussion).

The distribution of the indicators respective to place of residence groups creates almost the same account as the overall picture.
Although there are some character- istics: compared to rural residents, a higher percentage of respondents living in urban areas or in Tbilisi claim to have injuries such as scratch, abrasion, bruises ( 90.9 %, 91.2% against 74.1%).
Although the cases of internal injuries are more frequently claimed by residents of Tbi- lisi (48.2% against to 20.7% and 24.2% for the residents of rural areas or other towns and cities); On the other NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 45 hand there are no cases of ruptured eardrum, eye inju- ries with Tbilisi residents while such injuries are present with the rural (12.4%) and especially with urban (32.5%) residents.
In sum, the respondents from regional towns and from Tbilisi more frequently report different injury types.

Age becomes significant variable in following the num- bers of injures due to different forms and types during the lifetime.

There is a significant diversity of injury types present in cases of relatively older women.

This applies especially to respondents who are 35-39 years old.

All injury types, except for broken teeth were re- vealed among these respondents.
It is significant that respondents of this age group had the most frequent cases of injuries (total indicator- 228.2%).
In terms of di- versity of injury types, respondents ages 45-49 years old (total indicator – 186.9 %) take second place and those of 40-44 years old (161.3%) are having third place.2 It could probably be explained by the circumstance that they have a longer experience of living with their hus- bands/partners and their number among women of this category (as well as victims of violence perpetrated by husbands/partners as those injured due to their ac- tions) is higher.
18.8% of women report that they had lost the conscious- ness due to their husbands/partners’ violent acts while living with them.

The proportion of women who earn independent income are less often subjected to severe violence (losing consciousness), than those who do not have independent income 20.4% vs. 14.6%).
There is a small difference between the groups accord- ing to place of residence – a lower percentage of women are subjected to severe violence in Tbilisi (14%) versus urban areas outside the capital, 21.3%, and rural resi- dents 20%.

According to the age groups women aged 35-39 most often reported having lost consciousness - 31%, whereas in other groups the same indictor is around 13-18%.

The level of education significantly changes the picture.
Women with incomplete secondary (23.1%) and com- plete secondary education (27.9%) are more often sub- jected to this form of violence than women with voca- tional (14.9%) and higher education (11.4%).

Figure 5.4 Percentage of women who ever had lost consciousness due to violence by an intimate partner, according to their independent economic income, Georgia, 2009. in your life, did you ever lose consciousness because of what (any of) your husband(s)/partner(s) did to you?
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 82,9 79,9 78,7 20,4 18,8 14,6 0,9 2,4 1,3 yes no don't know do you earn money by yourself?

No do you earn money by yourself?

Yes total 21.4% of women who had lost consciousness due to intimate partner’s physical or sexual violence reported that it has happened in the past 12 months.

There was not any significant deviation according to the character- istics of different groups of women.
15.3% of women who have been victims of violence were injured so badly once or several times due to their husbands/partners’ physical or sexual violence that they needed health care (although it is possible that they did not seek it) 7.3 % have been in such a situation only once, 3.3 %- twice, 2%- 3 times, and four, five and 10 times - approximately only one per cent (for each).

Fig- ure 5.5 represents the percentage of health care need as a consequence of violence.
Figure 5.5 Percentage of women once or several times have been subjected to severe injures due to physical or sexual vio- lence by intimate partners and needed medical assist- ance.

11 1 2 3 6 7 not needed refused/no answer 2.

Note: the question allowed multiple responses and these figures indicate that respondents named several different types of injuries at the same time.
79 46 Age becomes the significant factor concerning the mul- tiplicity of injuries women receive during their lifetime (Asymp.

Sig.

(2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square = .000).

Age groups of women 35-49 [20.6%] and 30-34 [18.5%] indi- cate that they have been in these circumstances once or several times.

The same indicator in other age groups is as follows: 20-24 – 6.7%; 25-29 – 12%; 40-44 – 13%.

It is important to highlight that woman in age groups 35-39 13.8% and 45-49 14.3% refused to answer.
The same response rate for other groups varies 0-3.7%.

The violent behaviour from the partner is maintained during the last 12 month for 9.1 % of women.

None of the Tbilisi residents have experienced it during last year, contrary to the non-Tbilisi urban (14.3%) and rural (12.5%) residents.

Age is an important factor in this regard; a reliable difference was found among the age groups (Asymp.

Sig.
Sig.

(2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square = .024); only those respondents who are in the 20-24 and 24-29 age groups had this experience in the past 12 months.

Figure 5.6 Percentage of women who during their lifetime have re- ceived medical care for injuries caused by violence per- petrated by an intimate partner, according to whether or not they have independent economic income, Geor- gia, 2009. in your life, did you ever receive health care for this injury (injuries)?
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 62,5 42,9 40,9 28,6 31,8 25 18,2 12,5 14,3 7,1 4,5 0 7,1 4,5 0 yes, sometimes yes, always no, never don't know refused do you earn money by yourself?

No do you earn money by yourself?

Yes total Thus on the basis of analysis of answers by those re- spondents who have or have had a husband, we can say that:  One of every 11 women interviewed has been a vic- tim of a certain type of violence committed by her husband/partner.
 A third of these women have received a certain type of injury due to their husband/partners' actions.

 The majority of those women (60.3%) who have been injured due to their husbands/partners' acts have had this happen to them more than one time while living with them.

 The place of residence was revealed to be significant in regard to the types of injury: a larger percentage of Tbilisi and urban residents speak about such inci- dents than rural residents.
 One fourth of women who have been injured due to their husbands/partners' acts say that it has hap- pened in the past twelve months.

 The most frequent injuries that women have re- ceived are: SCRATCH, ABRASION, BRUISES, INTER- NAL INJURIES and RUPTURED EARDRUM, EYE INJU- RIES.

 Almost one fifth of the victim women have fainted/ lost consciousness due to their husbands/partners' acts.
 More than one fifth of women who ever experienced violence while living with their husbands/partners had this happen in the past 12 months.

 According to one sixth of the victim women , they were injured so much due to their husbands/part- ners' acts that they needed medical health care at least once.

Approximately one tenth of respondents had been in such situation in the past 12 months.

 Only one third of injured women receive appropriate medical care always, when needed.
 Only one third of these women were hospitalized due to their husbands/partners' acts for varying lengths of time (from 2 to 30 days).

Age was also cru- cial in this aspect: it is mainly young (20-29 years old) respondents who sought treatment at a hospital.

Physical violence during pregnancy Of women who were injured and needed medical care 18.2 % have never received it; 31.8 % have always sought it when needed, and 40.9 % sought medical care sometimes when needed.
The duration of women’s stays in hospital (33.3% of all women victims of physical and sexual violence had stayed in hospital) ranges from 2 to 30 nights.

5.6 % of them had to stay at the hospital for 2 nights, 16.6 % for 3 nights, 5.6% for 18 nights and 5.6% for 30 nights.

Any act of violence, even of very light intensity, is con- sidered a serious threat during pregnancy.
No one spoke about the serious consequences of acts of violence against pregnant women that affect not only health of mother, but unborn child.

There were special questions in the survey asking women who have been pregnant and experienced physical violence during pregnancy about the forms violence and types of injuries, as well as frequency and severity.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 47 In Georgia 2.7% of women who have ever been preg- nant experienced physical violence (Table 5.3).

The pro- portion of women who experienced the violence during pregnancy does not vary between women having or not having independent economic income, age groups or level of education.

A statistically significant difference (Asymp.

Sig.
Sig.

(2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square = 0,048; Like- lihood Ratio = 0,038) was found according to place of residence.

In particular, a far lower percentage (1.6 %) of rural residents compared to urban ones (3.1 %) and Tbilisi respondents (4.4%) say they have experienced physical violence from their husband/partner.

71.1% of respondents who have experienced physical violence while they were pregnant, reported that it hap- pened only once, 22.2 % - twice.
Differences according to the background characteristics of women have been found for this variable.

Out the women who have been somehow abused during their pregnancy 63.0 % report that it happened in their latest pregnancy.

2.2 % refused to answer.
It should be pointed out that these women constitute 1.7% of the total number of respondents who have been pregnant Table 5.3 Physical violence during pregnancy Percentage of pregnant women who have been pregnant and have experienced physical violence by intimate partner(s), according to place of residence, age, education level and income, Georgia 2009 Background characteristics Percent of women experienced violence Number of pregnant women (unweighted) Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Age groups 15 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 49 Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income Yes No Georgia 3.1 1.6 4.4 4 2.2 3.3 1.5 0 5.8 1.8 3.3 2 3.7 2.3 2 479 832 383 235 515 652 291 [6] 120 505 515 546 [16] 29 1694 Physical or sexual violence and general health In the study women were asked to evaluate their own general health status and their health status over the past 12 months.
The information on the health was ob- tained before asking about the acts of violence women were subjected to.

Women’s answers about their health were analysed according to their background character- istics and whether they have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner.

In Georgia the number of women reporting that physical or sexual violence by a partner has significantly affected their health was twice as high as the number of women who said it had no effect at all.
(Figure 5.7 A and B) 48 Figure 5.7 A Violence and general health How women having experienced physical or sexual violence perceive the degree to which the violence af- fected their health, according to age and having or not having independent income.3 Georgia 2009 There is a significant variance according to background characteristics when it comes to the likelihood of wom- en seeking medical help after experiencing violence.
The two figures below (Figure 5.5A and 5.5B) show the percentage of women who have received medical care due to physical or sexual violence by background char- acteristics.
20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 yes no no eﬀect a little a lot Figure 5.7B Violence and general health How women having experienced physical or sexual violence perceive the degree to which the violence af- fected their health, according to place of residence and education.
Georgia 2009 Figure 5.8A Violence and health condition Percentage of women who have ever received medical care after falling victim to violence, according to age, having or not having independent income.4 Georgia 2009 100 100 80 60 40 20 0 66,7 66,7 62,5 50 50 50 50 40 40 33,3 20 42,9 28,6 25 12,5 14,3 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 yes no yes, sometimes yes, always no, never Figure 5.8B Violence and health condition Percentage of women who have ever received health care, according to place of residence, education Georgia 2009 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 41.7 26.7 25 urban rural Tbilisi inco m pletesecondary co m pletesecondary techical high Georgia yes, sometimes yes, always no, never no eﬀect a little a lot 3. in figure 5.7 A “yes” means women who have independent in- come and “no” women who do not have independent income 4. in figure 5.8 A “yes” means women who have independent income and “no” women who do not have independent income NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 49 There are two factors perpetuating violence as a social phenomenon.
One of them is women’s perception that men have legitimate reason to perpetrate violent acts.

It is known that societal norms or schemas of what should be done by one sex or the other dominates the under- standing of general concepts like violence.

Table 5.4 be- low shows how women themselves understand men’s violent behaviour and find justification for it.

One third of women say a man is justified in beating his wife if he knows she has been unfaithful.
This result goes a long way towards explaining the discourse of vio- lence according to background characteristics.

One of the most striking results the Georgian sample displays is the lower reported rate of violence in rural areas.
These results completely contradict the general trend presented in different research on the same topic (WHO Table 5.4 Physical or sexual violence (Is a man justified in hitting his wife if...) Percentage of women who think about reasons, according to place of residence, region, age, education and having independent economic income, Georgia 2009 Background characteristics She doesn’t complete her household work to his satisfaction She disobeys him She refuses to have sexual relations with him She asks him whether he is being unfaithful He suspects that she is unfaithful He finds out that she has been unfaithful Yes 2.4 5.4 2.1 1.4 6.6 32.9 No 96.8 91.9 95.3 96.2 89.7 60.8 2005).
One possible explanation could be first the cul- tural norm not to speak about family matters to outsid- ers and second not to lose face in front of others (social position).

Traditional societies tend to hide the every- day praxis of certain behaviour in the face of changing social norms.

Transition and democratization of former traditional societies implementing new rules and roles of interpersonal relations have yet to firmly take root.
However the implications of new norms as new laws or rules could be seen as one of the indirect factors hiding the truth about the lives of women in rural settlements.

The effects of violence on children Women who had at least one child (between ages 5-12) were asked whether any of those children were dis- playing any peculiar behavioural patterns.

The sample of women who had experienced any type of physical or sexual violence was asked to assess their children’s behaviour.
In Figure 5.6 the nationwide proportions of some behavioural problems of children are presented from the families were women have been experiencing physical or sexual violence.

The results show that the most widespread behavioural problems among the children aged 5-12 are being tim- id or withdrawn (19.6%), having frequent nightmares (10.4%) and aggression toward mother or other chil- dren (7.2%).
In addition, bedwetting is more common among such children (5%) compared to the overall per- centage (3%).5 Figure 5.9 The effect of violence on children (ages 5-12 years) Percentage of some behavioural problems of chil- dren according to their mothers’ experience of physical or sexual violence.

Georgia 2009 80 60 40 20 0 19,6% 10,4% 5% 7,2% 2,3% have frequent nightmares bed wetting timid or withdrawn agression towards mother or other children suck their thumbs or ﬁngers 5.
A practical handbook for community health nurses working with children and their parents.

Ed.

Katie Booth and Karen A Luker.

1999.

Blackwell Science.

50 Chapter 6.

COPING WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Marine Chitashvili, Luiza Arutiunov It is important to know how women perceive the caus- es of domestic violence and how abused women cope with this violence - do they share their experience and with whom?
Do they seek help from service providers and support institutions as well as the governmental and nongovernmental organizations?

In Georgia since 2006 the law On Domestic Violence has enabled police to intervene in order to prevent domestic violence and penalize perpetrators.

Also, there is limited number a number of shelters for victims of domestic violence where then can receive the care, support and treatment to overcome the consequences of domestic violence.
These shelters are run both by state and nongovern- mental organizations.

The problem of access to care- giving organizations as well as close social network sup- port, gives the data on the accessibility and efficiency of these organizations on the one hand and indicates the degree of awareness about this support system on the other.
The questionnaire contained several ques- tions posed to women who have experienced the physi- cal and sexual violence by a partner about the ways in which they respond to domestic violence.

This chapter presents data on the causes of violence against women from the women’s perspective; strate- gies and services women use to deal with violence, so- cial networks in which women share their experiences of domestic violence and the official structures they are most likely to seek help from.
Also, the reactions of women to the violence they experience and methods of coping are discussed.

Causes of violence from women’s perspective Women who have reported physical violence from their husband or partner were asked about the causes of do- mestic violence in society as a whole.

The most common cause they cited was “he is drunk” (51.3%) and the sec- ond most common reason is “money problem” (25.6%).
The other problems listed by the abused women are as follows – “he is jealous” (21.9%), “he is unemployed” (17.3%), “no particular reason” (15.1%), “no food at home” (12.4%), “she is disobedient” (13.7%), “she refuses sex” (11%).

The following responses received less than 10% each: difficulties at his work, spouse im- potence, children, illness, wife is jealous, don’t love each other.
The detailed figures are presented in the tables 6.1 and 6.2 below (the total number of women responded to this question is 123 and multiple answers were possible).

NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 51 Table 6.1 Causes of physical violence from women’s perspective - 1 Percentage of women reporting physical violence by husband or partner on causes of domestic violence in society, grouped based on type of residence, education, and income.
Georgia 2009 Background characteristics no particular reason man drunk money problems difficulties at his work he’s unemployed no food at home problems with family she’s pregnant he’s jealous Number of women experienced violence 53.1 44.9 59.9 28.5 22.3 26.7 11.3 5.3 5.7 17.3 12.1 23.2 Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Age groups 15 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 49 Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income Yes No Georgia [12] 40 53 [19] [22] 34 41 26 35 88 123 8 13 9 10 0 3.1 5.5 21.7 9.3 6.5 7.3 0 3 5 3 0 13.9 28.5 18.4 19.6 16.4 17.3 Table 6.2 Causes of physical violence from women’s perspective - 2 Percentage of women reporting physical violence by husband or partner on causes of domestic violence in society, grouped based on region, type of residence, education and income Georgia 2009 Background characteristics She refuses sex she’s disobedient spouse’s impotence because of children illness woman is jealous don’t love each other Number of women experienced violence Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income Yes No Georgia [22] 34 41 26 35 88 123 52 Sharing the violence experienced In the survey women were asked with whom they share their experiences of violence from their social network, and close and broad social institutions.
Questions were designed in a way that women could report that they did not tell anyone about this problem.

This means that we only are talking in terms of identifying the problem, but we do not know their feelings and frequency or con- tinuity of violence.

In Georgia women most frequently choose their close social network - parents (47.5%), friends (31.2%), sister or brother (22.4%), husband’s family (14.8%) to speak about domestic violence.
The percentage of women who have shared their experi- ence with no-one is 27.8%.

This means that one third of women have to deal with the problem alone as they hide the violence from everyone.

There is very low per- centage of those who seek help and share their expe- rience outside of close social networks and the rate of reporting violence to official institutions follows – priest (3.2%), police (2%), medical doctor (1.9%), women’s NGO (1%).
The detailed results are presented below in Tables 6.3A and 6.3B (the total number of women re- sponded to this question is 150 and multiple answers were possible).

Table 6.3A.
Sharing the violence experienced Percentage of women who told about physical or sexual violence by a partner, grouped according to whom they told, and by region and type of residence, Georgia 2009 Background characteristics No one Friends Parents brother or sister uncle or aunt Husband/ partner’s family children Neighbours Number of women ever physically or sexually abused by a partner 24.1 38.4 17.2 20.8 18.2 13.9 10.3 Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Age groups 15 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 49 Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income 21.6 Yes 30.2 No Georgia [24] 88 115 39 26 42 47 35 42 108 150 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 53 Table 6.3B.
Sharing the violence experienced Percentage of women who told about physical or sexual partner violence by a partner, grouped according to whom they told, and by region and type of residence, Georgia 2009 Background characteristics Police Doctor/ health worker Priest NGO/women’s organization Grandmother Spouses relatives Number of women ever physically or sexually abused by a partner Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Age groups 15 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 49 Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income Yes No Georgia [24] 88 115 39 26 42 47 35 42 108 150 From the data it is obvious that official institutions are not the place where women seek support.
They share their violent experiences with their close social network of loved ones and are more likely to tell their friends, parents and blood relatives than relatives from their husband’s side.

These results indicate the dimension of traditional society that keeps the secrets within a family, as well as the insecurity of women in relation to the hus- band’s family (only 14.8% of women victims of physical violence share this with husband’s family).
Sharing the family violence with others varies according to background characteristics of women by age, inde- pendent economic income, level of education and place of residence.

Below, Figure 6.1A presents the data on sharing the violence experienced according to age.

It should be highlighted that due the small numbers of cases here we point out only tendencies and not cor- relations.
The figure 6.1A shows that the highest rate of sharing experience with parents (this pattern remains highest in all age groups).

Women are least likely to share their experiences with their husbands’ families.
Figure 6.1A Sharing the violence experienced Percentage of women who spoke about physical or sex- ual violence by a partner, according to whom they told, according to age groups Georgia 2009 100 80 60 40 20 0 57,7 48,4 35,5 33,1 38,6 34,5 30,7 30,2 28,8 7,7 11,5 10,4 48,2 37,4 23,2 20,9 43,7 30,3 21,5 20 54 no one friends 30,8 husband/partner's family parents 18,1 14,5 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 54 Figure 6.1B represents the rate of sharing violence by women victims of domestic violence based on whether they have independent sources of income.
The data clearly show that independent economic income chang- es the rate of sharing violent experiences however the pattern remains the same – the highest rate of sharing violence is with parents followed by friends, no-one and the husband’s family.

This order is constant irrespective of whether women have independent income.

It should be highlighted that there is big difference for women who have independent economic income with ones who do not have it.
Women with independent income are more likely to share their experiences with violence (only 21.6% told no-one) than women who do not earn money (30.2% told no-one).

Figure 6.1B Sharing the violence experienced Percentage of women who have shared their experience of domestic violence whether they have or not the inde- pendent income.1 Georgia 2009 Figure 6.1C Sharing the violence experienced Whom women told about domestic violence, grouped based on level of education.
Georgia 2009 100 80 60 40 20 0 38,8 34,2 42,3 35,9 29,3 12 25,5 14,4 29,4 19,7 12,3 52,2 53,7 40,2 no one friends husband/partner's family 20,9 16,9 parents incomplete secondary complete secondary technical high Figure 6.1D represents the rate of sharing violence ex- perience by women according to place of residence.

The results show that highest rate of sharing violence experiences is in Tbilisi and lowest is in rural areas.
One of the reasons rural women do not speak about the domestic violence they experienced could be societal norms of family conduct – not to take any information outside the family.
100 80 60 40 20 0 61,3 31,7 21,6 17,8 30,2 31 13,6 yes no 42,2 no one friends husband/partner's family parents Figure 6.1D Sharing the violence experienced Whom women told about domestic violence, grouped based on type of residence, Georgia 2009 Figure 6.1C presents the rate of sharing violence ex- periences by victimized women according to level of education.
The data clearly show that level of educa- tion impacts women’s behaviour in terms of sharing the experience with others (meaning the close social network).

However the rate of women who do not tell anyone about their violence experiences is still very high (around 30%) and decreases only among women who have higher education.

1. in figure 6.A B “yes” means women who have the independent income and “no’ means women who do not have independent eco- nomic income.
100 80 60 40 20 0 44 38,4 40,7 45 29,2 24,1 17,7 22,9 11,8 17,2 15,8 14,8 60,8 47,5 no one friends 31,2 27,8 husband/partner's family parents urban rural Tbilisi Georgia Seeking help in social networks or official institutions The results of the survey clearly indicate a particular pattern in which women prefer to share the violent ex- periences within their close social network rather than seek help with official institutions.
The study therefore sought to determine how much assistance was rendered by this close circle.

Figures 6.4A and 6.4B represent the NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 55 percentage of women who have had experienced physi- cal or sexual violence by a husband or partner, grouped according to persons who found out about the violence and offered help.
Mostly women receive help from their own parents (37.9%), husband’s family (17.5%), friends (15.7%), brother or sister (11.2%), neighbours (9.8%), children (9.4%), uncle or aunt (3.5%), priest (1.8%), po- lice (0.5%).

Again, a large percentage of women seeking help within the close social network are not able to re- ceive any assistance (38%).

(The total number of women responded to this question is 150 and multiple answers were possible).

Table 6.4A.
Persons from immediate social network who offered help in relation to the violence experienced Percentage of women who reported physical or sexual violence by husband or partner, grouped according to the persons who knew about the violence and offered help, and by region and type of residence, Georgia 2009 Type of residence No-one Friends Parents brother or sister uncle or aunt Husband/partner’s family Number of women ever physically sexually abused by a partner Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Age groups 15 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 49 Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income Yes No Georgia [20] 74 86 37 26 42 47 35 42 108 150 Table 6.4B.
Persons from immediate social network who offered help in relation to the violence experienced Percentage of women who reported physical or sexual violence by husband or partner, grouped according to the persons who knew about the violence and offered help, and by region and type of residence, Georgia 2009 Background characteristics Children Neighbours Police Priest Spouse’s relatives Number of women ever physically sexually abused by a partner Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Age groups 15 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 49 Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income Yes No Georgia [20] 74 86 37 26 42 47 35 42 108 150 56 The research data clearly show that it is rare for women to seek help and support via official institutions.
The scope of questions was targeted to identify the reasons why women do not approach the official institutions.

Ta- ble 6.5 below presents the reasons cited for seeking and not seeking help among women experiencing physical or sexual violence and who either had or had not sought help from at least one institution or agency in response to partner violence.
The most common reason for seek- ing help is “badly injured” (30.2%), and most common for not applying for help is embarrassment/ashamed/ afraid (29.6%) and bringing bad name upon the family (23.7%).

These reasons are followed by two others cited as “violence normal/not serious” (16.2%) and “fear of threats/consequences/more violence” (11.9%).
Table 6.5 Most common reasons cited for seeking help and not seeking help from an institution/ person after experiencing violence Reasons cited for seeking and not seeking help, among women who reported physical or sexual violence and who either had or had not sought help from at least one institution or agency after experiencing violence from a husband or partner, Georgia 2009 Percent Number of cases Most commonly mentioned reasons for seeking help Encouraged by family/friends Couldn’t endure more Badly injured He threatened or tried to kill her He threatened or hit the children Saw that children were suffering Afraid he would kill her Total Most commonly mentioned reasons for not seeking help Fear of threats/consequences/more violence Violence normal/not serious Embarrassed/ashamed/afraid wouldn’t be believed or would be blamed Believed not helped/know other women not helped Afraid he would end relationship Afraid she would lose children Afraid of giving the family a bad name Didn’t think it necessary/ didn’t take it as force Didn’t make sense, would do the same again Spouse was ill Lived illegally in Russia Total 17.1 79 30.2 6.3 2.9 7 6.9 149.9 11.9 16.2 29.6 7.2 3.3 6.7 23.7 5.6 1.1 0.8 0.9 133.5 [5] [22] [8] [2] [1] [2] [2] 28 [14] [20] 36 [9] [4] [8] 29 [7] [1] [1] [1] 122 Fighting back the violence The study showed that few women fight back when they are subject to domestic violence.
63.4% of women who have experienced physical abuse say they have never fought back; 15.4% said they had done it at once; 10.6% fought back several times and only 8.1% frequently fight back due to physical violence.

Table 6.6 presents the data on women in Georgia fighting back in response to domestic violence, grouped according to various back- ground characteristics.
In qualitative research there was a special section for interviewing women who are in the penitential system due to crimes they committed against violent partners.

Unfortunately the research team was denied permission to interview these women because of “instability” in women’s prisons in spring 2009.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 57 Table 6.6 Fighting back physically to protect oneself against physical violence experienced Percentage of abused women who have ever fought back to protect themselves against partner violence, grouped by region, type of residence, Georgia 2009 Background characteristics Never once or twice several times many times Number of women ever physically or sexually abused by a partner Type of residence Urban Rural Tbilisi Age groups 15 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 49 Education Incomplete secondary Complete secondary Technical Higher Independent income Yes No Georgia [12] 40 54 [19] [22] 35 41 26 35 88 123 Leaving home due to violence Women were asked about the frequency of leaving home due to physical violence and figures 6.2 and 6.3 present the data on percentage distribution of number of times women leave their homes due to partners’ violent behaviour.
The results clearly show that women who have experienced physical violence most commonly have left their house 2-5 times.

The rates are highest among women aged 30-34 and 45-49, Tbilisi residents and women with a technical education.
Figure 6.2 Leaving home due to violence Percent distribution of number of times leaving home due to physical or sexual partner violence, grouped according to age, independent income.1 Georgia not living together 6 + times 2-5 times once never left home 20-25 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 yes no 1. in figure 6.2 “yes” women who have the independent income and “no’ means women who do not have independent economic income.
58 Figure 6.3 Leaving home due to violence Percent distribution of number of times leaving home due to physical or sexual violence, grouped according to type of residence, education Georgia not living together 6 + times 2-5 times once never left home The most commonly cited reasons for women leaving home after experiencing physical or sexual assault were “could not take it anymore” (84.5%) and severe injures (10.2%).
The results show that women leave home only in extreme cases and that all other reasons, even threats to kill her are rarely cited.

5.7% said they left home because their part- ner threatened to kill them; 6% because of a threat to hit children; 6% because their children were suffering; 6.3% because they were afraid of being killed by their partner.

4.7% said they left home because they were thrown out.
Women also were asked the reasons for returning home after leaving temporarily due to partner’s violence.

Figure 6.8 presents commonly cited reasons for returning – the most commonly reported reasons are – “don’t want to leave children” (36.6%); for the sake of family and children (31.5%); he asked her to return (26.8%); love him - 16.5% and forgive him 16.3%, family asked to return 12.6%.
Table 6.7 Most commonly cited reasons for leaving home due to violence Most commonly cited reasons for leaving home (the most recent case), by physically or sexually abused women who had left at least once because of partner violence, Georgia 2009 Most commonly cited reasons for leaving home Encouraged by family/friends Couldn’t take it anymore Badly injured He threatened or tried to kill her He threatened or hit children Saw that children were suffering Thrown out of the home Afraid he would kill her Physical abuse No particular incident Total Percent 1.6 84.5 10.2 5.7 6 6 4.7 6.3 1.5 1.3 127.8 Number of cases [1] 55 [7] [3] [4] [4] [4] [4] [1] [1] 65 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 59 Table 6.8 Most commonly cited reasons for returning after leaving temporarily because of partner’s violence Most commonly cited reasons for returning home, among physically or sexually abused women who had left and returned at least once because of partner’s violence, Georgia 2009 Most commonly cited reasons for returning Percent Number of cases Didn’t want to leave children Sanctity of marriage For sake of family/children Couldn’t support the children Loved him He asked her to come back Family said to return Forgave him Thought he would change He threatened her/children Couldn’t stay in the place where she had sought shelter Violence normal/not serious Total 36.6 6.1 31.5 4.4 16.5 26.8 12.6 16.3 8.6 3 8.4 4.3 175 [16] [3] [14] [2] [7] [12] [6] [7] [4] [1] [4] [2] 44 Women answers are more vague and not differentiated reporting why do they stay with partners who are practicing violence both physical or sexual.
68.5% of these women do not name any reason but the fact is that women preserve the family and remain the victims of domestic violence.

Among the reasons part of the respondents cite why they have never left home despite the husband’s behaviour, we frequently come across the same factors as in the case above – family and children, reasons connected with the spouse; in addition we face the reasons of fear of being left alone (12.7%) and the absence of place to go (14.9%).
The responses according to the demographic variables do not vary much.

Table 6.9 represents the data on most commonly reported reasons for not leaving home due to violence.
Table 6.9 Most commonly reasons for not leaving home due to violence Most commonly cited reasons by physically or sexually abused women who had never left temporarily despite the partner’s violence, Georgia 2009 Most commonly cited reasons for not leaving home Didn’t want to leave children Sanctity of marriage Didn’t want to bring shame on family Couldn’t support children Loved him Didn’t want to be single Family sad to stay Forgave him Thought he would change Threatened her/children Violence normal/not serious husband did not allow to go No answer Total Percent 25.2 8.6 32.3 7.6 9.6 12.7 5.3 16.1 17.1 14.9 17.2 1.3 7.5 176 Number of cases 20 7 26 6 8 10 4 13 14 12 14 1 6 81 60 Chapter 7.
BEHIND THE SCENES: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH RESULTS Lia Tsuladze What is Violence?

Any English-language dictionary defines “violence” as the exercise or an instance of physical force, usually causing or intended to cause injury or destruction.
What is notable in this definition is that the emphasis is put on physical force aiming to inflict visible damage, such as injuries or destruction, and nothing is said about the types of violence that are not so visible, yet extremely dangerous, such as emotional or psychological violence.

Presumably, the dictionary definition reflects the most common perception of violence and latently refers to the fact that people often don’t see or perceive violence until it becomes visible.
Therefore, often it is not only the witnesses of violence who do not understand it is happening in front of their eyes – in fact, those experi- encing the violence themselves do not realize they are victims.

Consequently, neither society nor the victims of violence take the necessary steps to combat it.

All of this perfectly corresponds to our research data.

Thus, let’s try to look behind the scene to reveal less visible aspects of gender-based domestic violence in Georgia.
In order to make our discussion clear for the larger au- dience, some background information about the most essential cultural characteristics should be provided.

It is believed that typologically Georgian culture belongs to the collectivist type of cultures, with a strong orienta- tion towards small social groups and, most importantly, family, as well as interdependency, close emotional re- lations, with shame as a crucial category in interper- sonal relationships.
(Nijaradze, 2001; Surmanidze, 2000, 2001, 2003; Tsuladze, 2003).

Historically, the strong orientation towards forming smaller social groups has been caused by the fact that over the centuries, self- preservation and self-defence were the main strategies in the formation of ethnic identity.

In this process the family, with its unity and closeness, played a crucial role in self-preservation and developed as a “micro model” of the state.
It can be stated that in Georgian culture the value of family, with its characteristic orientation towards unity and closeness, is also applied to other in- groups (relatives, friends, neighbours, etc.).

What makes the core of the construct of “family” in Georgia?

Everyone familiar with Georgian culture will immediately reply: The concept of “mother”.

Indeed, it is believed that there is a very strong cult of woman as mother in Georgia.
The cultivation of the social value of “woman as mother” came about because of the Geor- gian brand of Orthodox Christianity, which has perceived a woman as a major agent for disseminating religiosity in the family, and because of historical conditions: given males’ frequent absence in conditions of continuous wars, the mother was considered as a potential substi- tute for man’s functions and an equal member in a cou- ple “carrying a yoke.”1 This cult was also backed up by 1.
In everyday language “wife” (“tsoli”) is often substituted by the fol- lowing words: “meughle” (“spouse”, literally meaning a person carry- ing the same yoke) and “dedakatsi” composed of mother (“woman”, NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 61 the social role of mother as child-rearer, which strength- ened the “mother’s line” in the process of raising the future generation.

opinion every five minutes.

There is a certain boundary that should not be crossed.
I can tolerate certain things from a woman but...” Simultaneously, the historical conditions forced her to bear almost total responsibility for raising a child, con- sequently, incorporating the elements of the “father’s line” as well.

Thus, despite the normative stereotype (modest and obedient), Georgian women have always been demonstrating their culturally approved domi- nance in family life.

To this day, the influence of a moth- er, even over adult children, is quite strong in Georgia.
For instance, taking into consideration mother’s taste and opinion is often one of the most significant fac- tors to be taken into account while getting married.

Consequently, a spouse’s harmonious relationship with mother/mother-in-law often plays a decisive role in the interaction between spouses.

The mother’s cult in Georgian culture also reflects an unquestioned normative value ascribed to legal mar- riage which in turn demonstrates the deep influence of Christian ideology.
It is well known that according to this ideology, sexual behaviour is generally viewed from a religious-ethical perspective.

Of the two major aspects of sexuality – eroticism and reproduction – the latter has traditionally been considered the primary one (and not only in Georgia).

Concerning eroticism, this sphere is un- der special pressure, strictly regulated, and its display is perceived as an immoral act.
At the same time, a well known double moral standard puts a woman in much more difficult position than a man.

Certainly, the ques- tion concerns not the absence of eroticism but the nor- mative orientation of the culture that views eroticism in the context of ideological perceptions.
After familiarizing ourselves with some essential aspects of Georgian culture in the context of family, which can contribute to explaining certain aspects of domestic vio- lence, let’s return to the issue of perception of gender equality and domestic violence by our research sub- jects.

A few passages from the focus group discussions will highlight our respondents’ perceptions of gender equality.

It should be emphasized that males and fe- males possess quite similar views about this issue.
Respondent N 3: “You cannot negotiate all the details with your wife.
For instance, when I want to visit my friend or bring him to my house.” Moderator: “And if your wife wants to bring her friend to your house, should she ask you?” Respondent N 3: “Of course, she should.” [From a focus group discussion with men, aged 35-59, Tbilisi] Female respondent: “Although mostly men undertake violence over women, there are families where women are violent, they are dominant over men - I cannot stand this.” Moderator: “You say you cannot stand it when women are violent, so can you tolerate men’s violence?” Same respondent: “I cannot stand it either but what can be done?
Where could I go?
For instance, I have lived in such conditions.” [From a focus group discussion with women, Samtskhe- Javakheti] These passages from the focus group discussions with both males and females demonstrate that according to our respondents, men are not required to ask their wives’ opinion about “all the details”, while women must do so at all times; that it is perfectly fine if men are dominant over women but even women cannot stand female dominance, moreover, it is automatically perceived as women’s violence towards men.
Some ad- ditional passages from the focus group discussions will further clarify our respondents’ ideas about gender equality issues.

Women from a village discuss the issue of distribution of work in family.

Respondent N 9: “In most cases it’s the man who works; therefore it’s not a big deal if the woman also has to work from time to time.” Respondent N 2: “Women may feel inadequate because they are not asked their opinion by men.
But it is un- imaginable that a Georgian man should ask his wife’s A moderator asks: what is the hardest work for females to do?

composed of “deda” (“mother”) + “katsi” (“man”).
62 Respondent N 3: “Cultivating the land.” Respondent N 10: “Physical work at home and outside.” Respondent N 8: “Laundry, housework, working in the garden, taking care of children and helping them with homework, etc.” Respondent N 4: “I think it is everyone’s destiny here.” [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35- 59, Telavi, Kakheti region] The question remains: If women living in rural areas do physical work both at home and outside - starting from housework and ending with cultivating land - what kind of work do the rural men do and how does it happen that “in most cases it’s the man who works”?
Given that these notions are held by female respondents, it should not be surprising that males view gender equality in the very same light.

Male respondent N 1: “...Why not, if women and men have equal rights, women should also herd cattle, take up arms and fight in a war if necessary.” Moderator: “Should men also do women’s work?” Respondent N 1: “How can it happen?

A man cannot raise children, can he?


A family should be taken care of, laundry should be washed, meals should be cooked, and a man cannot do it, he cannot wash laundry as it is not in his genes.” [From a focus group discussion with men, aged 35-59, Telavi, Kakheti region] It can be inferred from this short discussion that, in the male respondents’ understanding, gender equality im- plies that women can do men’s work but not the oth- er way around.
And if men cannot do housework and do laundry just because “it is not in male genes,” does having female “genes” really imply herding cattle and fighting in a war?

It is hard to believe that women them- selves assume that they should do all kinds of physical work inside and outside, and it is noteworthy that such a perception of gender equality is characteristic to males and females from both the capital and the regions.
Still the following issue is the most important one: How can our respondents have a proper understanding of gen- der-based domestic violence if they are not aware of what gender equality is?

The easiest way to get familiar with their views about domestic violence is to present the list of concepts most frequently associated with domestic violence, ascer- tained from the quantitative content analysis of their ideas.
Such an analysis highlights that for our research subjects, violence usually means cruelty, humiliation (both physical assault and verbal insult), beating, im- posing one’s opinion on others, making someone do something against one’s will, etc.
The forms of violence most frequently identified by the respondents include physical and verbal violence, however, the victims of do- mestic violence living in shelters or having experience of staying at shelters in the past and being provided special services, as well as experts and service providers, em- phasize psychological, economic, and sexual violence in addition to physical and verbal violence.
Why don’t others (both males and females) identify such forms of violence as psychological, economic, and sexual?

Why do the victims often confess that they have been experiencing psychological or economic violence for several years or maybe even decades without know- ing they were victims?

And why do the experts and serv- ice providers state that these forms of violence are as dangerous as and sometimes even worse than physical violence?

“...

Psychological violence provokes similarly dreadful outcomes.
However, it is not visible and therefore, hard to combat.

Physical violence results in obvious physical signs, and as everyone can see them, such violence can be resisted.

It’s hard to put up resistance against psycho- logical violence on the other hand.” (Expert, Telavi) “I work at an NGO on this particular issue.

I deal with the victims of violence and know that physical violence is the final stage.
Thus, first come such forms as psychological, emotional, economic, and sexual violence, and finally, physical violence.

But the problem is that unless a victim experiences physical violence, she does not understand that she is a victim.” (Service provider, Tbilisi) “Psychological violence is not perceived as violence by our women.

They think it’s natural that someone should be psychologically dominant in a family...
Sexual violence is reported in the very last case, as they are ashamed and hide it though we grasp from their talks that it al- ways is accompanied by physical violence.” (Service pro- vider, Tbilisi) “Women usually don’t know what economic violence is.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 63 While there are lots of cases when men make women work and then take away all the money they earn, wom- en are used to it and don’t even think of it as a form of violence.” (Expert, Tbilisi) “I was experiencing... economic violence from my hus- band and psychological violence from his family, but it took me 17 years to realize I was a victim.” (Victim living in a shelter) To summarize, because of the less visible character of the forms of violence other than physical violence, and also the lack of awareness, women usually do not know what psychological and economic violence imply, and they avoid talking about sexual violence because of the above-mentioned normative orientation of Georgian culture.
The experts and service providers often em- phasize that this sphere is still “taboo” in Georgia.

In- deed, only one out of ten victims of domestic violence interviewed for this study confessed that she had been a victim of sexual violence; the rest simply did not say anything about this topic.
While we can assume that there are more cases of sexual violence as, based on the abovementioned quotes from the focus group discus- sion with service providers, physical violence is usually accompanied by sexual abuse.

What do those who do not consider themselves as vic- tims of violence and have never referred to any special organizations think about what violence is?
Even by looking through the focus group interview transcripts with those (especially men) living not only in the regions but also in the capital, it is obvious that they have a very scarce understanding of what gender-based domestic violence can be.

Some passages from the focus group discussions: [From a focus group discussion with men, aged 35-59, Tbilisi] The moderator is asking men’s opinion about beating women.

Respondent 1: “It depends on the reason for beating: maybe she deserves to be beaten.
But one should beat only a donkey and if you beat her you should also let her go...” Respondent 4: “It is said that one should beat a wom- an if she cannot raise children properly; otherwise you shouldn’t beat her.” [From a focus group discussion with men, aged 35-59, Telavi, Kakheti region] We can infer from these passages that, in the male re- spondents’ opinion, “based on our mentality” only men can be violent to their wives and if women dare to do the same, men should immediately make them leave; that beating one’s is acceptable in certain circumstanc- es, especially when she is reluctant (here a wife is com- pared to a donkey), as well as when she is not a proper child-rearer (as if men were not responsible for raising their children at all).
But most importantly, our respond- ents do not see violence around them - maybe only in movies.

Although our female respondents never identify this last type of domestic violence, quite often they do not see any violence around them either, as is evident from their focus group discussion transcripts.

Overall, their ideas are concurrent with the ones of males and even back them up.
Respondent 1: “Probably violence is when you are harsh to your wife and never take into consideration her opin- ion.” Respondent 4: “There are no cases of domestic violence around me.” The moderator asks whether the agent of violence is al- ways the husband.

Respondent 1: “It can be the other way around.

But I meant it based on our mentality...

If a wife does so, you will make her leave, won’t you?
!” Respondent 2: “I have seen violence in movies - when a husband accuses his wife that she has jumped in his bed against his will and similar things.

I haven’t seen any other violence.” Respondent 8: “Neither around me.” Respondent 4: “Minor misunderstandings happen in all families but they don’t often result in serious clashes and divorce.
My daughter’s family fell apart because of violence; but when the third person interferes in spous- es’ affairs there is much more violence than when the spouses are left alone.

Otherwise, all of us have families and know that when the husband says something, you should be tolerant.

It’s not a big deal - either one should tolerate or another.

It’s useless if everyone thinks of es- 64 caping.

Misunderstandings take place in all families.

If my husband curses me, how can I leave him for this rea- son?
It’s not a big deal - it’s life.” [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35- 59, Telavi, Kakheti region] Thus, we have a woman saying there have not been any cases of domestic violence around her immediately fol- lowed by a “by the way” example of her daughter’s fam- ily that resulted in divorce because of violence.
Probably it was a serious case of violence (though she does not remember having encountered any) as otherwise she thinks women should tolerate at least curses and verbal insults from their husbands.

Although she states it’s not a big deal if either one side or another puts up with such behaviour, based on her words we can infer that both sides are always represented by women.
Another group of women seeing no violence around them is internally displaced persons (IDP) living in the Centres for IDPs in Tbilisi.

All of their interview transcripts are almost identical, as if one was looking through the same transcript all the time: All of them state they have never encountered any violence and have never been victims of violence themselves.
Most of them say they have seen violence only on TV and only one respond- ent tells the story of a family (she has witnessed herself) where “there was regular beating but next day this man was absolutely different and tried to fulfil his wife’s de- sires... and they had a sweet life.” Thus, although this woman considers it as a case of violence, she still thinks that “regular beating” is compatible with “a sweet life.” Internally displaced women’s ideas do sound strange, as their status automatically implies that they are victims of violence.
Besides, the experts and service providers interviewed for this study state that there is a high fre- quency of violence among IDPs because of economic and psychological problems they have encountered as a result of war and displacement.

Still, they report no cases of violence, not only in their immediate families but also in their surroundings.
Probably, the abovemen- tioned normative orientation of Georgian culture, which stresses the importance of shame and is reflected in the widespread expression - “What will people say?” - plays a crucial role here.

Another example clarifying women’s understanding of gender-based domestic violence can be cited from the in-depth interview with a representative of an eth- nic minority group, namely, an Azeri woman living in Marneuli District.
It is noteworthy that she is one of the most educated representatives of her ethnic group, be- ing a school director and instructor who teaches classes on civil rights.

While being asked whether she has ever experienced gender-based violence, she replies: “I cannot remember concrete examples but I had a very jealous husband who didn’t allow me to occupy high po- sitions at work, to go to different places, etc.

However, I have been successful...


I have managed to persuade my husband that I am not only a woman but also a human being.

I resisted him, which sometimes resulted in him cursing or pushing me, but I have achieved what I aimed to achieve...

I was a pretty woman and my husband was jealous; that’s why we had misunderstandings.
For ex- ample, if we were at a wedding or I looked in the direc- tion where men were standing in the street... Once he beat me for this reason right in the street.” We see here that a woman who delivers classes on civil rights is not sure whether cursing, pushing and beating are types of violence, to say nothing about less obvious forms such as forbidding a wife to advance in her career.

Here a question emerges: Is the lack of awareness only a common issue for inexpert population?

Unfortunately, no!
Unfortunately, no!

Based on the material of focus group discussions with policemen, it is obvious that even those protecting the victims of domestic violence on a daily basis have only a very vague understanding of what domestic vio- lence is.

“Every woman has and must have the fear of doing something wrong or something non-traditional... A woman may say she wants to go somewhere and her husband may not want her to go there.
They may argue and... For a man it’s not violence, it’s simply solving the problem in a traditional way.

While if you ask a woman, it’s violence: why shouldn’t I be able to go?- she thinks.” (Policeman, Tbilisi) “Say, we are notified that there is a case of violence.

We go there and there is a woman, who says she wants to work, while her husband doesn’t allow her to do so.

What reaction should we have?

Can you say it is vio- lence?

It’s psychological pressure.


While violence takes place when there is no point in any psychological pres- sure as it cannot influence a woman.” (Policeman, Tbi- lisi) “There should be a clear definition of what domestic violence is.
Consequently, a proper law should be adopt- ed to make domestic violence a punishable action...” (Policeman, Samtskhe-Javakheti) NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 65 Thus, those who are supposed to protect population from domestic violence not only do not have a clear un- derstanding of what domestic violence is (even worse, they may not know that a definition of domestic vio- lence and relevant legislation exist at all), but also may have sexist and violent ideas themselves: “Every woman has and must have the fear of doing something wrong or something non-traditional...” and may think it is a traditional way of solving a misunderstanding between spouses.
Indeed, the experts and service providers do complain that the representatives of law-enforcement bodies do not have sufficient information and are often not aware of what domestic violence is.

Although they undergo special trainings on the issues of domestic violence, it still does not make sense to them because, as they say, society is not ready for these changes, the “public men- tality is not sufficiently developed yet.” “The police do not know what to do...
They even do not know what kind of job they should do though they have been provided with lots of training...

I think they don’t understand at all what violence is”.

(Service provider, Telavi) “Our organization systematically arranges trainings about domestic violence for policemen.

I attended one such training and saw that only three out of 22 police- men correctly indicated that the presented case was an example of domestic violence.

The rest didn’t agree with them.


And it happens among policemen who are al- ready trained; imagine what happens among those who have not had such trainings!

That’s because the public mentality is not sufficiently developed yet.” (Service pro- vider, Tbilisi) “The policeman should have more information about and be more involved in cases of domestic violence.
The policeman should know appropriate law in order to apply it accordingly... Quite often they don’t apply this law.” (Expert, Tbilisi) But is the lack of information and insufficient awareness a problem characteristic to merely inexpert population and the police?

It turns out from the focus group inter- views with experts and service providers that the same issues are characteristic of them as well.
Some service providers, for example, think that things that are per- ceived as a part of tradition and have been performed for a long time, say, when a woman didn’t have the right to talk first until addressed, cannot be considered as gender based violence.

And some experts (especially females!)


think that men have better intellectual abili- ties than women, and that a family should by all means have a single head of family, who makes the most im- portant decisions, as someone is always dominant in the family and “absolute gender equality” is non-existent.

(Presumably, in her opinion, the head of family should necessarily be a man as men have better intellectual abilities, therefore, can make better decisions than women).
Besides, she states, it’s the case all around Georgia and she has also grown up in such a family.

Im- mediately, a question emerges: How can these experts combat gender based domestic violence if they even do not understand what gender equality means and, most importantly, do not believe in “absolute gender equal- ity” themselves?

Expert N 3: “In equal conditions, men have better intel- lectual abilities.

If we take the best samples of both men and women, even at mathematics, men are much more advanced.
It happens naturally.

A woman’s function is to take care of the future generation.

The quality of the work of the brain is different.” Expert N 4: “Take any example - a man is intellectually higher than a woman.

You can just list some famous per- sons.” Expert N 2: “Why, what about female chess players?”2 Expert N 3: “Yes, but let’s make a female champion com- pete with a male one, what will happen?

I want to say that they are different and, therefore, either one or the other is dominant in a family.
There is no family with absolute gender equality.

To some degree one is always dominant - I mean the head of family.” [From a focus group discussion with experts, Telavi] “I think that violence is a drastic deviation from tradition.

Traditions are extremely different in various countries.

In some countries certain things are accepted and not perceived as violence.

We know, for instance, that here psychological violence is not perceived as violence.
So, if we have an average indicator based on a certain tra- dition, we can consider deviation from this as violence.

For example, for quite a long time, in the mountainous regions a woman was not allowed to talk first.

How can this be perceived as violence?

It cannot, as it was that 2.

Georgian female chess players have been the European champions several times.
66 way everywhere.” (Service provider, Tbilisi) Indeed, it is not surprising that the population lacks information and awareness when those considered ex- perts in issues of gender-based domestic violence and service providers for the victims hold such ideas them- selves!

And if in the Georgian reality “psychological vio- lence has traditionally not been perceived as violence”, is that a valid argument for not deeming it violence nowadays?
If so, we should revive the tradition of not allowing women to speak unless they are spoken to Thus, it is evident that Georgian society does lack an understanding of what gender-based domestic violence means and serious educational work should be under- taken at all levels of society, starting from the victims, who may have been victimized for decades without re- alizing they have been victims, and ending with experts and service providers, who aim to help victims and to change the perceptions of the society without realizing they hold the same perceptions themselves.
How and Why Is Violence Experienced The victims of violence, as well as policemen, experts, and service providers are unanimous in their ideas about the agents of violence.

They state that domes- tic violence is mainly perpetrated by a husband and his family (mostly mother-in-law), especially when the hus- band is drunk.

“ I have been married for six years now and my husband has been beating me for six years... My husband is de- pendent on women - his mother and sisters.

He doesn’t have his own opinion.


They have always insulted me and I couldn’t defend myself... Unemployment has its own impact.

In order to work, my husband has to ask permis- sion from his mother.

I tried to work and he was asking his mother whether I was allowed to work.

He was ask- ing her about everything.


I wouldn’t have had any prob- lem if he hadn’t beaten me; in such a case we would still be living together.” (Victim living in a shelter) “I was experiencing physical and economic violence from my husband and psychological violence from his family, especially his mother.” (Victim living in a shelter) “As soon as my husband got drunk he started to curse and beat me.
I went to my mother-in-law for help but she always accused me, saying I was guilty for him hav- ing such an attitude towards me, and she made every- thing even worse.” (Victim not living in a shelter) “I experienced all types of violence from my husband at different stages of our life together.

It happened quite frequently.

As soon as he got disturbed, he immediately became aggressive to me.

And it has been lasting for a long time - I have been married for 20 years now...
In my case, the main cause was my husband’s family members’ behaviour - they provoked my husband.
My father-in- law was less responsible for this, mainly mother-in-law influenced my husband.” (Victim not living in a shelter) Taking into consideration the mother’s dominant role in a Georgian family and her influence even on her adult children’s private lives (especially the son’s life, as he is the one who, as a rule, brings his wife to his fam- ily’s house), backed up by the abovementioned “cult of mother” in Georgian culture, these women’s words are not surprising.
Moreover, even a service provider who is supposed to protect such women from their husbands’ and their immediate family members’ violence states the following: “... Of course, not getting involved at all is not an op- tion - I have sons and know that if my daughter-in-law behaves inappropriately, I won’t be able to remain silent or tolerant though it’s a matter of form.” (Service pro- vider, Tbilisi) Policemen charged with dealing with cases of domes- tic violence on a daily basis also confirm that the most frequent cases of violence are perpetrated by husbands when they are drunk.
“Most of the cases of violence I have encountered work- ing at the police station over the past year happen when a husband is drunk, when a wife reports that he drinks and becomes aggressive to her.
When we ask her how he behaves while sober, she usually replies that he is like an angel with wings.” (Policeman, Tbilisi) The second most widespread form of violence is par- ents’ violence against their children (based on the vic- tims’ reports, there were two cases in which a father was beating his teenage daughter).
Although at first glance it seems that parents’ physical violence against their children is less common than husbands’ physical violence against their wives, different passages from the in-depth interviews and the focus group transcripts NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 67 confirm that parents’ (especially mothers’) physical and psychological violence against their children is equally widespread, though parents usually do not realize it is violence and they often consider such behaviour to- wards their children natural.
“You may be angry with your husband and may with- out any reason punish your children - it often happens.” [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35- 59, Tbilisi] “I work with children and know that there are frequent cases of mother’s violence against their children.

We of- ten come across emotional violence that is realized nei- ther by the child nor the mother but it may have very bad consequences for an adolescent or a child.
I even have a case of a mother pulling her 1.5-year-old daugh- ter’s hair.

I tell her it is violence and punishable under the convention on children’s rights.
I am also surprised by the recent tendency in which, when young spouses are violent to each other, they have developed a habit of taking out this aggression on their children.” (Service provider, Tbilisi) However, it becomes obvious from the focus group tran- scripts that taking out aggression on children is not a “recent tendency,” nor are spanking or dragging a child or pulling his/her hair recent inventions; they have al- ways been quite widespread practice among Georgian mothers; while after a child becomes a teenager, anoth- er form of violence - emotional violence - is practiced by Georgian mothers aiming to control all the aspects of their children’s life including their personal life.
Even service providers working to protect children from domestic violence confess that they have themselves committed both physical and emotional violence against their children.

turned out that there have also been extreme cases of parents’ violence (especially in high mountainous regions) liable to be punished by criminal law.
For in- stance, respondents report one case in which a preg- nant 18-year-old girl was secretly sent from a village near Gori to a shelter in Tbilisi because her father was threatening and even attempting to kill her after find- ing out.
In another outrageous case, a mother from a village in the Adjarian mountains killed her 25-year-old daughter, who was pregnant out of wedlock, and the neighbours in the village approved of her behaviour saying: “What else could she do when her daughter had brought such shame upon her family?” We have discussed above that sexual behaviour is usu- ally viewed from the religious-ethical perspective in Georgia and that this sphere has always been under special pressure and strict regulation.
Most likely, the presented examples are the most extreme cases of how brutal this regulation can be and how dangerous it is to blindly follow traditions.

Finally, we should discuss the type of violence identified by ethnic minority women, namely Azeri women from Marneuli District.

All of them emphasize the type of vio- lence that, in their words, is widespread among repre- sentatives of their religious-ethnic group - abduction of young women by men.
According to them, the abducted girls are only 12-13 years old and cannot take proper care not only of their husbands and their families, but also of themselves; usually husbands forbid them to go to school and to continue their studies, and sometimes - even visit their friends and parents.
And even if they are not abducted, many Azeri women in Marneuli find themselves in a similar situation - they have to obey their husbands and family members without any objec- tion and have to give up their own rights as it is dictated by their “national mentality.” “I will give an example from my own life: I have 20-year- old sons and a 7-year-old daughter.
I was quite young while raising my sons and pulled their hair and every- thing...” (Service provider, Tbilisi) “I found out after many years that I was violent to my children...

It is emotional violence when you make them do something they don’t want to do.” (Service provider, Tbilisi) The examples presented above are the “light” cases of parental violence against children.

However, it has “I know a girl who is engaged and does not go to school as she has been forbidden to go there.
She cannot de- fend her rights as she is ashamed.

We have a tradition that we must not contradict our elders.

She doesn’t say anything but I am quite sure that her fiancé forbids eve- rything.

She is even not allowed to go anywhere, even to visit her relatives.

I know another girl who got married without abduction but now cannot visit even her own mother though she lives quite close to her.

She doesn’t say anything as the national mentality, Islam, doesn’t al- low her to do so.
There are some who try to defend their rights but the majority are ashamed and think of what 68 others will say about them...

The national mentality plays a crucial role in our life.” (Azeri woman, Marneuli) firm their rights and they often do it through drinking and showing their physical power while being drunk.

It turns out that there are even cases where men abduct 12-13-year-old girls not only to marry them but also to sell them and to make money in trafficking humans.
And although such cases of trafficking were quite frequent in Marneuli District and the population was aware of them, the perpetrators have still not been punished.

“It is a very frank talk and I should say that I have en- countered violence many times.

Such families have even lived in our neighbourhood.

They were a dishonest wom- an and a dishonest and drunkard man.

They abducted a 12-13-year-old girl and sold her in Turkey.

There are some people who make good money by trafficking in girls.
Now these girls still live in Turkey and visit Geor- gia from time to time.

There were lots of such cases in Marneuli.” (Azeri woman, Marneuli) Thus, based on the respondents’ reports, we have iden- tified three types of domestic and gender-based vio- lence in Georgia.

The most frequent is husbands’ physi- cal and psychological violence against their wives (the husbands are often intoxicated and often backed up by their immediate family members, especially mothers).
The second type, also very frequent but seldom per- ceived as violence by those committing it, is parents’ physical and emotional violence against their children.

The third type of violence, common among the ethnic Azeri minority living in South-East Georgia, is the abduc- tion of 12-13-year-old girls (for marriage of human traf- ficking).

After familiarizing ourselves with the types of violence practiced in Georgia, we should discuss the reasons violence is committed.
The first reason identified by all the respondents is unemployment and related financial problems.

What is important in this case, according to the respondents, is that nowadays men have lost their traditional function of financially supporting the fam- ily, while women have adjusted to economic hardships much more successfully and, in many cases, taken over men’s functions.

For the respondents, the one who earns is also responsible for the most important deci- sions made in a family.
Thus, women are becoming more dominant (against the normative stereotype of woman as modest and obedient in Georgian culture), while men’s position is weakened, damaging their self- esteem.

Having lost their traditional position in the fam- ily (together with their self-esteem) men need to reaf- “Women have already switched to employment and financial supporting their families, while men have be- come used to being dependent on women and expect them to provide for the family.
The man says: I cannot do anything, there is no work.

And the woman has to rush into the street, not being ashamed of searching for a job despite having both an education and good family background.

In order for the family to survive, the wom- an will agree to do everything, while for the man it’s a matter of self-esteem.” (Victim not living in a shelter) “Today we have such a situation in which women are more often employed than men.
Man cannot find his place in family and quite often this is the main reason for violence.

Man thinks he is inferior to woman and tries to compensate for it in different ways -mainly by drinking and raising his voice, shaking his fist, etc.” (Policeman, Tbilisi) “The one who provides is also dominant and leads the situation in family.

Man was the one who provided be- fore, now he does not work and woman becomes re- sponsible for providing.
However, man tries to remain a leader, something that may cause trouble...

The fact that the man doesn’t want to give up his position while making the woman work and provide often leads to vio- lence.” (Representative of penitential system, Tbilisi) “This lack of money is characterized by one more aspect.

When your wife works and you are unemployed, it really hurts psychologically, especially when you’re a Georgian man.
In such a situation you are psychologically very ir- ritated and even if a person is not guilty, you may accuse her without any reason.” [From a focus group discussion with men, aged 35-59, Tbilisi] Expert N 2: “The main reason for violence is unemploy- ment and related issues.

Nowadays that’s the case: Because of unemployment and so many material hard- ships they drink.
Of course, they have started to drink everywhere but here, in Kakheti3, where there is plenty to drink - this factor also plays a crucial role.” Expert N 1: “They are not employed, have plenty of free time and that’s why they drink.” Expert N 2: “They drink at other places too but it is more accessible here, everyone has it at home.

Besides, a lit- 3.

Kakheti is a region in eastern Georgia famous for its wine produc- tion.
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 69 tle misfortune breaks their heart and they immediately start to drink.” [From a focus group discussion with ex- perts, Telavi] Thus, it is evident that male unemployment causing a shift in males’ and females’ traditional functions and, consequently, positions in the Georgian family, is con- sidered the main reason for committing domestic vio- lence.
This issue is intertwined with or even inseparable from the traditional views or “mentality” (so say the re- spondents) as traditionally, the man was responsible for financially supporting his family - a fact which also gave him the power of decision-making and the right to be the head of family, while today the woman (being more successful in adapting to the recent changes and ready to do any work to support her children) has incorporat- ed the man’s functions as well and it is she who is now responsible for making important decisions in family, though formally the man often remains the head.
How- ever, as one of the service providers claims, this formal- ity is not sufficient and that “for his self-affirmation man needs violence.

He doesn’t have the position in the fam- ily that he used to have and he behaves violently in or- der to be recognized.” The respondents state that such a situation not only brings suffering to women but also extremely negative consequences to children.

“From my current point of view, men are dysfunctional.
Women undertake all their functions and that’s why children lack mother’s care; as a consequence, some dangerous inclinations may develop in a child.

Today women go out to work, while men drink and take drugs.” (Victim, not living in a shelter) At this point we have come to the question of socializa- tion and the negative impact of violent surroundings on a child’s future development.
Very much in line with E. Sutherland’s theory of criminal behaviour, our respond- ents think that being raised in a violent family, thus lack- ing proper socialization, can drive a child to act violently in the future.

“Unhealthy life style, the environment where they grow up can push kids become violent.

If a child is raised in a normal family and nothing intervenes here, he will never do such a thing.” (Victim, living in a shelter) An interviewer is asking about the reasons for domestic violence.
“I don’t know...

If someone didn’t have a good child- hood... My husband grew up in such a family; his par- ents also had physical conflicts with each other.

His fa- ther had a very bad character and therefore, he didn’t have a proper childhood and to this day he doesn’t know the principles underpinning the notion of family, and he doesn’t want to know anything.
That is the reason - a family without any order is responsible for raising such a son.” (Victim, not living in a shelter) “It’s up to the family.

If a child is raised in a family where violence is an ordinary thing he will become violent and vice versa.

We as parents should create such conditions in family so that they do not encounter violence.” [From a focus group discussion with women, Samtskhe-Java- kheti] Thus, there are two major reasons for violence identified by our respondents: 1.
Male unemployment depriving the man of his traditional position in family (frequently coupled with drinking, sometimes with drug addiction) and 2.

Inappropriate socialization, as a result of being raised in a violent family.
Factors Affecting and Perpetuating Violence It is evident from the above-mentioned that the first factor maintaining domestic violence in Georgia is tra- ditional views or “mentality.” Although the respondents realize that many of these traditions bring more harm than good to society, they still cling to them.

A good example can be presented from the focus group dis- cussion with service providers in Tbilisi.
During a single focus group interview, quite contradictory ideas were expressed by them: On the one hand, they said that Georgian traditions reinforced gender-based domestic violence up, while on the other hand, they reiterated those traditional perceptions that maintain gender in- equality and man’s unquestioned authority.

“Traditions have been mentioned and traditionally it is part of our mentality that man should be violent to woman.

Woman is raised to be dependent on man - that is violence.
Take even the distribution of inheritances - everything goes to the son.” And suddenly: “...Violence is a drastic deviation from tradition...

So, if we have an average indicator based on a certain tradi- tion, we can consider deviation from this average as vio- lence.

For example, for quite a long time, in the moun- 70 tainous regions a woman was not allowed to talk first.

How can this be perceived as violence?


It cannot, as it happened everywhere.” Moderator: “Would you agree if your offspring decides to cohabit with his/her partner?” Or: Respondent N 7: “...But I think that the man should have the authority in the family.
In such case the family is strong and children feel calm, they feel more protected than when they’re only beside their mother.” Respondent N 5: “In a family where the mother and fa- ther have equal rights, the child will be raised in a wrong way.” [From a focus group interview with service providers, Tbilisi] Another example can be presented from the focus group discussion with representatives of penitential system, who state that it is necessary to change traditional ster- eotypes and public attitudes that are outdated and that maintain gender inequality.
However, when it comes to their own cases, they refuse to deviate from these very stereotypes.
“The problem of mentality is very serious, especially in the villages, though one can also come across such fami- lies in Tbilisi... A lot of work should be done to change the consciousness... We should work with the public in order to change stereotypes and attitudes.” According to the representatives of the penitential sys- tem, one of the spheres where traditional stereotypes need to fundamentally change is the relationship be- tween parents and their children.
They say that too much attention from parents can also be considered a form of violence4 and that an effective way to combat domestic violence is to free oneself from “being a child forever” and to live in European-style nuclear families characterized by cohabitation before marriage.

“It may take months or years to choose a partner but one should be necessarily independent to do so... We don’t facilitate our children to become independent outside the family...
When a person graduates from school, he/ she should become independent.

Neither an adult nor a couple should be dependent on a family.

Like a situation where parents control their offspring till the end of life.” But then: 4.

Logically, therefore, the phenomenon of “mummy’s boy” (“dedikos bichi”) or “mother’s pet” (“dedis nebieri”) widespread in Georgian culture is a product of violence.

Respondent N 2: “I agree that if he likes someone he can take her to my house and she can live with us.
I sim- ply don’t want him to live alone - he is a male and I am afraid something may happen.

Otherwise I won’t pre- vent him.

If I had a daughter, I would not allow this.” Respondent N 3: “Probably, in 10 years we won’t be like this.” Respondent N 2: “That is still not acceptable for a girl.

In general, I can accept it but not in my family.
Society will consider it shameful and insult me, I am sure.” Respondent N 3: “You will feel insulted.” [From a focus group interview with representatives of the penitential system, Tbilisi] And these people, who are presumably aware of the relevant law and are supposed to fight against gender inequality, as well as help victims combat domestic vio- lence, don’t want to let their sons live with their partners apart from their families even knowing that husbands’ family members, especially mothers-in-law, are involved in most cases of domestic violence reported by the re- spondents.
They are driven by double moral standards themselves - allowing a son’s but not a daughter’s co- habitation.

And they follow the outdated stereotypes out of fear of public disapproval (the above-mentioned “What will people say?”) claiming that their aim is to work with society in order to change these stereotypes.

Therefore, it is not surprising that ordinary people una- ware of the relevant law or even the very definition of domestic violence hold very similar perceptions.
Another area where public disapproval is as much avoided is divorce.

This is also deeply influenced by traditional views.
The women involved in a focus group discussion associate divorce with “disaster” and “end of the world,” and everyone agrees that “society has a negative attitude towards the ‘returned’ woman and being ashamed of neighbours and relatives her family takes into consideration public opinion.” Therefore, quite often parents refuse to take their daugh- ter back even when they know she has been mistreated by her husband; this happens mostly in the villages.
As the normative perception of woman in Georgian culture implies that she should be modest and obedient, she is NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 71 expected to tolerate mistreatment for the sake of the family and in order to retain the father for her children.
Such a situation harms not only a woman’s physical and psychological well-being but also her children’s mental state as, according to the respondents, one of the main reasons for violence is inappropriate socialization from growing up in a violent family.
Therefore, although some respondents think that “if it doesn’t become too unbear- able, a woman should put up with it for the sake of the children,” still many think that “it’s better to eat less but raise children in a calm and normal environment - it’s the best solution for both the children and the woman.” [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35- 59, Telavi] Some of the respondents think that not just improper socialization but generally gender socialization itself per- petuates domestic violence as parents have traditionally taught their sons to be aggressive and to always take revenge, while they have been teaching their daughters to tolerate and to forgive.
“Do you know where violence comes from?

I have both a son and a daughter and can say something.

Do you know how we are raising the boy?

Did someone hit you?

Hit him back.

Did someone take something away from you?

You should do the same.

We as mothers do it; we are the basis of everything.
My husband was raised this way and we raise our son the same way; while we teach our daughter tolerance and forgiveness.” [From a focus group discussion with women, Samtskhe-Javakheti] Another factor often identified by the respondents as responsible for maintaining domestic violence is lack of relevant information and the consequent lack of aware- ness among the population.
It has been demonstrated in the section “What is Violence?” that the respondents are unaware of not only their rights but also the defini- tions of gender equality and domestic violence, and that it’s a common issue for everyone, starting from victims of domestic violence and ending with policemen and service providers.

The experts think that the main obstacle in their work is the fact that very often women do not perceive them- selves as victims and therefore, do not seek any help.
They recall many cases in which they think “a woman is a victim, however she doesn’t perceive herself as a victim and considers it an ordinary thing if her husband gets angry and beats her” (Expert, Telavi).

They divide female victims in two categories - those who realize they are victims, undertake relevant steps, and achieve certain results – they constitute the minority of victims.
Meanwhile, the majority, who do not realize they are victims, do not resist but tolerate violence, and no re- sults can be achieved with them.

All the experts and service providers report that lack of awareness is a much more serious problem in the vil- lages, especially mountainous ones.

There, the lower level of education combined with fierce adherence to traditional views, makes the situation even worse.

“The main problem is faced in the regions, where they are unaware of their own rights.
Both men and women have a different mentality and they don’t know that what some men do is a deviation.

A man thinks that what he has grasped from his grandparents’ and par- ents’ relationships should be considered the norm.

While visiting my relatives and friends living in the regions, I have definitely felt it.” (Expert, Tbilisi) “...Despite our mentality and traditions, though it’s not a tradition that someone has a right to kill your offspring, they still make their daughters live with them.
It’s rather an indicator of a low level of education.

Therefore, talks should be held in the regions so that the people realize that it’s acceptable to destroy the family when someone is killing you.” (Representative of penitential system, Tbilisi) One more factor maintaining domestic violence identi- fied by the respondents is the ineffectiveness of the law.
They state that although there is a law about domestic violence, it is seldom upheld in practice as there is a lack of mechanisms and resources necessary to fulfil it.

Po- licemen consider themselves to be “dummies,” who can just scare the agents of violence for a while and cannot really combat violence as “no further mechanisms are identified; therefore, this process has no further conse- quences.” “The only reason why our presence makes sense is that we scare them, we are like dummies.
Anyone dealing with it, even at the court, knows that it does not make sense.

You go there and leave when they calm down.

You know it is useless - you will take him to a lawyer and he will issue an order that has zero outcome.

You go there, when it’s calmed down you leave, then they call you again, and you move like that until it’s time for the next shift.” (Policeman, Tbilisi) 72 “You should simply go and console them.

You cannot do anything else.


Nothing else is written in law.” (Police- man, Tbilisi) “The only thing the police can do is to issue a restrain- ing order, but this has no effect.

Although there is a law about domestic violence, no further steps have been un- dertaken; no rehabilitation centres have been opened to separate victims from agents of violence.

Such a thing is neither provided by the budget nor regulated by the law.
Consequently, the victim has to continue living with the agent of violence.” (Expert, Telavi) The policemen and experts report that 90 cases out of 100 are suspended and do not make it to court as the physical evidence of the beating is minor and even the police have no right to arrest in such circumstances.
They say that, unfortunately, even the remaining 10 cas- es remain unsolved because the state does not provide sufficient budgetary funds and does not open rehabilita- tion centres or shelters for victims.

Some respondents assert that the state is indirectly perpetuating domestic violence while some others overtly accuse the govern- ment of creating conditions conducive to the perpetra- tion of violence.
“In my opinion, for the last 10-20 years the state has been violent and it is reflected in the society.” (Expert, Tbilisi) Such a “reflection” seems natural taking into con- sideration the historic background and the perception of family as “micro model” for the state.

What Women Do and Can Do Against Domestic Violence It is clear from the previous sub-chapter that the main factors perpetuating domestic violence in Georgia are traditional views and lack of awareness among the population.
The respondents’ ideas confirm that these factors are the ones that are responsible for women’s inactivity or passive tolerance of domestic violence in Georgia.

Thus, if one asks a question about what wom- en usually do against gender-based violence in Georgia, the most probable answer would be: in the majority of cases they do nothing but put up with it.
The in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with women from both the capital and the regions dem- onstrate that in case of gender-based domestic violence they remain mostly passive, holding traditional views based on which the male-female division is viewed in the light of a dominant-subordinate dichotomy.
Therefore, it is not surprising that they consider their husbands as their “first and not second halves,” who have the right to dictate to their wives what to do, including where to go or what to wear, and who can occasionally physically mistreat their wives.

In addition, divorce is perceived as a “shameful” or even “disastrous” event and the female respondents themselves state that a woman should not think of divorce unless the violence against her becomes intolerable.
Moreover, even a victim living in a shelter who is abused by her husband both verbally and physi- cally on a daily basis for six years stated that if her hus- band had not beaten her so much, they would be living together to this day.

“Both man and woman should hold similar views in a family.

If you ask me, man is always the main one in family.

My husband is my first and not second half...


If I am staying at my best friend’s place and my husband phones and asks me to immediately return home, I won’t stay there for an extra minute myself...
If my husband does not like how I am dressed, certainly I won’t argue with him just for this minor thing; I won’t wear that par- ticular dress - after all, I won’t die because of it.” [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35-59, Tbilisi] “A woman living alone is so miserable that if your hus- band doesn’t beat you seriously, you’d better try to un- derstand him and keep your family together.
Besides, a divorced woman always bears a kind of stigma in our society.” [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35-59, Tbilisi] And given that women who live in the capital and are employed possess such views that their husband’s de- sire should automatically become their own desire and perceive divorce as a “disaster” that should be avoided by all means unless a husband beats his wife “seriously” (concerned with the “stigma” attached to a divorced woman by the society), it is no surprise that women from rural areas who are unemployed and are more financially dependent on their husbands possess very similar views.
“Man always stands a step higher than woman.

Man is the head of family and he is the leader because he is a man.

When a woman tries to stand higher and make a decision, men don’t like it.

It means that a woman wants to move ahead.

She should not do it.

Society won’t ap- prove of it..

It was different in the past - when I look at the modern youth I usually say that they do not behave NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 73 properly.
I cannot imagine moving ahead of my husband or telling him - I will go there anyway, no matter whether you let me go or not.
Today we come across many young people thinking like that, which I don’t like.” cannot hear that spouses are killing each other and does not call the police, they don’t say anything themselves.” [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35- 59, Tbilisi] [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35- 59, Telavi] The abovementioned passage demonstrates that mid- dle-aged women possess quite traditional views regard- ing the man’s dominant position in the family, seeing him as standing “a step higher than the woman” and believing that woman should not even desire to “move ahead” of her husband.
They feel comfortable being in a subordinate position and reprove the younger genera- tion’s attempts to change the situation.

It is such views - the experts and representatives of pen- itential system as well as inexpert population state - that cause the fundamental problem of women’s activity/in- activity.
According to them, women’s inactivity means not doing anything, not trying to resist violence until it is too late; while women’s activity implies referring to extreme means (even killing a husband) when domestic violence becomes intolerable.

“People make the following choice: They don’t want their family members to be imprisoned.

They prefer to tolerate everything as they consider it unacceptable to apply to the court.
When they know that the police are coming and the court should make a decision, they are scared even more.

Maybe it’s just a stereotypical atti- tude towards police and the court.

They think it may not resolve but complicate their case even more.

We should advise them, tell them it won’t hurt their family, their position...

I mean the problem is both their activity and inactivity.
Activity for me implies the cases when women have even committed murder.” (Expert, Tbilisi) “I deal with lots of such families and know that only when it comes to the question of life and death, may the neighbours dare to intervene and call the police.” (Serv- ice provider, Telavi) “Georgian women’s minus is that unless a disaster hap- pens they don’t disclose such things taking place in their family.

The police are called only when her husband runs after her with a knife in his hand.
This topic is hidden like the one of sexual problems, which is not discussed and even seeing a doctor is avoided.

This is especially so in the peripheries [of cities] and regions.

If a neighbour The representatives of penitential system are more fa- miliar with this problem, as they have to deal with the women who, in an attempt to defend themselves in a situation of violence or no longer able to tolerate con- stant violence, have murdered their husbands.
As the representatives of penitential system state, “these are not the women with a criminal mentality, they are not potential murderers but ordinary mothers.” The prob- lem is that they have been tolerating domestic violence for so long that “when they’re in that state all the pain, anger, and aggression accumulated suddenly burst.” The representatives of the penitential system do not ac- cuse these women but rather try to understand them, as, in their words, “no one knows what one is able to commit in that state and it is usually emotions rather than intention.” Besides, according to them, “these women have a very strong sense of remorse.” Like oth- ers, the representatives of penitential system say the “traditional mentality” is to blame for making these women tolerate violence and remain silent until “their cup runs over.” However, the research subjects’ ideas also demonstrate that the situation is gradually changing, as the ongoing socio-economic transformations have their impact on our society and younger generations no longer blindly follow traditions.
Moreover, they often deviate from them.

They don’t tolerate from their husbands what their grandmothers and mothers put up with and are “obsessed” with the ideas of gender equality as an out- come of “modernization-westernization trends,” and, consequently, they are ready to stand up for their rights.

“It comes from our grandmothers’ and mothers’ genera- tions that the man is dominant in the family.
I hold the same views though it tends to be changing in our chil- dren’s generation... Our generation learnt from parents that when a man came home his wife should immedi- ately bring him his slippers, set the table for him, etc.

It was always felt that a man came home...

But my daugh- ter will never do that.

I know that if her husband asks her to bring his slippers, she won’t do that...

Although the ‘man’s cult’ is still active for me, it’s no longer the case for my daughter.
Her family is already equal.
Today many young people share their functions in the family.” 74 [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35- 59, Tbilisi] as my husband used economic violence as well, I didn’t dare leave him and thus leave my children without means of support.” (Victim living in a shelter) “In today’s changing conditions the generation of our children is influenced by modernization-westernization trends and obsessed with the ideas resulting from them such as becoming independent from parents at an ear- lier age, cohabiting with a partner before getting mar- ried, fighting for gender equality, etc.” (Expert, Tbilisi).
Thus, nowadays the traditional perception of Georgian woman as tolerant and subordinate is being substituted by one in which she can actively “fight for gender equal- ity” and defend her rights, though traditional views still lead older women to tolerate domestic violence and avoid divorce.

Another factor responsible for women’s passive toler- ance of domestic violence is their fear of being left with- out a roof over their heads and losing the means of sup- porting their children.
This is well evidenced from the in-depth interviews with the victims living in shelters.

Most of them state they have been tolerating husband’s violence for several years and even decades as they did not have a place to go and were afraid of being left homeless, and had no independent means of support- ing their children.

Most of them were not employed at the time they left for the shelters but many feared that, even if they did find a job, their salaries would not be sufficient to support their children.
A moderator asks women in a focus group whether they know cases when a husband physically mistreats his wife and she still lives with him: Respondent N 1: “She might not love him anymore but is afraid of living alone and not being able to support her children, or she might be afraid of the people’s reaction that someone might look at her differently.

You know all this gossip...” Respondent N 5: “Quite often the economic factor is de- cisive.
It is extremely difficult to find a job and both work and raise children.

I think this is the main reason for tol- erating physical abuse and not divorcing.” For women do not know where to escape from a hus- band’s violence and how to support their children, the shelters are a real relief.
They provide the victims of vio- lence with physical, economic, and psychological assist- ance, help them deal with the courts, and even conduct special trainings to provide the victims with necessary skills to find a job and start an independent life.

Thus, shelters aim to empower the victims of domestic vio- lence in all possible ways – a fact well evidenced by the words of victims both living in shelters and having the experience of living there.
“I am so grateful to this organization, as I would not be able to survive without their support.

I didn’t have even a single lari to buy something for my child; I didn’t know where to sleep.

I came to Tbilisi in order to hide from my husband as it is not so close to Gori.

The girls here did their best to help me.
Now I am studying and at the same time working at an office, and can already support my child though I am not ready to rent an apartment yet.” (Victim living in a shelter) “They helped me to take my case to court; they give me spiritual strength; they support me emotionally; they take my pain to their heart; they are involved in helping me to get my children back.” (Victim living in a shelter) “The shelter provided me with a roof and placed my child in the special ‘Village for Children – Kinder’.
I lived in the shelter for 4 months and started to work, and have man- aged to afford my own accommodation today.” (Victim not living in a shelter) “I gained great experience there.

All the women around me supported me so much.

I was psychologically ruined and they were so considerate, helped strengthen me, and found a job for me.
When I left home I didn’t know where to go, the only possibility was to come here, and they really stood by my side!” (Victim not living in a shel- ter) [From a focus group discussion with women, Samtskhe- Javakheti] “I could not and did not do anything.

I didn’t know many things I was informed about later in the shelter.

Besides, Thus, as the victims say, the shelter is of great help to them.
Some even think there should also be shelters for the perpetrators as they “should not be neglected but rather provided with psycho-rehabilitation treatment.

They should be given a chance to improve.” NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 75 Besides shelters, another place that brings true relief to their life is church.
According to the victims, visiting church and praying help them in the most difficult mo- ments of their life, as religion allows them to view their hardships in more optimistic way, to become calmer and to believe in the future.

Churches can even serve as shelters for victims for a certain period of time.

A few passages from interviews with victims of violence will serve as good examples: “What do I do to avoid violence?

Church and prayer enormously help me.


I try to retain patient and to calm down” (Victim not living in a shelter).

“When I ran away from my husband with my small child, I didn’t know who to refer to, so I immediately decided to go to the church.
There they consoled me and provided all the necessary support, took care of my child, gave us food and shelter, and even provided me with informa- tion about this shelter for victims that would help me find a job and enable to support my child.” (Victim living in a shelter) To summarize, in Georgia women, especially middle- aged and older ones, mostly tolerate domestic violence, referring in extreme cases to shelters and even church- es, and they almost never refer to the legal system for protection.
Ideal World - How do Women and Others Prefer to Combat Gender- Based Domestic Violence Finally, how do our research subjects see the ideal world free from gender based domestic violence?

What do they consider the main ways of defeating domestic vio- lence and getting closer to that ideal?

Most of the respondents say that the first thing to be done in this direction is to raise women’s awareness and facilitate their empowerment.
Both the experts and the population at large believe that positive changes will start as soon as women break free from traditional thinking or the “traditional mentality”, as the respond- ents call it, and absorb more of the democratic views that are dominant in the western societies.
As one of the activists from Gori states: “Women’s organizations should become more influential and they should serve the purpose of providing women with necessary information and knowledge in order to free up a woman’s consciousness from the belief that she is weaker and therefore should be her husband’s slave, that she shouldn’t leave her abusive husband and go to the shelter as doing so would bring shame upon her.
I do believe that raising consciousness and changing mentality have a very strong impact and do bring posi- tive outcomes.

For this purpose we have live TV relays and conduct special trainings.

We collaborate with the state, as everyone should contribute to solving this is- sue.

Still, a lot is to be done.” “I think the main emphasis should be placed on the vic- tims’ empowerment.

If you ask me where our attention and efforts should be directed, I will reply that it is the victims’ consciousness.
The main goal is to raise their awareness, to work with them and to provide them with necessary information.” (Expert, Tbilisi) Lots of passages from the interviews and focus group discussions prove that women are often not aware of their rights.
Moreover, even those who are considered to be experts do not have a proper understanding of women’s rights and the issues of domestic violence, as is well evidenced by the first subchapter entitled: “What is Violence?” This proves that not only inexpert popu- lation but also police, service providers and sometimes experts lack appropriate knowledge on relevant issues.
Hence it is no wonder that victims of gender-based do- mestic violence who have no idea they are victimized may get angry if someone considers them victims.

“Some women think they have no right to raise their voice and express their opinion.

There are cases when I think a woman is a victim but she does not consider herself a victim and thinks it is natural that her husband beats her when he is angry.

Recently there was a case where a husband beat his wife and her mother contact- ed us.
We talked to the victim and although she didn’t consider herself as victim before, now she does consider herself as a victim because of what her mother has done to her, while she considers her husband’s behaviour a normal thing” (Expert, Telavi).

“The most important thing is to raise women’s aware- ness.

Women should be aware of their rights and know how to resist domestic violence.

If a woman reacts in the very first instance of violence, it’s more probable that the perpetrator will step back.
It does have an impact 76 as the perpetrator is an ordinary human being afraid of sanctions, fines and punishment.” (Woman, Samtskhe- Javakheti) Where can the victims get necessary information and support?
According to the experts and victims of vio- lence, shelters are the places, where victims are pro- vided with appropriate information about domestic vio- lence and the ways of combating it, with emotional and economic support, and even with special trainings to gain the skills necessary for finding a job; thus shelters facilitate victims’ empowerment.
Therefore, based on the experts and victims’ words, the state should provide more financing for this sphere and open more shelters, not just in the capital but in all the regions of Georgia.

As the focus group discussions with the women from dif- ferent regions demonstrate, they hope shelters will be opened in the regions where they live, so that women from such areas feel more protected and know they will be provided help immediately in case of necessity.
An activist woman from Gori even said she dreamt of hav- ing such a shelter in Gori and would devote herself to fulfilling this goal.

Besides raising women’s awareness, the research sub- jects consider it necessary to also raise men’s aware- ness and provide them with information about the democratic principles, including gender equality, that should underlie any society.

This information should be disseminated via various channels such as brochures and television and radio, advertisements.
They think that males and females should be equally provided with such information in order to have the desire to equally distribute their responsibilities at home and equally be involved in social activities outside.

Some of the female respondents state that men should be initiators of open- ing information centres and even special organizations for women, as it is men who usually mistreat women and men themselves should defend women from such a mistreatment.
“It is crucial to open information centres where both men and women have the opportunity to gain more in- formation about everything, as the deeper we move into the villages the level of education is lower and the tradi- tions that support domestic violence are more firmly en- trenched.

We have conducted trainings in the mountain- ous villages of Georgia and the deeper we moved in, the sharper the problem was.

First of all they need appropri- ate information.


The more educated a person is, the less chance there is for him to become either a perpetrator or victim of violence.” (Activist woman, Gori) “...I think that women and men should be provided such trainings together.

Also men themselves should conduct such trainings.

As the majority of the victims of domestic violence are women, I think it will be wonderful if men initiate such organizations and protect these women from violence.
More of these organizations are needed in the regions as the rural population is more devoted to the traditions and, consequently, more cases of violence occur there.” (Woman, Samtskhe-Javakheti) The research subjects think that the population should be provided with special information on gender equal- ity and domestic violence during their school years.
Ac- cording to the representatives of penitential system, “high school students should have such lectures; they should know from the beginning that it is not a dogma that if a woman gets married, she should stay with that man till the end of her life no matter how he treats her.” They think that young couples should also be provided with similar lectures.
Others share the same opinion and agree that it is vital to raise the population’s awareness from a younger age and that it is absolutely necessary to provide young families with appropriate information on gender equality and the ways of combating domestic violence.

“Not only women but also children should be provided with proper information.

I think that the most impor- tant step is to lead children in the right direction.
It is up to the professionals to decide at what age and to what extent children should be exposed to special education on these issues, but no doubt it is essential.

Children are flexible, while an adult can hardly go through the chang- es.” (Service provider, Telavi) One more category of the population that, according to the respondents, needs to be provided with special trainings on this issue is the police.
The research sub- jects, especially the experts, state that the police need to be better informed in order to get more involved in the matters of domestic violence and also to apply ap- propriate laws more effectively.

They think that there should be special educational programmes and guide- books for the police in order to enable them to correctly identify the cases of domestic violence and to help the population combat them.

“The police need more information.


They need not sin- NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 77 gle but regular trainings.

And it is important to create a common educational programme for them.

We already have special guidebooks.

And it’s not a problem if the law is changed as it’s always possible to add something to the programme.

We should have the same material for everyone.


We - you and me - may conduct different trainings but we should use the same material and the same results will be achieved.” (Expert, Tbilisi) Thus, the research subjects believe that the first step towards better combating domestic violence is to raise the population’s awareness.

The second - but no less im- portant tool in defeating violence identified by them - is overcoming unemployment.
As the previous subchap- ters reveal, in our society women have adapted to the current socio-economic changes more successfully than men, often performing the role of financial supporters of family and, consequently, becoming more dominant in family life.

This fact is the source of frustration and irritation for men - who cannot reconcile themselves to losing their leading position both on the social arena and in family life - that often results in their aggression and violence towards women.
In order to avoid such confrontations between spouses, as well as men’s both covert and overt aggression towards their wives, the re- spondents consider it vital that the state provide more opportunities for both sexes to get employed and to contribute to the family’s income.

“The state should ensure such conditions for the pop- ulation that no one thinks of leaving the country.
The government should provide jobs and when people are employed, they won’t have so many problems, as a re- sult, there won’t be so many cases of domestic violence.” [From a focus group discussion with men, aged 35-59, Telavi] “If we go in depth, it’s not even a matter of law or other things but the lack of employment.

Men have nothing to do and they need to do something to establish them- selves; otherwise they sit and drink.
If jobs are created and the sports events are held, who will think of drink- ing?

We should not wait until a person falls into water and then try to save him/her but need to build bridges to prevent him/her falling into the water.
Millions and billions are spent on amending the results, while much less is required for building a bridge.” (Service provider, Telavi) The last but not least important way to combat domes- tic violence identified by the research subjects is to change the state’s policies and overall vision, which im- plies making the relevant law more effective, providing more financial support for this sphere, and strengthen- ing collaboration between the state, NGOs and interna- tional organizations to jointly defeat domestic violence.
According to the respondents, the first step in this di- rection is to set the implementation of the Law Against Domestic Violence.

They complain that the law exists merely on paper and needs to be realized, as well as bet- ter adapted to the Georgian reality.

They consider that before accepting any law the soil has to be prepared, meaning the consideration of concrete reality, political, economical, social, etc, otherwise even the excellent in- tents could be futile in practice.
“Our demand to the state is to create the basis and nec- essary mechanisms for implementing the law.

It is also necessary to provide the population with proper infor- mation before implementing the law.

The society should be ready for its implementation.” (Service provider, Te- lavi) “The state should support the creation of such organi- zations as the Georgian Young Lawyers Association and similar ones that provide services for free.
Such organi- zations should assure the victims that they can get sup- port and that their rights will be defended.” (Woman, Samtskhe-Javakheti) The experts emphasize the importance of collaboration among the state, NGOs, and international organizations.

They say there is a special coordination committee that aims to initiate and direct policies in the area of violence, and that the responsibilities are already divided among the state, NGOs, and international organizations.
In or- der to protect the victims of violence the state should be assured by NGOs that a particular case represents domestic violence.

The state and NGOs, supported by international organizations, then jointly undertake the management of shelters and provision of services.

This process has already started and now it is essential to make their collaboration as effective as possible.
“It was the NGOs that showed interest in this issue and there was an initiative to create legal and institutional mechanisms of state protection.

Concerning interna- tional organizations, we work, on the one hand, to sup- port strengthening civil society and, on the other hand, to enable the state to undertake its international duties.

It is important for us to collaborate with both the gov- ernment and NGOs.
And our task is simplified by the fact that the state and NGO interests coincide, and we work on certain components with NGOs and on other ones with the state.” (Expert, Tbilisi) 78 their children and to raise them in harmonious families.

In order for this goal to be achieved it should be peaceful in the whole country and within our families.” (IDP) “I would like everyone to have normal life.

It is not nec- essary to have lots of money but one should be able to support their own family.
If it were up to me, I would raise the salaries for teachers, doctors and others in or- der to ensure that they are socially protected.

Women as representatives of the weaker sex should not have to do such heavy work.
It is so hard for them to be equally responsible for housework, raising children, and family income bearing this burden almost alone.” (Representa- tive of an ethnic minority) “As economic hardships serve as the main reason behind any violence, I would first of all try to create as many jobs as possible and also ensure that salaries are suf- ficient for supporting oneself and family.
The changes in the country should start from the state level and if the state is not violent, if it provides its population with the means of existence, and if it promotes equal rights for everyone, this will definitely be reflected in family life.” [From a focus group discussion with women, aged 35- 59, Tbilisi] Thus, to summarize the research subjects’ ideas, the main obstacle to be overcome on the way to achieving the ideal situation free from domestic violence is wo- mens’ empowerment through both raising their aware- ness and creating jobs and providing sufficient salaries.
As the state is primarily responsible for this, it means that it is the state that should undertake the most im- portant steps in combating domestic violence.

Accord- ing to the respondents, if the state is not violent and promotes equal rights for everyone, including gender equality, it definitely will have an impact on family rela- tions and the same trends will take place in family life.
Such ideas seem logical given that in Georgia the family has traditionally been considered a “micro model” for the state.

In addition, in the ideal world depicted by the research subjects, men should seek to make women’s burden lighter through sharing responsibilities with them both at home and outside, and children should be raised in harmonious and loving families with both par- ents making an equal contribution to their socialization.

“The state has used the resources possessed by NGOs.
It has obtained almost all the resources to apply them as a basis.

I think now a period is starting when a new stage of their relations should begin and international organiza- tions should monitor how the state has embodied these issues and how productively it implements the changes.
This is one of the good examples that the NGOs’ work is appreciated, though there are some issues that have not reached the state yet.” (Expert, Tbilisi) Finally, how do the research subjects portray the ideal world they dream about?

How does being victimized influence their vision of the ideal world?

And do the perceptions of the victims differ from those of others?

It is noteworthy that the perceptions of victims of vio- lence coincide one-to-one with those of the rest of the population.
All of them dream of calm and peaceful sur- roundings free from any violence and full of love and re- spect.
They dream of living in a country where everyone can afford having a roof over their heads and can earn enough to support their families so that no one thinks of leaving the country and searching for alternative means to earn a living outside their homeland; where state policies are more liberal, supporting equal rights for everyone including gender equality; where children are raised in peaceful and happy families free of domes- tic violence.
“In ideal conditions a person has no financial hardships and is both spiritually and physically healthy.

What would I do to help achieve such a situation?

I would help those who experience hardships similar to the ones I have gone through.

If I see people lack material means, I would support them financially, I would even let them live in my house.

I would especially support those who are oppressed.
I dream of seeing no desperate people around, so I would do my best to help them in any pos- sible way.” (Victim living in a shelter) “I dream of seeing just love and respect around me, as love is the basis for peaceful and harmonious relations in a family.

When kids are raised in such conditions, they can never become violent.
Certainly, we do not always agree on particular issues but misunderstandings should be overcome by means of explanation and negotiation, and not through shouting and using physical force.” (Vic- tim not living in a shelter) “For me the ideal world is based on mutual understand- ing and respect, love and trust.
First of all, children should be raised based on moral principles and, as it is parents who are responsible for that, they should be provided with proper conditions to be able to support NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 79 Chapter 8.
OVERVIEW: RESULTS AND MAIN FINDINGS Marine Chitashvili The nationwide survey on domestic violence against women in Georgia shows the multi-dimensionality of the issue: on the one hand it varies significantly based on the background characteristics of women and on the other hand there are some constant determinants for every case.

Below a general overview of the main find- ings is presented.
The focus here is on three issues – on variations of types, forms and intensity of violence; the coping strategies women use on the personal level and on the institutional level and partners’ controlling behaviour and causes of violence.

The last section of the overview shows the systemic character of domestic violence as a form of oppression against women in gen- eral.
It should be highlighted that the database enables researchers and policy-makers to find answers on many more questions beyond those discussed here.
Varieties of Violence Experienced: While traditional cultural norms in Georgia treat the family as a safe place where all troubles disappear, the results clearly show that there is a big difference be- tween the imagined, idealized family and the real fam- ily, where direct or indirect forms of violence oppress women and violate human rights in very basic sense of this concept.

Every seventh woman who has or has had a husband feels terrible when their husbands insult or make fun of them.
The general picture changes while analysing responses according to place of residence and level of education: a higher percentage of Tbilisi residents with incomplete education indicate such incidents compared to representatives of other groups.

An almost equal percentage of the women reported their husbands to be belittling or humiliating them in front of other people or doing something on purpose to scare them (one of every 18-20 respondents).
In both cases one of the most important factors is respondents’ place of residence - compared to rural residents’ data the respective indicators for Tbilisi and urban inhabit- ants are higher.

Having/not having independent income has a particular significance while talking about hus- bands’ acts to scare or intimidate their wives - a higher percentage of the respondents who earn money by themselves say that such incidents have taken place.
The percentage of those who say their husband has threatened to harm them or someone they care about is comparably less.
The factors of place of residence and of having/not having independent income were also revealed to be significant- their effect is analogous to the results revealed in the previous question- rural residents paint a better picture than urban/capital re- spondents in general; and the respondents who have their own income are more likely to say they have had such experiences than those who do not earn money by themselves.
80 Some of the women were forced by their husbands to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to (one of every 28-29 respondents).

Respondents’ social-de- mographic indicators do not have any essential signifi- cance in this regard.

Women report having analogous experience in the past 12 months too and the majority claim that this has happened more than once.
The per- centage of those who have secondary education is far lower among those who have been sexually violated in the past 12 months, thus the level of education is in a way related to the distribution of answers to the given question.

At the same time, none of the social-demo- graphic markers we were interested in were found to have any significance in relation to the frequency of such incidents.
It should be mentioned that the occurrence of forced sex several times is common even among those who have not experienced this form of violence in the past 12 months.

Some women speak of incidents in which they had sexual intercourse because they were afraid of what their husband might do (one of every 33 respondents).

indicators/markers Respondents’ social-demographic were not significant here.
However certain tendencies are found: a higher percentage of Tbilisi and urban resi- dents (compared to rural residents) and of women who have incomplete secondary education say they have had such experience.

One third of women who have ever had sexual intercourse forced upon them claim to have had such an experience in the past 12 months.

According to the great majority of this latter category, it happened more than one time during the last year.
Respondents’ social-demographic indicators were not significant in any of these cases.

The absolute majority of the respondents who have had such forced sexual relations, but not in the past year, have experienced it more than once.

Compared to the cases discussed above, the percentage of women (one of every 100 respondents) who say that their husband forced them to do something sexual that they found degrading or humiliating is comparably less.
However, on a nationwide scale this is not a low indi- cator at all.

More than one fifth of women who ever had such experience had endured it within the past 12 months – and several times at that; all those who had this experience, but not in the past 12 months, had un- dergone it several or many times.
The husband/partner’s behaviour had a significant ef- fect on many respondents’ (one of every 20 of the total women interviewed and more than half of those wom- en who said they were victims of violence) mental or physical health.

It is significant that the evaluation of the intensity of the effect of the husband’s behaviour was related to the re- spondents’ level of education - it has the least effect on women who have incomplete secondary education.
One sixth of women who work say their husband/part- ner’s volatile behaviour has disrupted their work.

For most of these women this affect is more psychological – it entails loss of self confidence and concentration.

Besides what was described above, the interrelation of social-demographic characteristics/markers and the received results, allows us to speak again about the tendencies which are consistently revealed in relation to other questions.
In particular, these are a depiction of a better situation by rural residents compared to ur- ban and Tbilisi residents; and the revelation of a more difficult situation among women who have incomplete education - with some exceptions.

Two or three of every 100 women who have ever been pregnant claim that they were physically abused by their husbands/partners while they were pregnant.
The place of residents of the respondents was a significant factor here: such incidents are much rarer among rural respondents compared to urban or Tbilisi respondents.

Other social-demographic markers did not have essen- tial significance in this regard.

Almost one third of women who have reported being victims of violence while pregnant had such experience two or more times.

In this regard, respondents’ social- demographic indicators did not turn out to be essen- tially significant.
The following weakly depicted trends emerged: compared to representatives of their respec- tive groups, such incidents are more frequent in cases where women do not earn money by themselves and those who are urban and rural residents.

It is obvious that the majority of the women who say they were physically violated by their husbands while they were pregnant claim that it happened in their most recent pregnancy.
This could be because they remem- ber better their most recent pregnancy, or they want to remember only this last incident.

The social-demo- graphic characteristics did not turn out to be essentially significant in this case either.
However the following dif- NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 81 ferences revealed among respective groups are still wor- thy of note: the highest percentage of respondents with incomplete secondary education indicates the existence of such facts, and the lowest percentage is among the respondents who have secondary education and rural residents.
More than one fourth of the respondents who were physically abused by their husbands while they were pregnant indicate that they were punched or kicked in the abdomen.

The social-demographic indicators were not significant in this case either, though trends similar to those mentioned above were revealed: women with independent income were more likely to report such in- cidents while rural women were less likely to do so.
According to the majority of respondents, the person who committed an act of violence against them while they were pregnant was the child’s father.

The generally received picture does not vary according to background characteristics.

Although there are some weakly depict- ed tendencies: respondents who earn money by them- selves and urban residents were more likely to refuse to answer.

A large majority of women abused during their most re- cent pregnancy were living with the perpetrator at that time.
In regard to this question no negative answer was received, however there is a percentage of respondents who refused to answer.

The percentage of the latter is highest among Tbilisi respondents.

The majority of women who were abused while they were pregnant had such experience before as well.

The place of residence is important: most rural residents deny having experienced such incidents before; the situ- ation is opposite with urban and Tbilisi respondents.
The majority of women indicate that, compared to be- fore, the violence reduced or stayed about the same.

If we analyze the account received from this last and the previous questions in relation to the majority saying that they have experienced physical violence from their hus- bands/partners during their most recent pregnancies, it is possible that such violence, if not even worse, had taken place before too.
However, it is also possible that we have a certain contradiction among answers, which is due to respondents’ wish to downplay the severity of the situation.

Social-demographic characteristics are less important regarding questions in this group.

In other words, some women were abused by their husband to approximately the same degree irrespective of age, level of education and having/not having independent income.

However, there are still some tendencies which were revealed by questions in this section.
First of all comes the specifi- city connected with place of residence: the best situa- tion is (or portrayed this way) with rural residents and the worst one with urban respondents.

Education also plays a certain role in this regard: in relation to particu- lar questions a relatively difficult picture was painted by women who have incomplete secondary education.
Women’s Coping Strategies against Violence: One third of women who reported violence claim that they have fought back against physical assault commit- ted by their husbands.

Approximately one fifth of the women who reported violence have had such experi- ence more than once.

The social-demographic characteristics of women were not revealed to have any important relation to the dis- tribution of the answers received to this question.
Al- though, the differences revealed among the respective groups are worth noting (which are not sufficiently relia- ble determiners).

In particular, rural residents who have incomplete secondary or complete secondary education and do not earn money by themselves indicate having experienced such incidents less often than other respec- tive groups.
Fighting back against the violence has had a certain ef- fect on the life of one fourth of the respondents: the violence has either decreased or stopped; though a far higher percentage of women said their situation got worse due to such behaviour; considering respondents’ social-demographic indicators does not change the overall picture.

A large majority of women who reported violence in- dicate that they have never physically mistreated their husbands/partners, except for when they fought back.
But there were some women who reported that such incidents had taken place once or several times.
While considering social-demographic indicators does not give us any reliable difference among the answers’ dis- tribution within groups, there are still quite well distin- 82 guished trends which are worthy of notice: contrary to urban or Tbilisi respondents, none of the rural residents replied affirmatively to this question; at the same time it is also interesting that, compared to Tbilisi residents, a higher percentage of urban respondents indicate the re- iterative character of such incidents; respondents with secondary education are more likely than representa- tives of other educational groupings to claim that they have never committed such acts.
More than one fourth of the women who have reported violence (28%) do not talk to anyone about their hus- band’s behaviour.

The research shows that higher per- centage of women talk to close friends (mainly parents and friends) and very rarely to relevant official agencies, nongovernmental organizations, or even priests.

Most respondents (38%) said they have not received any help from anyone to stop their husband’s behaviour.
It is very likely that at least 10 per cent of these respond- ents have mentioned this problem to others.

Abused respondents say that people close to them (first of all their parents and then - after a big interval – hus- band’s parents, friends and sisters/brothers) have given them support or tried to help them after they were abused by their husbands.

This is natural if we take into consideration the circumstance that their circle of inti- mates is limited to these people.
Compared to urban and rural residents, a higher percentage of Tbilisi re- spondents have received help or perceived an attempt of help from others; a higher percentage of higher and secondary-technical education respondents say they have received such help compared to other respective groups.
The percentage of those who have addressed official agencies is very small, which is not surprising taking into the consideration that a considerable number of victims do not talk about their husband’s behaviour with any- one, and the majority of those who do only share their experiences with their circle of intimates.

It is also a re- ality that women simply do not know about the exist- ence of such services and institutions.
The qualitative research clearly shows that awareness of domestic vio- lence and social policies of combating domestic violence is generally very low.

those who seek to get their case dealt with by the jus- tice system, the largest percentage has incomplete sec- ondary education.

Leading in other categories are urban (non-Tbilisi residents) and respondents from the 30-39 age group.

At the same time, only urban women took advantage of social services.
Of women who did seek help from organizations or offi- cial bodies, the top reason for doing this was “could not endure more” (more than half of the respondents who have ever addressed any organization to solve this prob- lem mention this reason); the next relatively frequently mentioned one was “badly injured”.
Reasons related to children’s suffering or to the possibility that violence would have been committed towards them as well (“he threatened to hurt the children” or “he hit the children and I saw that the children were suffering”) are among most rarely mentioned reasons.

Compared to other groups, urban residents and re- spondents who do earn money themselves give the most diverse reasons for seeking official help.
The ma- jority of secondary-technical education respondents in- dicate that they could not endure any more.

These re- sults clearly point to a high risk factor and expected hard consequences due to domestic violence, as women are applying to institutions only in extreme cases.

In other words, there is not any prevention mechanism in place to reduce the risk for women in families and protect them from abusive husband/partner.
The main reasons why victims do not address to others for help are: “embarrassed/ashamed/afraid would not be believed” or “would be blamed” and “would give the family a bad name”, which essentially implies the fear of being criticized, ostracized and mistrusted by society.

Fears of ending up in a situation and relationship worse than the present one and that of losing children were cited less frequently.

The tendency to downplay the situ- ation and the violence is very strong.
This trend is espe- cially noticeable among rural residents and respondents with incomplete secondary education; the fear of being mistrusted by the society disturbs a higher percentage of respondents who do not earn money by themselves, and “giving the family a bad name” is more widespread and consequently more consequential among older re- spondents.

Women who have experienced domestic violence and who do seek help from official bodies generally do this only at low-level agencies or health centres.
Among The majority of women do not name a person or an agency which they would address for help - they do not express any preference from this standpoint.

This could NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 83 be explained by the same reasons cited by a majority of victims for not talking to anyone about their problems and not seeking help.

Only one third of respondents indicate concrete persons or organizations from which they would have preferred to receive medical assist- ance.
These are mainly their own family, mother, and husband’s mother.

Apart from the circle of intimate per- sons a few respondents mention police, heath centres and priest.

Taking into the consideration social-demo- graphic characteristics does not change essentially the general picture.

A considerable number of respondents (more than 40%) have left home in response to their husband’s behaviour and found shelter elsewhere.
One third of them experi- enced it more than once; compared to other respective groups, a higher percentage of respondents who are ur- ban and Tbilisi residents, have independent income and have secondary-technical education, choose this way to escape the violence.
One of the most frequently mentioned and consequent- ly main reasons for leaving home was “could not endure more,” among other relatively significant reasons were “badly injured”, “afraid he would kill me” or “he threat- ened/tried to kill me”, and “he threatened the children”.

Most women who left the home sought shelter with relatives; some respondents stayed with neighbours or friends, but none of them stayed in special shelters.
The qualitative research also shows that finding shelter with an official institution is possible only in cases when women have been told about the existence of such so- cial support institutions or they find it by themselves by chance.

This means that there is no real policy for ap- proaching women as a vulnerable group and equipping them with considerable information about their rights and the protection system existing in country.
It should be highlighted that the policies targeted at creating and modernizing women’s shelters services alone will not solve a wide range of problems faced by many women.

The most frequently mentioned and consequently main reasons for going back to an abusive husband are re- lated to family and children (“did not want to leave children/afraid of giving the family a bad name”).

Also husband factor (“he asked me to come back”, “I love him”, and “I forgave him”).
This last factor is more com- monly expressed by Tbilisi residents compared to urban residents, who are more likely to cite a desire to be with their children.

It should be pointed out that a higher percentage of respondents with secondary education mention exactly this reason and that none of them cite love for their husband.
The women who have never left home despite hus- band’s behaviour explain this move by a range of fac- tors, among which the most frequently cited reasons are the fear of giving the family a bad name, which im- plies a fear of public opinion, and the prospect of losing the children.

Reasons related to husband also appear among the leading factors (“forgave him”, “hoped he would change”, “did not want to be single”).
A consider- able number of respondents mention that they did not leave home because they had nowhere to go.
Controlling Behaviour and Causes of Violence: According to those respondents who have a husband/ partner, the most widespread form of restrictions im- posed by their husband is constraining their freedom of movement: more than one fourth of women have been obliged to give an account where they were at a given time; another quite widespread sphere of controlling is related to seeking medical care: one of every eight or nine women has been obliged to ask a permission from her husband.
Approximately the same number of inter- viewed women (every ninth respondent) is restricted because her husband gets angry if she speaks to another man; relatively less widespread, although very painful restrictions are constraining relations with friends (one in every 25-26 women) and with family of birth (one in every 40 respondents); for some of the interviewees, husband’s jealousy is a reason for strain and problems in the relationship with husbands/partners (one in 18 respondents) and ignoring wife or treating her indiffer- ently (one in 26 respondents).
Level of education was revealed to be closely related to the extent of the spread of the all the aforementioned restrictions: compared to representatives of other re- spective groups, a higher percentage of women with incomplete secondary education claim that their hus- bands insist on knowing where they are at all times; that if they speak with another man their husbands get angry; that their husbands are often jealous and suspi- cious that they are unfaithful; that their husbands ig- nore them or are indifferent to them; that they have to ask for permission before seeking medical care; it is also worth noting that with the increase of education level, 84 the percentage of those respondents who confirm that they need husbands’ permission before getting medical help decreases.
A higher percentage of rural residents and respondents who do not earn money by themselves also admit that they need their husband’s permission before going to a doctor compared to representatives of other respective groups.

Of all the women interviewed, some say that every rea- son indicated in the questionnaire justifies a man beat- ing his wife.
The largest number of respondents (one third) thinks that insulting woman physically is justified if a husband “finds out that she has been unfaithful”; a certain part of the interviewees think that this behav- iour is justified if a husband is jealous (one in 15) or if his wife does not obey him (approximately one in 18).
Compared to representatives of other respective groups, a higher percentage of rural residents, respondents who have incomplete secondary education and women who do not earn money by themselves think that “she does not complete her household work to his satisfaction”, “she disobeys him”, “she refuses to have sexual rela- tions with him”, “she asks him whether he has other girl- friends”, “he suspects that she is unfaithful”, are good reasons for hitting a wife.
Compare to the representatives of other groups, a far lower percentage of Tbilisi residents, respondents with higher education and those who have independent in- come think that “if he finds out that she has been un- faithful” is a good reason for a husband to hit a wife.

Of the respondents who have a husband/partner, one in 24 says this partner has done something causing physical harm to her; an almost identical account was confirmed in the groups distinguished after social-demographic in- dicators.
Most interesting here was that all age groups showed similar percentages of who have been victims of physical violence - that is to say that the incidents of abuse begin from the very first years of the marriage and remain approximately at the same level until the end.

In practice this means that the age factor does not influence whether physical violence will happen or not.

Instances of men insulting their wives verbally are quite frequent.

One in five of the interviewees say they have experienced this.
This picture does not change signifi- cantly based on social-demographic indicators.

One in 28 of the interviewees say their husband has committed the following acts against her: public humili- ation, verbal threats of divorce or physical violence; one in 20 women say her husband has refused to give her money; one in 25 women say her husband prevents her from working; one in 40 women said her husband had forced her to have sex.
Hence we can say that there is a whole spectrum of types of violence (physical verbal, financial, sexual), which some (sometimes many) women endure; social- demographic indicators do not usually play an impor- tant role in this regard.

Respondents think that the main reasons for different discriminative behaviours are husband’s drunkenness and material problems (e.g.

financial problems, unem- ployment).

One of the frequently mentioned answers is “he had no reason”.
One in six or seven women was exposed to violence by her husband for “disobedience” or because he suspected she was unfaithful.

When it comes to place of residence, in the case of Tbi- lisi residents two of the five most commonly cited rea- sons are related to a relationship between a man and a woman, whereas with rural respondents material fac- tors and housewife’s obligations are more accentuated (this is borne out by the fact that “if things are not tidied up at home” is seventh on the list of reasons).
Similar peculiarities are revealed in the group of women with incomplete secondary education.

The spectrum of reasons given for men to engage in co- ercive behaviour was broader than that of restrictive or other discriminatory behaviour.
This means that a con- siderable number of women who are victims of violence endure it due to several different reasons; the problem of drunkenness is most frequently cited (by over half of interviewees), while the second was “no reason”; this selection of women tends to highlight reasons related to the relationship between husband and wife (jealousy / he is sure she is not faithful, she refuses to have sex with him / due to some problems in sexual relations, she does not obey).
In their respective groups, Tbilisi and urban residents, women who do not have their own income and women with higher education, were more likely to share their thoughts on the reasons why husbands attack their wives.

NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 85 It should be mentioned that education liberates women – and people in general – and enables them to speak more openly about their experiences than women who have a lower level of education.
This could be one of the reasons for the “strange” distribution of low rates of violence reported from rural areas.

Other research gen- erally shows that violence is more widespread in rural areas; however this study gives a rate of violence that is higher in urban areas.
This could mean two things: either women do not re- port their violent experiences in villages because their perceptions of what violence is are different or because their level of education does not equip them with suffi- cient knowledge about individual rights.

This discussion could become a good research question, but for now it is clear that there are significant differences according to place of residence that require further research and elaboration.
One fifth of women who have reported violence feel responsible for their husbands/partners’ coercive be- haviour, although it is worth noting that a considerable proportion of this group (every ninth woman) refused to answer; among those who refused to answer, the high- est percentage (compared to their respective groups) was among women who have incomplete secondary education, rural residents and respondents who do not earn money by themselves.
Level of education is closely linked to this issue: compared to the representatives of respective groups, the higher percentage of those wom- en who have higher education indicate that they feel re- sponsible for their husbands’ coercive behaviour, while most women with technical education assume that hus- bands carry all of the responsibility for it.
A little bit more than half of the respondents against whom a husband/partner committed violence think that the concrete reason was the husband’s drunkenness; the five most commonly cited reasons for husband’s co- ercive behaviour include two that are not connected to the personal relationship of the spouses: difficult mate- rial situation (financial problems, unemployment) and husband’s drunkenness.

Of the reasons discussed in the context of man-woman’s relationship, the most wide- spread is jealousy.
The research results clearly show that violence against women is widespread phenomenon in Georgia and that measures aimed at eliminating it have to be targeted at different levels of state policy in order to ensure women’s full inclusion in societal life, the creation of a network of information centres, facilitation of women’s political participation and the elimination of all types of systemic discrimination against women.
It is clear that information policy and awareness-building should be- come the special aims of further projects.

86 Chapter 9.
86 Chapter 9.

RECOMMENDATIONS Marine Chitashvili, Nino Javakhishvili, Luiza Arutiunov, Lia Tsuladze, Sophio Chachanidze1 The national survey on Domestic Violence against Wom- en in Georgia, implemented within the frameworks of the project “Combating Gender Based Violence in the South Caucasus” has created a stable information grounds which implies that there is sufficient data for the South Caucasus and the world for carrying out a comparative analysis on domestic violence.
This is a multidimensional research, which has dealt with the very specific behavioral models of women and their partners, also with the issues such as security, women empowerment and fight against discrimination which has been deeply rooted institutionally in the Georgian community.
The research enables us to have a full un- derstanding of the scopes of diverse problems; corre- spondingly, when you have multidimensional informa- tion about the problem, it is much easier to elaborate guidelines and targeted policy, strategies and programs for supporting/protecting the women.

The data can be used by the state agencies, women’s organizations, the media, scientific groups, workers from the educational field and any person who is involved and interested in the issues of domestic violence.
This chapter is divided into two parts: the first part in- cludes recommendations on the policy level and those for policy makers, whereas the other part represents recommendations regarding the gender-based violence for the people working in the field of social sciences, who try to study gender as a social construct in transi- tional societies.

1.
1.

These recommendations are the joint work of the group of researchers and the task force for preliminary review of the survey, whose comments and recommendations are integrated in this chapter.

Policy Recommendations The research result clearly showed that: 1.

Nothing has changed in regards to the ratio of the victims of domestic violence.

6.9% of the surveyed respondents declare that they have been the victims of violence, which coincides with the indicator of the 2005 survey (MICS).

2.
2.

The women do not refer to any official institution or social service for support.

They share their experi- ence with the nearest social network.

Lack of refer- ral to the official institutions for getting support may be caused by low level of awareness about these institutions and the population’s low access to the services provided by them; and in most cases by the absence of such services (especially, in case of the system of social workers).
This is particularly felt in rural areas and, partially, in provincial towns as well.

The law on Domestic Violence has been in force in Geor- gia since 2006.

However, little number of referrals con- cerning the domestic violence (to the service providers or other official institutions) indicates that the effective mechanism for combating the gender-based violence does not exist yet.
Absence of the institute of social workers who are working on the issues of domestic vio- lence creates additional hindrance in the country for the effective implementation of programs for responding to the domestic violence.
According to the research results, the women do not clearly possess sufficient information about the insti- NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 87 tutions that provide support to the women victims of severe forms of violence, and which are working for pre- venting the violence at an initial stage and for protecting the women.
It is very important for the institutions and service pro- viders, which are actively involved in combating the do- mestic violence, to possess relevant information about each other’s activities, in order to ensure effectiveness and continuity of existing activities and to protect the women victims of violence.

From its side, this depends on stable cooperation and coordination.
Creation of an information center for supporting the women at risk of violence, and referral of the women to social services and women’s organizations (activation of the refer- ral system) based on their needs, will make it possible to coordinate the work done by various organizations on one hand, and to identify the group of most needy women on the other, and correspondingly, to elaborate adequate strategies for supporting them and for involv- ing them in social life.
In this case it is very important to renew the current policy and to emphasize new challenges, which are the subject of the recommendations provided below.

These recommendations were developed at the conference held in May 2010 for discussing the preliminary results of this survey, attended by the representatives from governmental bodies, NGOs, international organizations and scientific groups working on the issues of domestic violence.

1.
1.

State policy in response to the domestic violence, service (referral) systems and their accessibility: 1.1.

Create a special policy and carry out relevant activi- ties for strengthened socio-economic status of a wom- an, and for women’s empowerment; 1.2.

Develop a concept on the establishment of a social service (social workers) system in regards to the domes- tic violence (to form a special task force in coordination with the interagency council on domestic violence); 1.3.
Strengthen and expand the referral system in re- sponse to the domestic violence and introduce it effec- tively throughout the country in cooperation with the NGO sector, in order to ensure equal access to the ser- vice; especially, to enhance the involvement of health- care system in the domestic violence referral mecha- nism; 88 1.4.

Ensure high-quality referral service for the women victims of domestic violence in accordance with the in- ternationally adopted standards: 1.4.1.
Train the service providers engaged in the referral system according to the unified curriculum that will sup- port the coordinated action; 1.4.2.

Introduce quality assurance mechanisms for the referral system; 1.4.3.
In cooperation with the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, train the general practitioners, pe- diatricians, reproductologists, psychiatrists, emergency medical personnel concerning the identification of the victims of domestic violence and about the referral sys- tem; integrate such kind of education in the post-grad- uate education; 1.4.4.
In cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Af- fairs, improve training of the policemen concerning the issues of human rights, gender equality and domestic violence; 1.4.5.

Create and institutionalize the special training course for acting social workers and social agents with the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Science; 2.
Raise the public awareness on gender equality and the domestic violence against women, in order to elim- inate the opinions and practices that generates and supports discrimination and domestic violence 2.1.

Educating the population and raising their aware- ness: 2.1.1.

Increase and strengthen the involvement and par- ticipation of girls and women in the region; use current social mobilization projects for better provision of infor- mation and services to the rural population; 2.1.2.
Include the issues of gender equality and domes- tic violence in the educational system:  Introduce the standards of respective education and infrastructure at kindergartens; Incorporate the issues of domestic violence in the civil education module at schools, and, correspond- ingly, train the teachers;   Mainstream the issues of domestic violence and women’s rights in the curricula of institutions of higher education (especially at the faculties of law and journalism); 2.1.3.
Cooperate with the church, especially with the patriarchate with the purpose of eliminating the domes- tic violence (creation of support networks); 2.2.

Information Policy and Media: 2.2.1.

Cooperation with the media for mainstreaming the gender equality, in order to facilitate the change into the public attitude towards gender equality; 2.2.2.
In partnership with respective stakeholders, sup- port the establishment of professional standards on covering the gender issues in the media; conduct spe- cial trainings for journalists, talk-show hosts and editors; 2.2.3.

Strengthen the cooperation with the media for providing clear information to the public on the issues of gender equality and domestic violence; introduce a cycle of special TV-programs on these issues via the high-rating channels, among them, especially – via the public broadcaster.
Review of the Objectives and Recommendations The policy of overcoming the domestic violence should be enforced at several levels of social life.

Among them, the first one is the state policy targeted at women em- powerment, which will facilitate strengthening of the women’s socio-economic status and ensure women’s integration in the public life.

In fact, it will be focused on assigning the role of a full-fledged social actor to the woman.
Obviously, without stating the facts of domestic vio- lence and without instituting the primary support effec- tively, it is impossible to think about having the women protected and secure in or outside their families.
With this purpose, it is absolutely urgent to create a network of social workers who will be working on the facts of domestic violence and will be in coordination with the interagency council on domestic violence on one hand, and with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police on the other hand.
A special database is necessary for registering the facts of domestic violence fully, where the social workers will track the facts of domestic vio- lence (referral to the police is not made in all the cases) according to the form elaborated in advance.
Consider- ing the social-demographic data, the obtained statistics will clearly identify the hottest points of prevalence of domestic violence, its intensity and reasons that will make it possible to develop respective interventions and policy for their elimination.

The survey data clearly show that the referral mecha- nisms are still very weak for responding to the facts of domestic violence.
On one hand it is necessary to en- hance coordination among various service providers, and on the other hand to ensure access to existing in- formation for women according to their place of resi- dence.

The NGOs working on the issues of domestic vio- lence may become one of the central links for improving the referral system.
Creation of a virtual information network, where the comprehensive information will be posted regarding the institutions and tools for sup- porting the women victims of domestic violence, also involvement of the healthcare system at the state level will significantly improve the access for the victims and ensure their protection.

Smooth functioning of the referral system depends on one hand on the organizational framework and on the other hand – on the personnel qualification.
The per- sonnel engaged in the referral system necessitate spe- cial preparation/training.

It is important to consider the fact that after the training the professional staff should meet the contemporary standards.
It is becoming nec- essary to provide special trainings not only to the so- cial workers as the representatives of primary support institution, but also to the general practitioners, pe- diatricians, reproductologists, psychiatrists, emergency medical personnel for identification and referral of the victims of domestic violence.
It is important to deter- mine the competences for professionals regarding the necessity of referral in case of domestic violence, as far as the victim may deny the fact of domestic violence (if we consider the research results, and in particular the attitude of women that all the problem should remain in the family and should not be discussed publicly), and refuse to get support from an official institution.
It should be considered here as well that the domestic violence affect not only the direct victim (a woman), but also the children who happen to be the involuntary wit- nesses of violence (our research proves the fact that in case of violence the child’s health and behavioral dis- orders are more frequent than in case of non-violence despite there has not been a fact of violence directly against the child).
NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 89 Within the frameworks of current legislation, the police deals with the fact of domestic violence more inten- sively and, correspondingly, it is necessary to improve training for police officers regarding the issues of human rights, gender equality and domestic violence.
Development of professional staff, regardless whether they are the representatives of law-enforcement bod- ies, or the staff of healthcare and social services, should take place in a coordinated way, and it should be agreed with the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social affairs and the Ministry of Education and Science as well.

Teaching activities, on one hand, should meet the international standards, and on the other hand should be compatible with the local requirements and standards.
People of different professions (social service experts, lawyers, judges, forensic doctors, psychologists, po- lice representatives, women’s NGOs) surveyed in the qualitative part of the research, made reference on the necessity of preventing the domestic violence (shelter development and informing at-risk women in advance, enhance education and employment opportunities), also on the necessity of professional training for the per- sonnel of support institutions within the current system (upgrading the qualification of the professional support personnel for rehabilitating the women victims of do- mestic violence and their families).
For overcoming the domestic violence and for activat- ing the gender equality for women, the central role is assigned to the public awareness, also to the educa- tion and the system of values.
The research has clearly shown that gender-based discrimination and traditional distinction between men and women is characteristic to the Georgian lifestyle of the XXI century, for example, existence of dual approach towards one and the same behavior of women and men (adultery cannot be for- given to the women, though the men are not even re- proached because of the same thing; or, easier one – wife does not have the right to visit a doctor without her husband’s permission, etc.).
Such attitudes within the society towards women clearly indicate that there is no system of non-discriminating gender-based values and the deficit of public awareness.

Educating the public and raising their awareness rep- resents one of the central issues in the fight for elimi- nating the domestic violence.

Domestic violence repre- sents a permanent problem and not an individual case, as many people indicate.
Attitudes, opinions and public norms are extremely stable and it is necessary to review the forms of social awareness critically.

It is necessary to clearly formulate the woman’s role and promote neces- sity of women’s participation in building the democratic society.

Together with using current social mobilization programs, the targeted implementation of the media and information policy should be considered one of the primary objectives.
The research results show that very many surveyed women think that the awareness of women and men as well needs to be raised.

The quali- tative research has revealed that in certain cases, both women and men possess quite specific, traditional and stereotyped opinions regarding the woman’s role in the family.

The people do not have a clear understanding about domestic violence as a systematic problem and they do not consider domestic violence as one of the forms of human rights violation.
Targeted and well-planned interference in all the levels and at all the stages of the educational system will sig- nificantly support the establishment of gender equality and the attitude towards non-acceptance of domestic violence.

Socialization since early childhood represents the main area, and the formal educational institutes are the important ones in this respect, starting from kindergartens up to the institutes of higher education.
This is why it is significant to have respective education and to create relevant infrastructure at all the levels of educational system (kindergartens); to include the is- sues of domestic violence in the civil education module at schools and to train teachers; and to mainstream the issues of domestic violence and women’s rights in the curricula of the institutes of higher education, especially for the faculties of law and journalism.
It is necessary to support the development of gender studies as an inde- pendent discipline in the direction of social science.

While referring to the traditions and providing argu- ments for their protection, often the superficial rea- soning is used about the subordinated role of women in the context of religion.

The church and the Patriarch in Georgia really are social actors that enjoy the most confidence and moral authority.
The church and the patriarchate should necessarily be involved in the fight against domestic violence, and to elaborate a joint ac- tion plan.

The clergy associated with the church, which represents a significant portion of the population, can become a serious supporter in combating the violence, and in implementation of specific activity such as cre- ation of support networks in the fight against the do- mestic violence.
90 Using the media and targeted information policy rep- resents one of the central vectors for increasing the women empowerment and for mainstreaming the gen- der equality.

This is why it is important to cooperate with the digital and print media for changing the public awareness on the women’s role and for analyzing and promoting the domestic violence as a systematic prob- lem.
It often happens that the information broadcasted by the media, which looks as if it were targeted to the women’s issues, cannot resist any criticism from the standpoint of journalism ethics or professionalism in connection to the topics of domestic violence or wom- en’s issues.

It is absolutely necessary, on one hand, to in- troduce professional standards and, on the other hand, to conduct trainings on gender equality for journalists, talk-show hosts and editors.
It should also be taken into consideration that in many cases the language, which is used for delivering the is- sues of gender equality and domestic violence to the audience, listeners or readers, cannot resist any criti- cism because it is vague and unclear.

In regards to these issues, it is necessary to introduce a cycle of special pro- grams, which will use live examples and language for providing information to the public about the current situation.
The special role of the public broadcaster in conducting the media campaign is clearly underlined.

In fact, all the above mentioned objectives and recom- mendations aim at two things: on one hand to enhance the service systems of state policy on responding the domestic violence, also to increase effectiveness and ef- ficiency on accessing them and, on the other hand, re- socialization of the adult population in the context of gender equality, and to establish new values concerning the women’s authorities.
Research Recommendations Many interesting topics were revealed as the result of comprehensive work done on the issue of domestic vio- lence.

First of all it should be pointed out that the re- searches of such format should be repeatedly held once every five years, in order to enable monitoring over the process of situation development in regards to the women’s problems.
domestic violence remains to be a problem even in the countries which are at leading posi- tions according to the gender index (which means that there is gender equality in the country); however, all of these countries have been through the transition period of shifting from the stage of systematic discrimination of women, for which they have created new legisla- tion and also the institutions to support women, their involvement and inclusion.
Correspondingly, the results of nationwide researches of these countries clearly in- dicate how the newly established policy is working and how the opinions and practices regarding the domestic violence have changed.

Analysis for the future: The current research created quite a large database of quantitative and qualitative data.

Only some part of these materials is provided in this report.

The research group of the Social Sciences Center is planning addition- al processing of the data in the future.
Perception of domestic violence by the women and its legitimization represents one of the key issues that the Social Sciences Center will emphasize while processing the data in the future.

According to the research, out of 6.9% of the women having experienced the physical violence 49.9% considers that the cases of beating or hitting a woman by the partner can be justified in cer- tain cases.
Besides, the women’s self-esteem is neces- sary and it requires in-depth analysis together with the social perception of their own role, duties and responsi- bilities.

This way it would be possible to provide deeper analysis of the “subordinated” attitude of women and resilience towards their own rights.
The research group also is thinking about studying the distribution of dispo- sitions and opinions, which would be beneficial for the purposes of empowering the women and for various strategies in the future.

No separate analysis is done for the ethnic minorities and other high-risk groups in the context of the people facing double risk.

Besides, there is no special emphasis laid on the children who are vic- tims or witnesses of domestic violence or the results of violence.
The research results clearly show that fight- ing against the domestic violence gets a woman closer to her biological family.

On the other hand, the wom- en who have had an experience of domestic violence since childhood, are more likely to become the victims of violence as adults.

There is a very little number of women who respond to the perpetrator and hit them in response.
In the future it is necessary to study the issues on how the past trauma influences the woman and how it degrades the ability to fight with the perpe- trator when they turn adults (social study of the violent behavior).

Besides, the impact of violence on the fam- ily is interesting as wellThe report does not provide the study of linkages between the partner’s characteristic NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 91 features and the violence experienced and reported by the women.
Neither is there any analysis of the men’s attitude towards the domestic violence based on the ap- plication of quantitative and qualitative data.

least within the framework of qualitative component), in order to identify the differences in the social percep- tion of men and women concerning the meaning of the domestic violence.

One of the key issues of the research will be the analysis of various opinions of women’s age groups on the basis of the qualitative data.
These are the women who have experienced violence by their husbands.

The analysis aims at identification of the women’s dispositions, de- scription of violence perceived by them and perception of the legitimization of various forms of violence; also the frequency of violence and the women’s arguments for justifying the men.
If this research is done again, the Social Sciences Cen- ter thinks that it is necessary to cover the age group of 15-59 and, most importantly, wider group of men (at As far as the research data was collected in three coun- tries of the South Caucasus and Turkey, it is desirable to hold a conference, where the general and national tendencies will be shown concerning the systematic violence against women, and the issues related to the topic of violence are discussed in more details.
This conference and in-depth research, on one hand, will be used for creating a more targeted policy, and, on the other hand, for overcoming the challenges in the field of women’s emancipation and empowerment in the de- veloping countries.

All these aims at building the demo- cratic society where the human rights are considered to be the most important value of the social life.

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http://www.un.org/en/ development/devagenda/gender.shtml NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 93 ANNEXES 94 Annex 1.
Research Team International experts Dr. Turgay Unalan Key International Expert Responsible for overall guidance on the quantitative survey methodology, sampling, data analysis and report writing in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan Dr. Sibel Kalaycioglu Key International Expert Responsible for the guidelines for qualitative study and review of study tools in Georgia Key Experts Prof. Marine Chitashvili Team leader Technical responsibility for the project, revising quantitative questionnaire, developing the qualitative research methodology, final report writing Prof. Nino Javakhishvili Key expert Developing the curricula for training of interviewers on gender and trainer, moderator of focus groups, Report writing Dr. Luiza Arutiunov Dr. Lia Tsuladze Ms. Sophio Chachanidze Key expert report writing Key expert report writing Key expert Responsible for quantitative research overall management of survey field work, report writing Experts Dr. Lili Khechuashvili Expert Developer curricula for quantitative research training and trainer for quantitative research interviewers Ms. Khatuna Martskvishvili Expert Developer curricula for quantitative research training and trainer for quantitative research interviewers Ms. Irina Bregvadze Expert Trainer for quantitative research interviewers on gender Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies, Ankara (April-September 2008)* Sociology Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara Center for Social Sciences Tbilisi State University Center for Social Sciences Tbilisi State University Center for Social Sciences Tbilisi State University Center for Social Sciences Tbilisi State University ACT – Research, LTD Center for Social Sciences Tbilisi State University Center for Social Sciences Tbilisi State University Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 95 Ms. Irma Khomeriki Expert Mr. George Ratiani Mr. George Ratiani Ms. Manana Mikaberidze Ms. Manana Mikaberidze Trainer for quantitative research Expert interviewers on gender data based specialist, responsible Expert data cleaning and data analysis data based specialist, responsible Expert data cleaning and data analysis Preparation of administrative reports Expert International Center for Civic Culture ACT – Research, LTD ACT – Research, LTD Center for Social Sciences Center for Social Sciences Preparation of administrative * The Expert has been working for Statistics and Monitoring Section, UNICEF in New York since September reports 2008.
* The Expert has been working for Statistics and Monitoring Section, UNICEF in New York since September 2008.

Annex 2.
List of Personnel Quantitative study list of personnel 1 Abramidze Ia 2 Akhvlediani Manana 3 Alavidze Nino 4 Arakhamia Lali 5 Barisashvili Nato 6 Borashvili Tamta 7 Bregadze Marina 8 Bregadze Marina 9 Buziashvili Tamila 10 Charkviani Naziko 11 Chorgolashvili Nino 12 Chorgolashvili Nino 13 Dolidze Medea 14 Gegidze Bizina 15 Giorkhelidze Nato 16 Gogsadze Ekaterine 17 Gogsadze Eka 18 Gogsadze Tamar 19 Gorgiladze Natela 20 Gudashvili Xatuna 21 Guleishvili Nino 22 Gulordava Archil 23 Gulua Jilda 24 Inasaridze Shorena Iosava Tamar Iremashvili Tamila Jajanidze Sophio Jakeli Nino Jashiashvili Lali 25 26 27 28 29 96 30 Jishkariani Iamze Jojua Inga 31 32 Kakonashvili Mariam 33 Kanteladze Tsitsino 34 Kapianidze Nana 35 Karchava Dali 36 Kekelidze Xatuna 37 Kentchadze Ana 38 Khanishvili Nana 39 Khatiashvili Liana 40 Khitarishvili Gulqan 41 Khurtsia Marine 42 Korinteli Nino 43 Kupreishvili Nana 44 Kurkhuli Nani 45 Kvizhinadze Tinatin 46 Leshkasheli Maka 47 Maghradze Tea 48 Makhviladze Viola 49 Mamucharashvili Davit 50 Matua Izolda 51 Matua Mimoza 52 Menabde Darejan 53 Miqabadze Maia 54 Nakeuri Natia 55 Narimanishvili Qetevan 56 Nikoladze Maka 57 Odisharia Neli 58 Pakeliani Irma 72 Tatenashvili Nino 73 Tchurghulia Leila 74 Telia Maia 75 Telia Qetevan 76 Todua Sophio 77 Togonidze Mzia 78 Tsiskarishvili Sophio 79 Tsulaia Nino 80 Tumanishvili Nino 81 Turkadze Naili 82 Tvaliashvili Tamta 83 Utniashvili Tsira 59 Pakeliani Nino 60 Phurcxvanidze Gvantsa 61 Pipia Rusudan 62 Pochkhua Lili 63 Rokva Lela 64 Sakhokia Maia 65 Shanava Maia 66 Shatakishvili Tameli 67 Shiolashvili Elene 68 Shonia Nana 69 Sinauridze Nino 70 Sophromadze Tamar 71 Surguladze Ekaterine Qualitative study list of personnel 1.
Dzamukashvili Lia 2.

Gigauri Eter 3.

Kharatishvili Natia 4.

Kobaladze Nino 5.

Tatarashvili Tamta NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 97 Annex 3.

Questionnaire 2008 GEORGIA SURVEY ON WOMAN’S HEALTH AND LIFE EXPERIENCES IDENTIFICATION COUNTRY CODE REGION LOCATION (CAPITAL/TOWN = 1, PROVINCE = 2) WARD/VILLAGE ......................................................................................
CLUSTER NUMBER .................................................................................. HOUSEHOLD NUMBER ........................................................................... ____ [ ][ ] [ ] [ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ] NAME OF HOUSEHOLD HEAD : _______________________ DATE ___________ 1 INTERVIEWER VISITS 2 ___________ ___________ 3 FINAL VISIT ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ DAY [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ][ ][ ] INTERVIEWER [ ][ ] RESULT [ ][ ] ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITS [ ] *** RESULT CODES Refused (specify): _________________ ________________________________... 11 Dwelling vacant or address not a dwelling12 Dwelling destroyed................................... 13 Dwelling not found, not accessible........... 14 Entire hh absent for extended period ...... 15 No hh member at home at time of visit ... 16 Hh respondent postponed interview ....... 17 Entire hh speaking only strange language.
18 Selected woman refused (specify): ____ ________________________________... 21 No eligible woman in household .............. 22 Selected woman not at home .................. 23 Selected woman postponed interview..... 24 Selected woman incapacitated ................ 25 CHECK HH SELECTION FORM: TOTAL IN HOUSEHOLD (Q1) [ ][ ] TOTAL ELIGIBLE WOMEN IN HH OF SELECTED WOMAN (Q3, total with YES) [ ][ ] ⇒ Need to return ⇒ Need to return ⇒ Need to return ⇒ Need to return LINE NUMBER OF SELECTED FEMALE RESPONDENT (Q3) [ ][ ] INTERVIE WERS NAME RESULT* ** NEXT VISIT: DATE TIME LOCATIO N QUESTIO NNAIRES COMPLET ED?
[ ] 1.

None complete d ⇒ [ ] 2.

HH question naire only ⇒ 98 ⇒ Need to return Does not want to continue (specify) : ___ ________________________________... 31 Rest of interview postponed to next visit 32 [ ] 3.

Woman's question naire partly ⇒ [ ] 4.
Woman's question naire complete d ⇒ LANGUAGE OF QUESTIONNAIRE LANGUAGE INTERVIEW CONDUCTED IN QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURE CONDUCTED (1 = yes, 2 = no) .................................................................. 41 FIELD SUPERVISOR QUESTIONNAIRE CHECKED BY OFFICE EDITOR [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ] ENTERED BY NAME [ ][ ] ENTRY 1: __________ ENTRY 2: __________ NAME [ ][ ] DAY [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ][ ][ ] NAME [ ][ ] DAY [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ][ ][ ] NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 99 IF MORE THAN ONE HH IN SELECTED DWELLING: FILL OUT SEPERATE HH SELECTION FORM FOR EACH ONE HOUSEHOLD SELECTION FORM Hello, my name is _____________________ .
I am calling on behalf of CENTRE FOR SURVEY RESEARCH.

We are conducting a survey in STUDY LOCATION to learn about women’s health and life experiences.

Please can you tell me how many people live here, and share food?

PROBE: Does this include children (including infants) living here?

Does it include any other people who may not be members of your family, such as domestic servants, lodgers or friends who live here and share food?
MAKE SURE THESE PEOPLE ARE INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL Is the head of the household male or female?

TOTAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN HOUSEHOLD [ ][ ] MALE ............................... 1 FEMALE ............................ 2 BOTH ............................... 3 SEX RESIDENCE AGE ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS Would you please give me the first names of all persons who usually live in your household (and share food).

RELATIONSHIP TO HEAD OF HH What is the relationship of NAME to the head of the household.
* (USE CODES BELOW) 1 MALE 2.

FEMALE Is NAME male or female?

Does NAME usually live here?

SPECIAL CASES: SEE (A) BELOW.

How old is NAME?

(YEARS, more or less) SEE CRITERIA BELOW (A +B) 1.

YES 2.

NO 1 2 3 LINE NUM.


1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 CODES 01 HEAD 02 WIFE/HUSBAND (PARTNER) 03 DAUGHTER 04 DAUGHTER-­‐IN-­‐LAW 05 GRANDDAUGHTER (A) SPECIAL CASES TO BE CONSIDERED MEMBER OF HOUSEHOLD: • DOMESTIC SERVANTS IF THEY SLEEP 5 NIGHTS A WEEK OR MORE IN THE HOUSEHOLD.

VISITORS IF THEY HAVE SLEPT IN THE HOUSEHOLD FOR THE PAST 4 WEEKS.
• (B) ELIGIBLE: ANY WOMAN BETWEEN 15 AND 49 YEARS LIVING IN HOUSEHOLD.

NO ELIGIBLE WOMAN IN HH: CONTINUE WITH HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE 06 MOTHER 07 MOTHER-­‐IN-­‐LAW 08 09 10 OTHER RELATIVE 11 ADOPTED/FOSTER/STEP DAUGHTER SISTER SISTER-­‐IN-­‐LAW SORT ALL ELIGIBLE WOMEN BY GIVING “1” FOR THE OLDEST USE BELOW TABLE FOR SELECTING ONE WOMEN [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 1.

YES 2.
YES 2.

NO 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 12 DOMESTIC SERVANT 13 14 98 OTHER NOT RELATIVE: LODGER FRIEND _____________________________ MORE THAN ONE ELIGIBLE WOMEN IN HH: Last Digit of HH NO.
+ * If both (male and female) are the head, refer to the male.

100 ADMINISTERED TO ANY RESPONSIBLE ADULT IN HOUSEHOLD HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTIONS & FILTERS 1 If you don’t mind, I would like to ask you a few questions about your household.

What is the main source of drinking-­‐water for your household?
2 What kind of toilet facility does your household have?

3 What are the main materials used in the roof?

RECORD OBSERVATION 4 Does your household have: a) Electricity b) A radio c) A television d) A telephone e) A refrigerator 5 6 7 Does any member of your household own: a) A bicycle?

b) A motorcycle?

c) A car?

Do people in your household own any land?

How many rooms in your household are used for sleeping?

Thank you very much for your assistance.
CODING CATEGORIES TAP/PIPED WATER IN RESIDENCE.......................... 01 OUTSIDE TAP (PIPED WATER) WITH HH ................ 02 PUBLIC TAP ........................................................... 03 WELL-­‐WATER, WITH HOUSEHOLD......................... 04 OUTSIDE/PUBLIC WELL.......................................... 05 SPRING WATER ..................................................... 06 RIVER/STREAM/POND/LAKE/DAM ....................... 08 RAINWATER ........................................................... 09 TANKER/TRUCK/WATER VENDOR ......................... 10 OTHER: _______________________________..... 96 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER......................... 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .......................................... 99 OWN FLUSH TOILET .............................................. 01 SHARED FLUSH TOILET .......................................... 02 VENTILATED IMPROVED PIT LATRINE .................... 03 TRADITIONAL PIT TOILET/LATRINE ....................... 04 RIVER/CANAL ......................................................... 05 NO FACILITY/BUSH/FIELD ..................................... 06 OTHER: _______________________________..... 96 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER......................... 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .......................................... 99 ROOF FROM NATURAL MATERIALS ......................... 1 RUDIMENTARY ROOF (PLASTIC/CARTON) ............... 2 TILED OR CONCRETE ROOF...................................... 3 CORRUGATED IRON ................................................. 4 OTHER: _______________________________....... 6 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ............................................ 9 DK 8 8 8 8 8 a) ELECTRICITY b) RADIO c) TELEVISION d) TELEPHONE e) REFRIGERATOR YES 1 1 1 1 1 NO 2 2 2 2 2 NO 2 2 2 YES 1 1 1 DK a) BICYCLE 8 b) MOTORCYCLE 8 c) CAR 8 YES ........................................................................... 1 NO............................................................................ 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ............................................ 9 NUMBER OF ROOMS ..................................... [ ][ ] DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER......................... 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .......................................... 99 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 101 INDIVIDUAL CONSENT FORM Hello, my name is ***.
I work for ACT Research.

We are conducting a survey in whole Georgia to learn about women’s health and life experiences.

You have been chosen by chance (as in a lottery/raffle) to participate in the study.

I want to assure you that all of your answers will be kept strictly secret.

I will not keep a record of your name or address.

You have the right to stop the interview at any time, or to skip any questions that you don’t want to answer.

There are no right or wrong answers.


Some of the topics may be difficult to discuss, but many women have found it useful to have the opportunity to talk.

Your participation is completely voluntary but your experiences could be very helpful to other women in Georgia.

Do you have any questions?

(The interview takes approximately 40 minutes to complete.)

Do you agree to be interviewed?


NOTE WHETHER RESPONDENT AGREES TO INTERVIEW OR NOT [ ] DOES NOT AGREE TO BE INTERVIEWED THANK PARTICIPANT FOR HER TIME AND END [ ] AGREES TO BE INTERVIEWED Is now a good time to talk?

It’s very important that we talk in private.

Is this a good place to hold the interview, or is there somewhere else that you would like to go?
___________________________________________________________________________ _____________ TO BE COMPLETED BY INTERVIEWER I CERTIFY THAT I HAVE READ THE ABOVE CONSENT PROCEDURE TO THE PARTICIPANT.

SIGNED: ____________________________________________________________ 102 DATE OF INTERVIEW: day [ ][ ] month [ ][ ] year [ ][ ][ ][ ] 100.
RECORD THE TIME Hour [ ][ ] (24 h) Minutes [ ][ ] SECTION 1 RESPONDENT AND HER COMMUNITY QUESTIONS & FILTERS CODING CATEGORIES SKIP TO If you don’t mind, I would like to start by asking you a little about <COMMUNITY NAME>.

INSERT NAME OF COMMUNITY/VILLAGE/NEIGHBOURHOOD ABOVE AND IN QUESTIONS BELOW.

IF NO NAME, SAY "IN THIS COMMUNITY/VILLAGE/AREA" AS APPROPRIATE.

101 Do neighbours in COMMUNITY NAME generally tend to know each other well?
102 If there were a street fight in COMMUNITY NAME would people generally do something to stop it?

103 104 If someone in COMMUNITY NAME decided to undertake a community project (LOCALLY RELEVANT EXAMPLE for SEPARATE REGION) would most people be willing to contribute time, labour or money?

In this neighbourhood do most people generally trust one another in matters of lending and borrowing things?

105 106 If someone in your family suddenly fell ill or had an accident, would your neighbours offer to help?
I would now like to ask you some questions about yourself.

What is your date of birth (day, month and year that you were born)?

107 How old were you on your last birthday?
(MORE OR LESS) YES ..................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW ..................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 YES ..................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW ..................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 YES ..................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW ..................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 YES ..................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW ..................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 YES ..................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW ..................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 DAY ..............................................[ ][ ] MONTH ..............................................[ ][ ] YEAR ................................... [ ][ ][ ][ ] DON’T KNOW YEAR.......................................9998 REFUSED/NO ANSWER..................................9999 AGE (YEARS) ......................................[ ][ ] 108a How long have you been living continuously in COMMUNITY NAME?
NUMBER OF YEARS .........................[ ][ ] LESS THAN 1 YEAR ......................... 00 LIVED ALL HER LIFE ........................................ 95 VISITOR (AT LEAST 4 WEEKS IN HOUSEHOLD) ................................96 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER..................99 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 103 108b Have you ever been forced or had to change your place of residence due to reasons of armed conflicts, security, or a life threatening situation?
When was that?

108 c YES ..................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 ⇒ 108d DAY ................................................[ ][ ] MONTH ................................................[ ][ ] YEAR ..................................... [ ][ ][ ][ ] DON’T KNOW YEAR.......................................9998 REFUSED/NO ANSWER..................................9999 108d What is your religion?
NO RELIGION ..................................0 ISLAM ..............................................1 CATHOLIC .......................................2 ORTHODOX .....................................3 BUDDHIST ..………………............………4 HINDUISM FOLLOWER……..........……5 OTHER ............................................6 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ....................9 109 Can you read and write?

110 Have you ever attended school?


111 What is the highest level of education that you achieved?

MARK HIGHEST LEVEL.
YES...................................................................... 1 NO ..................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 YES ..................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 PRIMARY ___________ year.............................. 1 SECONDARY _________ year............................. 2 HIGHER _________ year .................................... 3 NUMBER OF YEARS SCHOOLING .............[ ][ ] DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................... 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER..................................... 99 ⇒ 112 104 112 Where did you grow up?
PROBE: Before age 12 where did you live longest?

113 Do any of your family of birth live close enough by that you can easily see/visit them?

114 How often do you see or talk to a member of your family of birth?

Would you say at least once a week, once a month, once a year, or never?

115 When you need help or have a problem, can you usually count on members of your family of birth for support?
THIS COMMUNITY/NEIGHBOURHOOD .............. 1 ANOTHER RURAL AREA/VILLAGE ....................... 2 ANOTHER TOWN/CITY ....................................... 3 ANOTHER COUNTRY........................................... 4 ANOTHER NEIGHBOURHOOD IN SAME TOWN .
5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 YES...................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 LIVING WITH FAMILY OF BIRTH.......................... 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK..................................... 1 AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH ................................ 2 AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR ..................................... 3 NEVER (HARDLY EVER) ....................................... 4 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 YES...................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................... 9 ⇒ 115 116a Do you regularly attend a group, organization or association?
A NONE ........................................... 1 IF YES: What kind of group, organization or association?

IF NO, PROMPT: Organizations like women’s or community groups, religious groups or political associations.

MARK ALL MENTIONED PROBE IF NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY TYPE OF GROUP ⇒ IF NONE GO TO 118 116b.

How often do you attend?
(ASK ONLY FOR EACH MARKED IN 116a) At least once a week At least once a month At least once a year Never (hardly ever) B CIVIC/POLITICAL/ UNION ................2 C SOCIAL WORK/CHARITABLE ............3 D SPORTS/ARTS/CRAFTS ....................4 E ECONOMIC/SAVINGS CLUB .............5 F WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION .............6 G RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION ............7 X OTHER:______________________ __________________________ ........8 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 105 116 Is this group (Are any of these groups) attended by women only?
(REFER TO THE ATTENDED GROUPS ONLY) 117 Has anyone ever prevented you from attending a meeting or participating in an organization?

IF YES, ASK Who prevented you?
MARK ALL THAT APPLY YES...................................................................................1 NO ...................................................................................2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 NOT PREVENTED ............................................................ A PARTNER/HUSBAND ...................................................... B PARENTS......................................................................... C PARENTS-­‐IN-­‐LAW/PARENTS OF PARTNER ..................... D OTHER:______________________________ .................X 118 Are you currently married or do you CURRENTLY MARRIED............................................................................1 have a male partner?
IF RESPONDENT HAS A MALE PARTNER ASK Do you and your partner live together?

120 a Have you ever been married or lived with a male partner?
LIVING WITH MAN, NOT MARRIED .................................3 CURRENTLY HAVING A REGULAR PARTNER (SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP), LIVING APART ..........................................................4 NOT CURRENTLY MARRIED OR LIVING WITH A MAN (NOT INVOLVED IN A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP) .........................................................5 YES, MARRIED .................................................................1 YES, LIVED WITH A MAN, BUT NEVER MARRIED ........................................................................3 NO ..................................................................................5 120 b Have you ever had a regular male sexual partner?
YES ..................................................................................1 NO ...................................................................................2 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 DIVORCED ......................................................................1 SEPARATED/BROKEN UP .................................................2 WIDOWED/PARTNER DIED .............................................3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 RESPONDENT ..................................................................1 HUSBAND/PARTNER .......................................................2 BOTH (RESPONDENT AND PARTNER)..............................3 OTHER: ____________________________ ....................6 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 NUMBER OF TIMES MARRIED/ LIVED TOGETHER.................................................... [ ][ ] NONE............................................................................ 00 ⇒ S2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................................98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER..................................................99 121 Did the last partnership with a man end in divorce or separation, or did your husband/partner die?
122 Was the divorce/separation initiated by you, by your husband/partner, or did you both decide that you should separate?

123 How many times in your life have you been married and/or lived together with a man?

(INCLUDE CURRENT PARTNER IF LIVING TOGETHER) 106 ⇒ 12 3 ⇒ 12 3 ⇒ 12 3 ⇒ 12 1 ⇒ 12 1 ⇒ S2 ⇒ S2 ⇒ 12 3 124 The next few questions are about your 125 current or most recent partnership.

Do/did you live with your husband/partner’s parents or any of his relatives?
IF CURRENTLY WITH PARTNER: Do you currently live with your parents or any of your relatives?

IF NOT CURRENTLY WITH PARTNER: Were you living with your parents or relatives during your last relationship?
YES...................................................................................1 NO ...................................................................................2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 YES...................................................................................1 NO ...................................................................................2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 129 Did you have any kind of marriage ceremony to formalize the union?
What type of ceremony did you have?

MARK ALL THAT APPLY NONE.............................................................................. A CIVIL MARRIAGE............................................................. B RELIGIOUS MARRIAGE ................................................... C CUSTOMARY MARRIAGE................................................ D OTHER: ____________________________.................... X ⇒ S.2 130 In what year was the (first) ceremony performed?
(THIS REFERS TO CURRENT/LAST RELATIONSHIP) 131 Did you yourself choose your current/most recent husband, did someone else choose him for you, or did he choose you?

IF SHE DID NOT CHOOSE HERSELF, PROBE: Who chose your current/most recent husband for you?
YEAR .................................................... [ ][ ][ ][ ] DON’T KNOW ............................................................9998 REFUSED/NO ANSWER..............................................9999 BOTH CHOSE ..................................................................1 RESPONDENT CHOSE ......................................................2 RESPONDENT’S FAMILY CHOSE ......................................3 PARTNER CHOSE .............................................................4 PARTNER’S FAMILY CHOSE..............................................5 OTHER: ____________________________ ...................6 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 ⇒ 13 3 ⇒ 13 3 132 Before the marriage with your current /most recent husband, were you asked whether you wanted to marry him or not?
133 Did your marriage involve dowry/bride price payment?

134 Has all of the dowry/ bride price been paid for, or does some part still remain to be paid?

135 Overall, do you think that the amount of dowry/bride price payment has had a positive impact on how you are treated by your husband and his family, a negative impact, or no particular impact?
YES …………….. .................................................................1 NO ...................................................................................2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 YES/DOWRY ....................................................................1 YES/BRIDE PRICE .............................................................2 NO ..................................................................................3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 ALL PAID ..........................................................................1 PARTIALLY PAID...............................................................2 NONE PAID ......................................................................3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 POSITIVE IMPACT ............................................................1 NEGATIVE IMPACT ..........................................................2 NO IMPACT .....................................................................3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER....................................................9 ⇒ 13 6 ⇒ 13 6 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 107 136 Are you concerned about the levels of crime in your neighbourhood (like robberies or assaults)?
Would you say that you are not at all concerned, a little concerned, or very concerned?

In the past 4 weeks, has someone from this household been the victim of a crime in this neighbourhood, such as a robbery or assault?
137 NOT CONCERNED ......................................................... 1 A LITTLE CONCERNED ................................................... 2 VERY CONCERNED ........................................................ 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ............................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ................................................. 9 YES...............................................................................1 NO ...............................................................................2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ..............................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ................................................9 108 SECTION 2 GENERAL HEALTH 201 202 203 204 205 I would now like to ask a few questions about your health and use of health services.
In general, would you describe your overall health as excellent, good, fair, poor or very poor?

the from following 5 Now I would like to ask you about your health in the past 4 weeks.

How would you describe your ability to walk around?

I will give 5 options, which one best describes your situation: Would you say that you have no problems, very few problems, some problems, many problems or that you are unable to walk at all?
In the past 4 weeks did you have problems with performing usual activities, such as work, study, household, family or social activities?

Please choose options.

Would you say no problems, very few problems, some problems, many problems or unable to perform usual activities?

In the past 4 weeks have you been in pain or discomfort?

Please choose options.

Would you say not at all, slight pain or discomfort, moderate, severe or extreme pain or discomfort?
In the past 4 weeks have you had problems with your memory or concentration?

Please choose options.

Would you say no problems, very few problems, some problems, many problems or extreme memory or concentration problems?
following 5 following 5 from from the the EXCELLENT ....................................................................1 GOOD .............................................................................2 FAIR................................................................................3 POOR..............................................................................4 VERY POOR.....................................................................5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 NO PROBLEMS ...............................................................1 VERY FEW PROBLEMS ....................................................2 SOME PROBLEMS...........................................................3 MANY PROBLEMS ..........................................................4 UNABLE TO WALK AT ALL ..............................................5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 NO PROBLEMS ...............................................................1 VERY FEW PROBLEMS ....................................................2 SOME PROBLEMS...........................................................3 MANY PROBLEMS ..........................................................4 UNABLE TO PERFORM USUAL ACTIVITIES......................5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 NO PAIN OR DISCOMFORT.............................................1 SLIGHT PAIN OR DISCOMFORT ......................................2 MODERATE PAIN OR DISCOMFORT ...............................3 SEVERE PAIN OR DISCOMFORT......................................4 EXTREME PAIN OR DISCOMFORT...................................5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 NO PROBLEMS ...............................................................1 VERY FEW PROBLEMS ....................................................2 SOME PROBLEMS...........................................................3 MANY PROBLEMS ..........................................................4 EXTREME MEMORY PROBLEMS.....................................5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 109 206 In the past 4 weeks have you had: YES NO DK a) Dizziness b) Vaginal discharge a) DIZZINESS b) VAGINAL DISCHARGE 1 1 2 2 8 8 a) FOR SLEEP b) FOR PAIN c) FOR SADNESS NO 1 1 1 ONCE OR TWICE 2 2 2 A FEW TIMES 3 3 3 MANY TIMES 4 4 4 NO ONE CONSULTED................................................... 1 DOCTOR 2 NURSE (AUXILIARY) .................................................... 3 MIDWIFE .................................................................... 4 COUNSELLOR............................................................... 5 PHARMACIST............................................................... 6 TRADITIONAL HEALER ................................................ 7 TRADITIONAL BIRTH ATTENDANT .............................. 8 OTHER: _________________________________ ...... 9 207 In the past 4 weeks, have you taken medication: a) To help you calm down or sleep?
b) To relieve pain?

c) To help you not feel sad or depressed?

FOR EACH, IF YES PROBE: How often?

Once or twice, a few times or many times?

208 In the past 4 weeks, did you consult a doctor or other professional or traditional health worker because you yourself were sick?

IF YES: Whom did you consult?

PROBE: Did you also see anyone else?

209 The next questions are related to other common problems that may have bothered you in the past 4 weeks.

If you had the problem in the past 4 weeks, answer yes.
If you have not had the problem in the past 4 weeks, answer no.

YES NO 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Is your appetite poor?

a) Do you often have headaches?

b) c) Do you sleep badly?

d) Are you easily frightened?

a) HEADACHES b) APPETITE c) SLEEP BADLY d) FRIGHTENED e) Do your hands shake?

f) Do you feel nervous, tense or worried?

g) h) Do you have trouble thinking clearly?

Is your digestion poor?

e) HANDS SHAKE f) NERVOUS g) DIGESTION h) THINKING i) Do you feel unhappy?
j) Do you cry more than usual?

k) Do you find it difficult to enjoy your daily activities?

find l) Do you decisions?

it difficult to make i) UNHAPPY j) CRY MORE k) NOT ENJOY l) DECISIONS 110 m) Is your daily work suffering?

n) Are you unable to play a useful part in life?

o) Have you lost interest in things that you used to enjoy?

p) Do you feel that you are a worthless person?

q) Has the thought of ending your life been on your mind?

r) Do you feel tired all the time?


s) Do you have uncomfortable feelings in your stomach?

t) Are you easily tired?

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 m) WORK SUFFERS n) USEFUL PART o) LOST INTEREST p) WORTHLES S q) ENDING LIFE r) FEEL TIRED s) STOMACH t) EASILY TIRED 210 Just now we talked about problems that may have bothered you in the past 4 weeks.

I would like to ask you now: In your life, have you ever thought about ending your life?

211 Have you ever tried to take your life?


212 In the past 12 months, have you had an operation (other than a caesarean section)?
................................................................... 1 YES NO ................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 ⇒ 212 ................................................................... 1 YES NO ................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 YES............................................................................... 1 NO ............................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .............................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER................................................ 9 213 In the past 12 months, did you have to spend any nights in a hospital because you were sick (other than to give birth)?
IF YES: How many nights in the past 12 months?

NIGHTS IN HOSPITAL ................................... [ ][ ] NONE ..................................................................... 00 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ......................... 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER........................................... 99 213 a 213 b 213 c Have you ever heard of HIV or AIDS?
YES............................................................................ 1 NO ............................................................................ 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 Is it possible for a person who looks and feels completely healthy to have the AIDS virus?
YES............................................................................ 1 NO ............................................................................ 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 Many people in (COUNTRY) are getting tested for HIV.

Have you had an HIV/AIDS test?

We do not want to know the result, only if you ever had the test.
YES ........................................................................... 1 NO ............................................................................ 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 111 214 Do you now smoke................ 1.

Daily?

2.

Occasionally?

3.

Not at all?

215 Have you ever smoked in your life?

Did you ever smoke….

1.

Daily?


(smoking at least once a day) 2.

Occasionally?

(at least 100 cigarettes, but never daily) 3.

Not at all?

(not at all, or less than 100 cigarettes in your life time) 216 How often do you drink alcohol?

Would you say: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.
Every day or nearly every day Once or twice a week 1 – 3 times a month Occasionally, less than once a month Never DAILY ........................................................................ 1 OCCASIONALLY......................................................... 2 NOT AT ALL .............................................................. 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 ⇒ 216 ⇒ 216 DAILY ........................................................................ 1 OCCASIONALLY......................................................... 2 NOT AT ALL .............................................................. 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 EVERY DAY OR NEARLY EVERY DAY.......................... 1 ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK ......................................... 2 1 – 3 TIMES IN A MONTH ......................................... 3 LESS THAN ONCE A MONTH..................................... 4 NEVER ..................................................................... 5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 ⇒ S.3 217 On the days that you drank in the past 4 weeks, about how many alcoholic drinks did you usually have a day?
USUAL NUMBER OF DRINKS ........................ [ ][ ] NO ALCOHOLIC DRINKS IN PAST 4 WEEKS ................ 00 218 In the past 12 months, have you experienced any of the following problems, related to your drinking?

a) money problems b) health problems c) conflict with family or friends d) problems with authorities (bar owner/police, etc) x) other, specify.
a) MONEY PROBLEMS b) HEALTH PROBLEMS c) CONFLICT WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS d) PROBLEMS WITH AUTHORITIES x) OTHER: _________________ YES NO 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 112 SECTION 3 REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH Now I would like to ask about all of the children that you may have given birth to during your life.

Have you ever given birth?

How many children have you given birth to that were alive when they were born?

(INCLUDE BIRTHS WHERE THE BABY DIDN’T LIVE FOR LONG) Have you ever been pregnant?
NUMBER OF CHILDREN BORN ................ [ ][ ] IF 1 OR MORE ...........⇒ NONE ............................................................. 00 301 302 303 304 305 How many children do you have?

RECORD NUMBER Have you ever given birth to a boy or a girl who was born alive, but later died?

This could be at any age.

IF NO, PROBE: Any baby who cried or showed signs of life but survived for only a few hours or days?

a) How many sons have died?

a) How many daughters have died?


(THIS IS ABOUT ALL AGES) 306 Do (did) all your children have the same biological father, or more than one father?

307 How many of your children receive financial support from their father(s)?

Would you say none, some or all?

308 IF ONLY ONE CHILD AND SHE SAYS ‘YES,’ CODE ‘3’ (‘ALL’).

How many times have you been pregnant?

Include pregnancies that did not end up in a live birth, and if you are pregnant now, your current pregnancy?
PROBE: How many pregnancies were with twins, triplets?
⇒ 303 ⇒ 304 ⇒ 310 ⇒ 310 ⇒ 310 ⇒ 310 YES .................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................... 2 MAYBE/NOT SURE ........................................... 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 CHILDREN ............................................ [ ][ ] NONE ............................................................. 00 1 YES NO .................................................................... 2 ⇒ 306 ⇒ 308 a) SONS DEAD ..................................... [ ][ ] b) DAUGHTERS DEAD............................ [ ][ ] IF NONE ENTER ‘00’ ONE FATHER ..................................................... 1 MORE THAN ONE FATHER ................................ 2 N/A (NEVER HAD LIVE BIRTH) ........................... 7 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER 9 NONE ................................................................ 1 SOME ................................................................ 2 ALL .................................................................... 3 N/A ................................................................... 7 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 a) TOTAL NO.
OF PREGNANCIES.

..............[ ][ ] b) PREGNANCIES WITH TWINS .................... [ ] c) PREGNANCIES WITH TRIPLETS .................. [ ] NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 113 309 Have you ever had a pregnancy that miscarried, or ended in a stillbirth?

PROBE: How many times did you miscarry, how many times did you have a stillbirth, and how many times did you abort?
a) MISCARRIAGES ................................ [ ][ ] b) STILLBIRTHS .................................... [ ][ ] c) ABORTIONS ....................................... [ ][ ] IF NONE ENTER ‘00’ 310 Are you pregnant now?
YES .................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................... 2 MAYBE .............................................................. 3 ⇒ A ⇒ B ⇒ B DO EITHER A OR B: IF PREGNANT NOW ==> [301] ____ + [309 a+b+c] _____ + 1 = A.

[308a] _____+ [308b] ____ + [ 2x308c] ____ = ___ [301] ____ + [309 a+b+c] _____ = B.
[308a] _____+ [308b] ____ + [ 2x308c] ____ = ___ ⇒ 315 ⇒ S.5 ⇒ 315 YES .................................................................... 1 NO .................................................................... 2 NEVER HAD INTERCOURSE .............................. 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 YES .................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 PILL/TABLETS .................................................. 01 INJECTABLES ................................................... 02 IMPLANTS (NORPLANT) .................................. 03 IUD .................................................................. 04 DIAPHRAGM/FOAM/JELLY.............................. 05 CALENDAR/MUCUS METHOD ......................... 06 FEMALE STERILIZATION .................................. 07 CONDOMS ...................................................... 08 MALE STERILIZATION ...................................... 09 WITHDRAWAL................................................. 10 ⇒ 315 ⇒ 315 ⇒ 315 HERBS ............................................................. 11 OTHER:____________________________..... 96 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................. 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ................................... 99 YES .................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................... 2 N/A: NO CURRENT PARTNER ........................... 7 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 IF NOT PREGNANT NOW ==> VERIFY THAT ADDITION ADDS UP TO THE SAME FIGURE.
IF NOT, PROBE AGAIN AND CORRECT.

311 Have you ever used anything, or tried in any way, to delay or avoid getting pregnant?

312 Are you currently doing something, or using any method, to delay or avoid getting pregnant?

313 What (main) method are you currently using?

IF MORE THAN ONE, ONLY MARK MAIN METHOD 314 Does your current husband/partner know that you are using a method of family planning?
114 315 316 Has/did your current/most recent husband/partner ever refused to use a method or tried to stop you from using a method to avoid getting pregnant?

In what ways did he let you know that he disapproved of using methods to avoid getting pregnant?

MARK ALL THAT APPLY 317 Apart from what you have told me before, I like to ask some specific would now questions about condoms.

Have you ever used a condom with your current/most recent partner?
317a The last time that you had sex with your current/most recent partner did you use a condom?

318 Have you ever asked your current/most recent partner to use a condom?

319 Has your current/most recent husband/partner ever refused to use a condom?

320 In what ways did he let you know that he disapproved of using a condom?
MARK ALL THAT APPLY ⇒ 317 ⇒ 317 ⇒ 317 YES .................................................................... 1 NO ................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 TOLD ME HE DID NOT APPROVE.......................A SHOUTED/GOT ANGRY .....................................B THREATENED TO BEAT ME................................ C THREATENED TO LEAVE/THROW ME OUT OF HOME............................................................D BEAT ME/PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED ................... E TOOK OR DESTROYED METHOD ....................... F OTHER _____________________________..... X YES .................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................... 2 ⇒ 318 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 YES .................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 YES .................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 YES .................................................................... 1 NO ................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 ⇒ S.4 ⇒ S.4 ⇒ S.4 TOLD ME HE DID NOT APPROVE.......................A SHOUTED/GOT ANGRY .....................................B THREATENED TO BEAT ME................................ C THREATENED TO LEAVE/THROW ME OUT OF HOME.............................................D BEAT ME/PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED ................... E TOOK OR DESTROYED METHOD ....................... F ACCUSED ME OF BEING UNFAITHFUL/ NOT A GOOD WOMAN.................................G LAUGHED AT/NOT TAKE ME SERIOUS ..............H SAID IT IS NOT NECESSARY ................................
I OTHER _____________________________..... X NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 115 SECTION 4 CHILDREN CHECK: Q.

301 (s4bir) 401 [ ] ⇓ (1) I would like to ask about the last time that you gave birth (Live birth, regardless of whether the child is still alive or not).

What is the date of birth of this child?


ANY LIVE BIRTHS NO LIVE BIRTHS [ ] ⇒ ⇒ S.5 (2) DAY ............................................ [ ][ ] MONTH ............................................ [ ][ ] YEAR ............................... [ ][ ][ ][ ] ⇒ 405 ⇒ 406 ⇒ 406 ⇒ 417 402 What name was given to your last born NAME: ____________________ child?

Is (NAME) a boy or a girl?

Is your last born child (NAME) still alive?

403 404 How old was (NAME) at his/her last birthday?
RECORD AGE IN COMPLETED YEARS CHECK AGE WITH BIRTH DATE 405 How old was (NAME) when he/she died?

406 CHECK IF DATE OF BIRTH OF LAST CHILD (IN Q401) IS MORE OR LESS THAN 5 YEARS AGO 407 I would like to ask you about your last pregnancy.

At the time you became pregnant with this child (NAME), did you want to become pregnant then, did you want to wait until later, did you want no (more) children, or did you not mind either way?
408 At the time you became pregnant with this child (NAME), did your husband/partner want you to become pregnant then, did he want to wait until later, did he want no (more) children at all, or did he not mind either way?

409 When you were pregnant with this child (NAME), did you see anyone for an antenatal check?

IF YES: Whom did you see?

Anyone else?
MARK ALL THAT APPLY BOY ..................................................................... 1 GIRL..................................................................... 2 YES ...................................................................... 1 NO....................................................................... 2 AGE IN YEARS .......................................[ ][ ] IF NOT YET COMPLETED 1 YEAR ....................... 00 YEARS ........................................................ [ ][ ] MONTHS (IF LESS THAN 1 YEAR).................. [ ][ ] DAYS (IF LESS THAN 1 MONTH) ................... [ ][ ] 5 OR MORE YEARS AGO ....................................... 1 LESS THAN 5 YEARS AGO ..................................... 2 BECOME PREGNANT THEN .................................. 1 WAIT UNTIL LATER............................................... 2 NOT WANT CHILDREN ......................................... 3 NOT MIND EITHER WAY....................................... 4 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 BECOME PREGNANT THEN .................................. 1 WAIT UNTIL LATER............................................... 2 NOT WANT CHILDREN ......................................... 3 NOT MIND EITHER WAY....................................... 4 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 NO ONE ...............................................................A DOCTOR ............................................................... B OBSTETRICIAN/GYNAECOLOGIST ........................ C NURSE/MIDWIFE .................................................D AUXILIARY NURSE ................................................ E TRADITIONAL BIRTH ATTENDANT........................ F OTHER:_____________________________ _______________________________....... X 116 410 Did your husband/partner stop you, encourage you, or have no interest in whether you received antenatal care for your pregnancy?
411 When you were pregnant with this child, did your husband/partner have preference for a son, a daughter or did it not matter to him whether it was a boy or a girl?

412 During this pregnancy, did you consume any alcoholic drinks?

413 During this pregnancy, did you smoke any cigarettes or use tobacco?

414 Were you given a (postnatal) check-­‐up at any time during the 6 weeks after delivery?

415 Was this child (NAME) weighed at birth?

416 How much did he/she weigh?


RECORD FROM HEALTH CARD WHERE POSSIBLE 417 Do you have any children aged between 5 and 12 years?

How many?

(include 5-­‐year-­‐ old and 12-­‐year-­‐old children) a) How many are boys?

b) How many are girls?

418 419 How many of these children (ages 5-­‐12 years) currently live with you?

PROBE: a) How many boys?

b) How many girls?
420 Do any of these children (ages 5-­‐12 years): STOP .................................................................... 1 ENCOURAGE ........................................................ 2 NO INTEREST........................................................ 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 SON ...................................................................... 1 DAUGHTER........................................................... 2 DID NOT MATTER ................................................ 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 YES ............................................................... 1 ............................................................... 2 NO DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 YES ............................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 YES ....................................................................... 1 NO........................................................................ 2 NO, CHILD NOT YET SIX WEEKS OLD .................... 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 YES ....................................................................... 1 NO ...................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW /DON’T REMEMBER...................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 KG FROM CARD [ ].
[ ] .................. 1 KG FROM RECALL [ ].
[ ]................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 NUMBER ................................................ [ ][ ] NONE ................................................................. 00 ⇒ 417 ⇒ 417 ⇒ S.5 a) BOYS ............................................................. [ ] b) GIRLS............................................................. [ ] a) BOYS ............................................................. [ ] b) GIRLS............................................................. [ ] IF “0” FOR BOTH SEXES ==== GO TO ⇒ ⇒ S.5 a) Have frequent nightmares?
b) Suck their thumbs or fingers?

c) Wet their bed often?

d) Are any of these children very timid or withdrawn?

e) Are any of them aggressive with you or other children?

a) NIGHTMARES b) SUCK THUMB c) WET BED d) TIMID e) AGGRESSIVE YES NO DK 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 8 8 8 8 8 421 Of these children (ages 5-­‐12 years), how many of your boys and how many of your girls have ever run away from home?
a) NUMBER OF BOYS RUN AWAY ..................... [ ] b) NUMBER OF GIRLS RUN AWAY..................... [ ] IF NONE ENTER ‘0’ NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 117 422 Of these children (ages 5-­‐12 years), how many of your boys and how many of your girls are studying/in school?

423 Have any of these children had to repeat (failed) a year at school?

MAKE SURE ONLY CHILDREN AGED 5-­‐12 YEARS.
a) BOYS ............................................................. [ ] b) GIRLS............................................................. [ ] IF “0” FOR BOTH SEXES ==== GO TO ⇒ YES ....................................................................... 1 NO........................................................................ 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 ⇒ S.5 424 Have any of these children stopped school for a while or dropped out of school?
MAKE SURE ONLY CHILDREN AGED 5-­‐12 YEARS.
YES ....................................................................... 1 NO........................................................................ 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER....................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................ 9 118 SECTION 5 CURRENT OR MOST RECENT PARTNER CHECK: Q.118 AND Q.120a AND Q.120b (s5mar) Q.118 = 1, 3 OR 4 CURRENTLY MARRIED, OR LIVING WITH A MAN/WITH SEXUAL PARTNER [ ] ⇓ (1) Q.120a = 1 OR 3 Q.120b = 1 FORMERLY MARRIED/ LIVING WITH A MAN/ WITH SEXUAL PARTNER [ ] (2) ⇓ Q.120a = 2 / Q.120b = 2 NEVER MARRIED/ NEVER LIVED WITH A MAN (NEVER SEXUAL PARTNER) [ ] ⇒ (3) ⇒ S.6 501 502 I would now like you to tell me a little about your current/most recent husband/partner.
How old was your husband/partner on his last birthday?

PROBE: MORE OR LESS IF MOST RECENT PARTNER DIED: How old would he be now if he were alive?

In what year was he born?

503 Can (could) he read and write?

504 Did he ever attend school?

505 What is the highest level of education that he achieved?

MARK HIGHEST LEVEL.

506 IF CURRENTLY WITH PARTNER: Is he currently working, looking for work or unemployed, retired or studying?
IF NOT CURRENTLY WITH PARTNER: Towards the end of your relationship was he working, looking for work or unemployed, retired or studying?

507 When did his last job finish?

Was it in the past 4 weeks, between 4 weeks and 12 months ago, or before that?

(FOR MOST RECENT HUSBAND/PARTNER: in the last 4 weeks or in the last 12 months of your relationship?)
AGE (YEARS) ......................................... [ ][ ] YEAR .......................................... [ ][ ][ ][ ] DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ............ 9998 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .............................. 9999 YES................................................................... 1 NO .................................................................. 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 1 YES .......................................................... 2 NO DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 PRIMARY ___________ year .......................... 1 INCOMPLITE SECONDARY _____ year............. 2 SECONDARY _____ year.................................. 3 TECHNICAL_____ year..................................... 4 HIGHER _________ year ................................. 5 NUMBER OF YEARS SCHOOLING .............[ ][ ] DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................ 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................. 99 WORKING ....................................................... 1 LOOKING FOR WORK/UNEMPLOYED .............. 2 RETIRED .......................................................... 3 STUDENT ........................................................ 4 DISABLED/LONG TERM SICK............................ 5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 IN THE PAST 4 WEEKS...................................... 1 4 WKS -­‐ 12 MONTHS AGO ............................... 2 MORE THAN 12 MONTHS AGO ....................... 3 NEVER HAD A JOB ........................................... 4 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 ⇒ 506 ⇒ 508 ⇒ 508 ⇒ 509 ⇒ 5 09 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 119 508 What kind of work does/did he normally do?
SPECIFY KIND OF WORK 509 How often does/did your husband/partner drink alcohol?

1.

Every day or nearly every day 2.

Once or twice a week 3.

1–3 times a month 4.

Occasionally, less than once a month 5.

Never 510 In the past 12 months (In the last 12 months of your last relationship), how often have you seen (did you see) your husband/partner drunk?

Would you say most days, weekly, once a month, less than once a month, or never?
511 In the past 12 months (In the last 12 months of your relationship), have you experienced any of the following problems, related to your husband/partner’s drinking?

a) Money problems b) Family problems x) Any other problems, specify.

512 Does/did your husband/partner ever use drugs?

1.

Would you say: 1.

Every day or nearly every day 2.

Once or twice a week 3.

1 – 3 times a month 4.

Occasionally, less than once a month 5.


Never 513 Since you have known him, has he ever been involved in a physical fight with another man?

514 In the past 12 months (In the last 12 months of the relationship), has this happened never, once or twice, a few times or many times?
PROFESSIONAL: ____________________..... 01 SEMI-­‐SKILLED: _____________________ ..... 02 UNSKILLED/MANUAL: _____________ ........ 03 MILITARY/POLICE: _________________....... 04 OTHER: _____________________________96 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................ 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................. 99 EVERY DAY OR NEARLY EVERY DAY ................. 1 ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK................................. 2 1–3 TIMES IN A MONTH .................................. 3 LESS THAN ONCE A MONTH ............................ 4 NEVER ............................................................. 5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 MOST DAYS ..................................................... 1 WEEKLY ........................................................... 2 ONCE A MONTH .............................................. 3 LESS THAN ONCE A MONTH ............................ 4 NEVER ............................................................. 5 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 NO YES a) MONEY PROBLEMS b) FAMILY PROBLEMS x) OTHER: _______________ 1 1 1 2 2 2 EVERY DAY OR NEARLY EVERY DAY ................. 1 ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK................................. 2 1 – 3 TIMES IN A MONTH ................................ 3 LESS THAN ONCE A MONTH ............................ 4 NEVER ............................................................. 5 IN THE PAST, NOT NOW .................................. 6 DON’T KNOW /DON’T REMEMBER ................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 YES .......................................................... 1 NO ................................................................. 2 DON’T KNOW /DON’T REMEMBER ................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 NEVER.............................................................. 1 ONCE OR TWICE .............................................. 2 A FEW (3-­‐5) TIMES .......................................... 3 MANY (MORE THAN 5) TIMES......................... 4 DON’T KNOW /DON’T REMEMBER ................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 ⇒ 512 ⇒ 515 ⇒ 515 120 515 Has your current/most recent husband/partner had a relationship with any other women while being with you?
516 Has your current/most recent husband/partner had children with any other woman while being with you?

517 HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SUBJECTED TO ANY OF THESE BEHAVIORS FROM YOUR HUSBAND (CHOOSE ANY FROM THE FOLLOWING In case respondent answers no to all skip to Q 601.

In case of yes to any from the following skip to Q 518.
IN CASE IF RESPONDENT LIST SEVERAL OR ALL FROM THE LIST ASK WHICH OF THE LISTED BEHAVIORS PRACTICE HIS HUSBAND MOST FREQUENTLY ⇒ 517 ⇒ 517 YES................................................................... 1 NO ................................................................... 2 MAY HAVE ...................................................... 3 DON’T KNOW /DON’T REMEMBER ................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 .......................................................... 1 YES .......................................................... 2 NO MAY HAVE ....................................................... 3 DON’T KNOW /DON’T REMEMBER ................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER .................................... 9 N/A 9 9 YES 1 1 NO 2 2 a) physical injury b) verbal abuse (including defamation, slander, shouting c) degrading in public 1 1 d) verbal threats, including threats of divorce or injury e) withholding of money f) forbidding to work g) forced sexual intercourse in a husband – wife relationship 1 1 1 518 Under what circumstances might your husband’s behaviour result into (name the mentioned behaviour) [Read the list] No particular reason when he is drunk when he is under drugs Money problem difficulties at his work when he is unemployed no food at home not doing household well unexpected / not planned pregnancy he is jealous / convinced you are not faithful You are jealous /accusing he has the mistress you refuse sex/ any types of problems in sexual life/ relations she is disobedient spending a lot of time on job and not having enough time for family blaming in problems related with children’s health, education and behaviour 2 2 2 2 2 9 9 9 9 9 YES NO 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 N/ NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 121 SECTION 6 ATTITUDES In this community and elsewhere, people have different ideas about families and what is acceptable behaviour for men and women in the home.
I am going to read you a list of statements, and I would like you to tell me whether you generally agree or disagree with the statement.

There are no right or wrong answers.
AGREE ............................................................................1 DISAGREE .......................................................................2 DON’T KNOW .................................................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 AGREE ............................................................................1 DISAGREE .......................................................................2 DON’T KNOW .................................................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 AGREE ............................................................................1 DISAGREE .......................................................................2 DON’T KNOW .................................................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 AGREE ............................................................................1 DISAGREE .......................................................................2 DON’T KNOW .................................................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 AGREE ............................................................................1 DISAGREE .......................................................................2 DON’T KNOW .................................................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 AGREE ............................................................................1 DISAGREE .......................................................................2 DON’T KNOW .................................................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 AGREE ............................................................................1 DISAGREE
DISAGREE .......................................................................2 DON’T KNOW .................................................................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER...................................................9 a) HOUSEHOLD b) DISOBEYS c) NO SEX d) GIRLFRIENDS e) SUSPECTS f) UNFAITHFUL YES NO DK 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 8 8 8 8 8 8 601 A good wife obeys her husband even if she disagrees 602 Family problems should only be discussed with people in the family 603 It is important for a man to show his wife/partner who is the boss 604 A woman should be able to choose her own friends even if her husband disapproves 605 It’s a wife’s obligation to have sex with her husband even if she doesn’t feel like it 606 If a man mistreats his wife, others outside of the family should intervene 607 Domestic violence is a private issue where law cannot intervene 608 In your opinion, does a man have a good reason to hit his wife if: a) She does not complete her household work to his satisfaction b) She disobeys him c) She refuses relations with him to have sexual d) She asks him whether he has other girlfriends e) He suspects that she is unfaithful f) He finds out that she has been unfaithful 122 609 610 In your opinion, can a married woman refuse to have sex with her husband if: a) She doesn’t want to b) He is drunk c) She is sick d) He mistreats her In your opinion, do you consider the following cases as gender based violence: a) A husband’s behaviour resulting in physical injury to her wife b) Verbal abuse defamation, slander, shouting) (including c) Degrading her wife in public d) Verbal threats, including threats of divorce and injury e) Withholding of money f) g) Forced sexual Forbidding wife to work intercourse husband-­‐wife relationship in a YES 1 1 1 1 NO 2 2 2 2 YES NO 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 DK 8 8 8 8 DK 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 a) NOT WANT b) DRUNK c) SICK d) MISTREAT a) PHYSICAL INJURY b) VERBAL ABUSE c) DEGRADING d) VERBAL THREATS e) WITHOLDING FORBIDDING f) g) FORCED SEX NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC
 VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 123 SECTION 7 RESPONDENT AND HER PARTNER CHECK: Q.118 Q.120a AND Q120b (s7mar) Q.118 = 1, 3, OR 4 OR Q.120a = 1 OR 3 OR Q.120b = 1 EVER MARRIED/EVER LIVING WITH A MAN/SEXUAL PARTNER Q.120a = 5 / Q.120b = 2 NEVER MARRIED/NEVER LIVED WITH A MAN/NEVER SEXUAL PARTNER [ ] ⇒ (2) ⇒ S.10 [ ] ⇓ (1) When two people marry or live together, they usually share both good and bad moments.
I would now like to ask you some questions about your current and past relationships and how your husband/partner treats (treated) you.

If anyone interrupts us I will change the topic of conversation.

I would again like to assure you that your answers will be kept secret, and that you do not have to answer any questions that you do not want to.

May I continue?
May I continue?

701 In general, do (did) you and your (current or most recent) husband/partner discuss the following topics together: a) Things that have happened to him in the day b) Things that happen to you during the day c) Your worries or feelings d) His worries or feelings YES NO DK a) HIS DAY b) YOUR DAY c) YOUR WORRIES d) HIS WORRIES 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 8 8 8 8 702 In your relationship with your (current or most recent) husband/partner, how often would you say that you quarrelled?
Would you say rarely, sometimes or often?
RARELY .................................................................... 1 SOMETIMES ............................................................. 2 OFTEN ...................................................................... 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 YES NO DK a) SEEING FRIENDS b) CONTACT FAMILY c) WANTS TO KNOW d) IGNORES YOU e) GETS ANGRY f) SUSPICIOUS g) HEALTH CENTRE 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 703 I am now going to ask you about some situations that are true for many women.
Thinking about your (current or most recent) husband/partner, would you say it is generally true that he: a) Tries to keep you from seeing your friends b) Tries to restrict contact with your family c) of birth Insists on knowing where you are at all times Ignores you and treats you indifferently d) e) Gets angry if you speak with another f) man Is often suspicious that you are unfaithful g) Expects you to ask his permission before seeking health care for yourself 124 704 The next questions are about things that happen to many women, and that your current partner, or any other partner may have done to you.
Has your current husband/partner, or any other partner ever….

a) Insulted you or made you feel bad about yourself?

b) Belittled or humiliated you in front of other people?

c) Done things to scare or intimidate you on purpose (e.g.

by the way he looked at you, by yelling and smashing things)?

d) Threatened to hurt you or someone you care about?

Has he or any other partner ever….

705 a) Slapped you or thrown something at you that could hurt you?

b) Pushed you or shoved you or pulled your hair?


c) Hit you with his fist or with something else that could hurt you?

d) Kicked you, dragged you or beaten you up?

e) Choked or burnt you on purpose?

f) Threatened to use or actually used a gun, knife or other weapon against you?

A) (If YES continue with B.

If NO skip to next item) YES NO B) Has this happened in the past 12 months?

(If YES ask C only.
(If YES ask C only.

If NO ask D only) C) In the past 12 months would you say that this has happened once, a few times or many times?

(after answering C, go to next item) One Few Many 3 2 1 D) Before the past 12 months would you say that this has happened once, a few times or many times?

One Few Many 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 YES NO 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 3 3 3 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 A) (If YES continue with B.
If NO skip to next item) YES NO 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 B) Has this happened in the past 12 months?

(If YES ask C only.

If NO ask D only) YES NO 2 1 C) In the past 12 months would you say that this has happened once, a few times or many times?

(after answering C, go to next item) One Few Many 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 D) Before the past 12 months would you say that this has happened once, a few times or many times?
One Few Many 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 125 A) (If YES continue with B.

If NO skip to next item) YES NO a) Did your current 1 2 B) Has this happened in the past 12 months?

(If YES ask C only.

If NO ask D only) YES NO 2 1 C) In the past 12 months would you say that this has happened once, a few times or many times?
(after answering C, go to next item) One Few Many 3 2 1 D) Before the past 12 months would you say that this has happened once, a few times or many times?

One Few Many 3 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 husband/partner or any other partner ever physically force you to have sexual intercourse when you did not want to?

b) Did you ever have sexual intercourse you did not want to because you were afraid of what your partner or any other partner might do?
c) Did your partner or any other partner ever forced you to do something sexual that you found degrading or humiliating?
VERIFY WHETHER ANSWERED YES TO ANY QUESTION ON PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, SEE QUESTION 705 YES, PHYSICAL VIOLENCE ..................................... 1 NO PHYSICAL VIOLENCE ....................................... 2 VERIFY WHETHER ANSWERED YES TO ANY QUESTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE, SEE QUESTION 706 YES, SEXUAL VIOLENCE ........................................ 1 NO SEXUAL VIOLENCE .......................................... 2 706 707 708 126 CHECK : Q.302, Q.308 AND Q.310 (s7preg) Q.302 EVER BEEN PREGNANT (s7prnum) (s7prcur) (1) [ ] ⇓ Q.308 NUMBER OF PREGNANCIES [ ][ ] ⇓ Q.310 CURRENTLY PREGNANT?
YES….1 NO….

2 ⇓ Q.302 NEVER PREGNANT (2) [ ] ⇒ ⇒ s716cur* 709 You said that you have been pregnant TOTAL times.

Was there ever a time when you were slapped, hit or beaten by (any of) your partner(s) while you were pregnant?
IF RESPONDENT WAS PREGNANT ONLY ONCE, ENTER “01” 710 YES ..................................................................1 NO...................................................................2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER..................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ...................................9 NUMBER OF PREGNANCIES BEATEN ..............[ ][ ] ⇒ s716cur* ⇒ s716cur* ⇒ s716cur* IF RESPONDENT WAS PREGNANT MORE THAN ONCE: Did this happen in one pregnancy, or more than one pregnancy?
In how many pregnancies were you beaten?

Did this happen in the last pregnancy?

710 a IF RESPONDENT WAS PREGNANT ONLY ONCE, CIRCLE CODE ‘1’.

711 Were you ever punched or kicked in the abdomen while you were pregnant?
YES .......................................................................... 1 NO........................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.......................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................... 9 YES .......................................................................... 1 NO........................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.......................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................... 9 IF VIOLENCE REPORTED IN MORE THAN ONE PREGNANCY, THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS REFER TO THE LAST/MOST RECENT PREGNANCY IN WHICH VIOLENCE REPORTED 712 During the most recent pregnancy in which you were beaten, was the person who has slapped, hit or beaten you the father of the child?
.................................................................. 1 YES NO .................................................................. 2 DON’T KNOW /DON’T REMEMBER ......................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................... 9 713 Were you living with this person when it happened?

714 Had the same person also done this you before you were pregnant?
715 Compared to before you were pregnant, did the slapping/beating (REFER TO RESPONDENT’S PREVIOUS ANSWERS) get less, stay about the same, or get worse while you were pregnant?

By worse I mean, more frequent or more severe.
1 YES NO .................................................................. 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.......................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ........................................... 9 1 YES NO ............................................................. 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER..................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ...................................... 9 GOT LESS........................................................... 1 STAYED ABOUT THE SAME................................ 2 GOT WORSE ....................................................... 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER..................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ...................................... 9 ⇒ s716cur* ⇒ s716cur* NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 127 *CHECK: Q.118 AND Q.123 (s716cur) (s716num) Q.118: CURRENTY MARRIED AND/OR LIVING WITH MAN: YES ….1 NO… 2 Q.123: NUMBER OF TIMES MARRIED/LIVED TOGETHER WITH A MAN?
S 8 [ ][ ] If 00 ⇒ CHECK: Q.707 AND Q.708 (S7check) 716 WOMAN HAS NOT EXPERIENCED PHYSICAL OR SEXUAL VIOLENCE “NO” TO BOTH Q.707 AND Q.708 WOMAN EXPERIENCED VIOLENCE “YES” TO Q.707 AND/OR Q.708 ASK ONLY COLUMNS a AND b ⇓ [ ] ASK COLUMNS a TO e (FOR ALL PARTNERS) [ ] ⇓ (1) (2) IF RESPONDENT ONLY MARRIED/LIVED WITH ONE PARTNER, ASK: Could you now please tell me a little about your partner?
IF RESPONDENT MARIED/LIVED WITH PARTNER MORE THAN ONCE, ASK: You told me you have been married or lived with a man TOTAL times.

Could you now please tell me a little about your husband/partner(s)?

(Starting with your current or most recent partner): c) Did he physically or sexually mistreat you?

** b) When did the relationship end (when did you stop living together)?

a) When did you start living together?

* IF CURRENTLY MARRIED OR LIVING TOGETHER START WITH 1.
IF NOT, START WITH 2. d) When was the first incident?

e) When was the last incident?

IF NO, SKIP TO NEXT PARTNER, IF YES CONTINUE YES ……1 ⇒ NO ……2 ⇓ YES ……1 ⇒ NO ……2 ⇓ [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR 1.

[ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR 2.

[ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR 128 3.

[ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR 4.
[ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR YES ……1 ⇒ NO ……2 ⇓ YES ……1 ⇒ NO ……2 ⇓ YES ……1 ⇒ [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR 5.

[ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR NO ……2 [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR [ ][ ] MONTH [ ][ ][ ][ ] YEAR CHECK WHETHER ALL PARTNERS INCLUDED.
* YEAR UNKNOWN: 9998, REFUSED/NO ANSWER: 9999 717 Generally speaking if someone would ask you to remember the worst experience in your and husband/partner relationships when he assaulted you in one or another way what you would consider as a reason for his behaviour YES 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 NO 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 N/A 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 / not No particular reason when he is drunk when he is under drugs Money problem difficulties at his work when he is unemployed no food at home not doing household well unexpected planned pregnancy he is jealous / convinced you are not faithful You jealous are /accusing he has the mistress you types of problems sexual life/ relations she is disobedient spending a lot of time on job and not having enough time for family blaming in problems related with children’s health, education and behaviour refuse sex/ any in 718 Do you ever feel responsible for your husband/partner behaviour?
Yes No Don’t know Resfused to answer **PROBE USING ACTS THAT RESPONDENT MENTIONED IN 705 AND/OR 706 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 129 SECTION 8 INJURIES CHECK: Q.707 AND Q.708 WOMAN EXPERIENCED PHYSICAL OR SEXUAL VIOLENCE “YES” TO Q.707 AND/OR Q.708 [ ] WOMAN HAS NOT EXPERIENCED PHYSICAL OR SEXUAL VIOLENCE “NO” to BOTH Q.707 AND Q.708 (S8phsex) (1) ⇓ (2) [ ] ⇒ ⇒ S.10 801 802 a 802 b 803 I would now like to learn more about the injuries that you experienced from (any of) your partner’s acts that we have talked about (MAY NEED TO REFER TO SPECIFIC ACTS RESPONDENT MENTIONED IN SECTION 7).
By injury, I mean any form of physical harm, including cuts, sprains, burns, broken bones or broken teeth, or other things like this.

Have you ever been injured as a result of these acts by (any of) your husband/partner(s).

Please think of the acts that we talked about before.

In your life, how many times were you injured by (any of) your husband(s)/partner(s)?

Would you say once or twice, several times or many times?

Has this happened in the past 12 months?
YES .................................................................... 1 NO .................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 ONCE/TWICE .................................................... 1 SEVERAL (3-­‐5) TIMES ........................................ 2 MANY (MORE THAN 5) TIMES .......................... 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 YES .................................................................... 1 NO .................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 ⇒ 804a What type of injury did you have?
Please mention any injury due to (any of) your husband/partner s acts, no matter how long ago it happened.

MARK ALL PROBE: Any other injury?

803 a b) ONLY ASK FOR RESPONSES MARKED IN 803a: Has this happened in the past 12 months?
YES NO DK CUTS, PUNCTURES, BITES................................A SCRATCH, ABRASION, BRUISES ........................ B SPRAINS, DISLOCATIONS .................................. C BURNS ..............................................................D PENETRATING INJURY, DEEP CUTS, 1 1 1 1 GASHES ......................................................... E BROKEN EARDRUM, EYE INJURIES ................... F FRACTURES, BROKEN BONES ...........................G BROKEN TEETH.................................................H INTERNAL INJURIES ...........................................
I OTHER (specify): ____________________ ......................................................................... X 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 804 a In your life, did you ever lose consciousness because of what (any of your) your husband/partner(s) did to you?
YES NO ........................................................... 1 ........................................................... 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 ⇒ 805a ⇒ 805a 130 804 b Has this happened in the past 12 months?

805 a 805b In your life, were you ever hurt badly enough by (any of ) your husband/partner(s) that you needed health care (even if you did not receive it)?

IF YES: How many times?

IF NOT SURE: More or less?


Has this happened in the past 12 months?

806 In your life, did you ever receive health care for this injury (these injuries)?

Would you say, sometimes or always or never?

807 808 In your life, have you ever had to spend any nights in a hospital due to the injury/injuries?

IF YES: How many nights?

(MORE OR LESS) Did you tell a health worker the real cause of your injury?
YES.................................................................... 1 NO .................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 TIMES NEEDED HEALTH CARE ..................[ ][ ] REFUSED/NO ANSWER ................................... 99 NOT NEEDED .................................................. 00 ⇒ S.9 YES.................................................................... 1 NO .................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 YES, SOMETIMES .............................................. 1 YES, ALWAYS .................................................... 2 NO, NEVER........................................................ 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................. 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................... 9 NUMBER OF NIGHTS IN HOSPITAL ........... [ ][ ] IF NONE ENTER ‘00’ DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ................. 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ................................... 99 YES.....................................................................1 NO .....................................................................2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ....................8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ......................................9 ⇒ S.9 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 131 SECTION 9 IMPACT AND COPING I would now like to ask you some questions about what effects your husband/partner’s acts has had on you .
With acts I mean… (REFER TO SPECIFIC ACTS THE RESPONDENT HAS MENTIONED IN SECTION 7).

IF REPORTED MORE THAN ONE VIOLENT PARTNER, ADD: I would like you to answer these questions in relation to the most recent/last partner who did these things to you..
CHECK: Q.707 AND Q.708 WOMAN EXPERIENCED PHYSICAL VIOLENCE WOMAN HAS EXPERIENCED SEXUAL VIOLENCE ONLY “NO” to Q.707 AND “YES” to Q.708 “YES” TO Q.707 OR/AND Q.708 [ ] ⇓ (1) (2) [ ] ⇒ ⇒906 (S9phys) 901 Are there any particular situations that tend to lead to your husband/partner’s behaviour?

REFER TO ACTS OF PHYSICAL VIOLENCE MENTIONED BEFORE.

PROBE: Any other situation?


MARK ALL MENTIONED CHECK: Q.303 HAS CHILDREN LIVING [ ] ⇓ (s9child) 902 For any of these incidents, were your (1) children present or did they overhear you being beaten?

IF YES: How often?

Would you say once or twice, several times or most of the time?

903 During or after a violent incident, does (did) he ever force you to have sex?

PROBE: Make you have sex with him against your will?

IF YES: How often?

Would you say once or twice, several times or most of the time?
NO PARTICULAR REASON.........................................A WHEN MAN DRUNK .................................................B MONEY PROBLEMS .................................................. C DIFFICULTIES AT HIS WORK......................................D WHEN HE IS UNEMPLOYED...................................... E NO FOOD AT HOME ................................................. F PROBLEMS WITH HIS OR HER FAMILY .................... G SHE IS PREGNANT ....................................................H HE IS JEALOUS OF HER ..............................................
I SHE REFUSES SEX ......................................................J SHE IS DISOBEDIENT................................................. K OTHER (specify):__________________________ ... X NO CHILDREN ALIVE [ ] ⇒ ⇒ 903 (2) NEVER ...................................................................... 1 ONCE OR TWICE ....................................................... 2 SEVERAL TIMES ........................................................ 3 MANY TIMES/MOST OF THE TIME ........................... 4 DON’T KNOW ........................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 NEVER ...................................................................... 1 ONCE OR TWICE ....................................................... 2 SEVERAL TIMES ........................................................ 3 MANY TIMES/MOST OF THE TIME ........................... 4 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 132 904 During the times that you were hit, did you ever fight back physically or to defend yourself?
IF YES: How often?

Would you say once or twice, several times or most of the time?

904 a What was the effect of you fighting back on the violence at the time?

Would you say, that it had no effect, the violence became worse, the violence became less, or that the violence stopped, at least for the moment.

905 Have you ever hit or physically mistreated your husband/partner when he was not hitting or physically mistreating you?

IF YES: How often?

Would you say once or twice, several times or many times?
906 Would you say that your husband /partner’s behaviour towards you has affected your physical or mental health?

Would you say, that it has had no effect, a little effect or a large effect?

REFER TO SPECIFIC ACTS OF PHYSICAL AND/OR SEXUAL VIOLENCE SHE DESCRIBED EARLIER In what way, your if husband/partner’s behaviour (the violence) disrupted your work or other income-­‐ generating activities?

MARK ALL THAT APPLY any, has 907 908 Who have you told about his behaviour?
MARK ALL MENTIONED PROBE: Anyone else?
⇒ 905 NEVER ...................................................................... 1 ONCE OR TWICE ....................................................... 2 SEVERAL TIMES ........................................................ 3 MANY TIMES/MOST OF THE TIME ........................... 4 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 NO CHANGE/NO EFFECT .......................................... 1 VIOLENCE BECAME WORSE...................................... 2 VIOLENCE BECAME LESS .......................................... 3 VIOLENCE STOPPED ................................................. 4 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 NEVER ...................................................................... 1 ONCE OR TWICE ....................................................... 2 SEVERAL TIMES ........................................................ 3 MANY TIMES ............................................................ 4 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 NO EFFECT................................................................ 1 A LITTLE .................................................................... 2 A LOT........................................................................ 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 N/A (NO WORK FOR MONEY) ..................................A WORK NOT DISRUPTED............................................B PARTNER INTERRUPTED WORK ............................... C UNABLE TO CONCENTRATE......................................D UNABLE TO WORK/SICK LEAVE ................................ E LOST CONFIDENCE IN OWN ABILITY ........................ F OTHER (specify): _________________________ .... X NO ONE ....................................................................A FRIENDS....................................................................B PARENTS................................................................... C BROTHER OR SISTER.................................................D UNCLE OR AUNT....................................................... E HUSBAND/PARTNER’S FAMILY................................. F CHILDREN ................................................................ G NEIGHBOURS............................................................H POLICE .......................................................................
I DOCTOR/HEALTH WORKER.......................................J PRIEST ...................................................................... K COUNSELLOR............................................................ L NGO/WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION ............................M LOCAL LEADER......................................................... N OTHER (specify):__________________________ ... X NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 133 909 Did anyone ever try to help you?
IF YES, Who helped you?

MARK ALL MENTIONED PROBE: Anyone else?
NO ONE ....................................................................A FRIENDS....................................................................B PARENTS................................................................... C BROTHER OR SISTER.................................................D UNCLE OR AUNT....................................................... E HUSBAND/PARTNER’S FAMILY................................. F CHILDREN ................................................................ G NEIGHBOURS............................................................H POLICE .......................................................................
I DOCTOR/HEALTH WORKER.......................................J PRIEST ...................................................................... K COUNSELLOR............................................................ L NGO/WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION ............................M LOCAL LEADER......................................................... N OTHER (specify): __________________________ .. X 910a Did you ever go to any of the following for help?
READ EACH ONE a) Police b) Hospital or health centre c) Social services d) Legal advice centre e) Court f) Shelter g) Local leader h) Women’s organization (Use name) j) Priest/Religious leader x) Anywhere else?

Where?

910 b.

ASK ONLY FOR THOSE MARKED YES in 910a.

Were you satisfied with the help given?


YES NO YES NO a) POLICE b) HOSPITAL/ HEALTH CENTRE c) SOCIAL SERVICES d) LEGAL ADVICE CENTRE e) COURT f) SHELTER g) LOCAL LEADER h) WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION: ______________________ j) PRIEST, RELIGIOUS LEADER x) ELSEWHERE (specify) :_____ ________________________ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 * ** 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 CHECK: Question 910a * ** MARK WHEN YES FOR ANY IN Q.
910a (AT LEAST ONE “1” CIRCLED IN COLUMN MARKED WITH *) MARK WHEN ALL ANSWERS NO CIRCLED (ONLY “2” CIRCLED **) [ ] ⇒912 (s9check) (1) [ ] ⇓ (2) 134 910 What were the reasons that made you go for help?

MARK ALL MENTIONED AND GO TO 913 911 What were the reasons that you did not go to any of these?
MARK ALL MENTIONED FOR ALL OPTIONS GO TO 913 ENCOURAGED BY FRIENDS/FAMILY..........................................A COULD NOT ENDURE MORE ..................................................... B BADLY INJURED......................................................................... C HE THREATENED OR TRIED TO KILL HER ...................................D HE THREATENED OR HIT CHILDREN .......................................... E SAW THAT CHILDREN SUFFERING............................................. F THROWN OUT OF THE HOME ...................................................G AFRAID SHE WOULD KILL HIM ..................................................H AFRAID HE WOULD KILL HER ....................................................
I OTHER (specify): _______________________________ _______________________________________...... X DON’T KNOW/NO ANSWER...................................................... A FEAR OF THREATS/CONSEQUENCES/ MORE VIOLENCE....................................................................... B VIOLENCE NORMAL/NOT SERIOUS........................................... C EMBARRASSED/ASHAMED/AFRAID WOULD NOT BE BELIEVED OR WOULD BE BLAMED .............................. D BELIEVED NOT HELP/KNOW OTHER WOMEN NOT HELPED ...............................................................................E AFRAID WOULD END RELATIONSHIP ........................................F AFRAID WOULD LOSE CHILDREN.............................................. G BRING BAD NAME TO FAMILY ................................................. H OTHER (specify): ________________________________ ________________________________________________... X 912 913 914 Is there anyone that you would like (have liked) to receive (more) help from?
Who?
MARK ALL MENTIONED NO ONE MENTIONED ................................................................ A FAMILY B HER MOTHER............................................................................. C HIS MOTHER ..............................................................................D HEALTH CENTRE ........................................................................ E .................................................................................... F POLICE PRIEST/RELIGIOUS LEADER........................................................G Did you ever leave, even if only overnight, because of his behaviour?
IF YES: How many times?

(MORE OR LESS) What were the reasons why you left the last time?

MARK ALL MENTIONED OTHER (specify): _________________________________ ..... X NUMBER OF TIMES LEFT ................................................... [ ][ ] NEVER...................................................................................... 00 N.A.
(NOT LIVING TOGETHER) ................................................ 97 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .......................................... 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ............................................................ 99 ⇒ 919 ⇒ S.10 NO PARTICULAR INCIDENT ........................................................A ENCOURAGED BY FRIENDS/FAMILY .......................................... B COULD NOT ENDURE MORE...................................................... C BADLY INJURED .........................................................................D HE THREATENED OR TRIED TO KILL HER.................................... E HE THREATENED OR HIT CHILDREN........................................... F SAW THAT CHILDREN SUFFERING .............................................G THROWN OUT OF THE HOME....................................................H AFRAID SHE WOULD KILL HIM....................................................
I ENCOURAGED BY ORGANIZATION: _____________.................. J AFRAID HE WOULD KILL HER .................................................... K OTHER (specify): ________________________________ ........ X NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 135 ⇒ S.10 FOR ALL OPTIONS GO TO Section 10 915 Where did you go the last time?
MARK ONE HER RELATIVES ........................................................................ 01 HIS RELATIVES ......................................................................... 02 HER FRIENDS/NEIGHBOURS .................................................... 03 HOTEL/LODGINGS ................................................................... 04 STREET ..................................................................................... 05 CHURCH/TEMPLE .................................................................... 06 SHELTER................................................................................... 07 OTHER (specify): ________________________________ ...... 96 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .......................................... 98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ............................................................ 99 NUMBER OF DAYS (IF LESS THAN 1 MONTH) ....................... [ ][ ] ..1 NUMBER OF MONTHS (IF 1 MONTH OR MORE)................... [ ][ ] ..2 LEFT PARTNER/DID NOT RETURN/NOT WITH PARTNER ................... 3 DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE CHILDREN ..........................................A SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE ........................................................... B FOR SAKE OF FAMILY/CHILDREN (FAMILY HONOUR) .................................................................... C COULDN’T SUPPORT CHILDREN.................................................D LOVED HIM ................................................................................ E HE ASKED HER TO GO BACK ...................................................... F FAMILY SAID TO RETURN ..........................................................G FORGAVE HIM ...........................................................................H THOUGHT HE WOULD CHANGE .................................................
I THREATENED HER/CHILDREN..................................................... J COULD NOT STAY THERE (WHERE SHE WENT).......................... K VIOLENCE NORMAL/NOT SERIOUS ........................................... L OTHER (specify): _____________________________ ............. X DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE CHILDREN ..........................................A SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE .......................................................... B DIDN’T WANT TO BRING SHAME ON FAMILY ....................................................................... C COULDN’T SUPPORT CHILDREN.................................................D LOVED HIM ................................................................................ E DIDN’T WANT TO BE SINGLE ..................................................... F FAMILY SAID TO STAY................................................................G FORGAVE HIM ...........................................................................H THOUGHT HE WOULD CHANGE .................................................
I THREATENED HER/CHILDREN..................................................... J NOWHERE TO GO ...................................................................... K VIOLENCE NORMAL/NOT SERIOUS ........................................... L OTHER (specify): ______________________________ ............ X 916 917 How long did you stay away the last time?

RECORD NUMBER OF DAYS OR MONTHS What were the reasons that you returned?
MARK ALL MENTIONED AND GO TO SECTION 10 918 What were the reasons that made you stay?

MARK ALL MENTIONED 136 SECTION 10 OTHER EXPERIENCES In their lives, many women experience different forms of violence from relatives, other people that they know, and/or from strangers.

If you don’t mind, I would like to briefly ask you about some of these situations.

Everything that you say will be kept private.

May I continue?
May I continue?

NO ONE ......................................................A ⇒ 1002 1001a Since the age of 15 years, has anyone (FOR WOMEN WITH CURRENT OR PAST PARTNER: other than your partner/husband) ever beaten or physically mistreated you in any way?

IF YES: Who did this to you?

PROBE: How about a relative?

How about someone at school or work?

How about a friend or neighbour?

A stranger or anyone else?


FATHER ....................................................... B STEPFATHER ............................................... C OTHER MALE FAMILY MEMBER .................D FEMALE FAMILY MEMBER: ________ ....... E TEACHER..................................................... F POLICE/ SOLDIER ........................................G MALE FRIEND OF FAMILY ..........................H FEMALE FRIEND OF FAMILY ........................
I BOYFRIEND .................................................. J STRANGER .................................................. K SOMEONE AT WORK ...................................L PRIEST/RELIGIOUS LEADER........................ M OTHER (specify): _______________.......... X 1002a NO ONE ......................................................A b) ASK ONLY FOR THOSE MARKED.

How many times did this happen?


Once or twice, a few times, or many times Once or twice 1 1 1 1 A few times 2 2 2 2 Many times ⇒ 1003 b) ASK ONLY FOR THOSE MARKED.

How many times did this happen?


Once or twice, a few times, or many times Once or Twice 1 1 1 1 A few times 2 2 2 2 Many times 3 3 3 3 Since the age of 15 years, has anyone (FOR WOMEN WITH CURRENT OR PAST PARTNER: other than your partner/husband) ever forced you to have sex or to perform a sexual act when you did not want to?

IF YES: Who did this to you?


FATHER ....................................................... B STEPFATHER ............................................... C OTHER MALE FAMILY MEMBER .................D FEMALE FAMILY MEMBER: ________ ....... E TEACHER..................................................... F POLICE/ SOLDIER ........................................G MALE FRIEND OF FAMILY ..........................H FEMALE FRIEND OF FAMILY ........................
I 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 137 PROBE: How about a relative?

How about someone at school or work?

How about a friend or neighbour?

A stranger or anyone else?
BOYFRIEND .................................................. J STRANGER .................................................. K SOMEONE AT WORK ...................................L PRIEST/RELIGIOUS LEADER........................ M OTHER (specify): __________________..... X 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 1003a NO ONE ...................................................... A Before the age of 15 years, do you remember if any-­‐ one in your family ever touched you sexually, or made you do something sexual that you didn’t want to?
IF YES: Who did this to you?

IF YES OR NO CONTINUE: How about someone at school?

How about a friend or neighbour?

Has anyone else done this to you?

IF YES: Who did this to you?

c) How old was this person?

d) How many times did this happen?

⇒ 1004 ASK ONLY FOR THOSE MARKED IN 1003a b) How old were you when it happened with this person for the first time?

(more or less) PROBE: roughly (more or less).
r o e c n O y n a M e c i w s e m s e m w e F i t i t t FATHER ....................................................... B STEPFATHER ............................................... C OTHER MALE FAMILY MEMBER/ (BROTHER, ETC) ________________ ............................D FEMALE FAMILY MEMBER: ______ ........... E TEACHER..................................................... F POLICE/ SOLDIER ........................................G MALE FRIEND OF FAMILY ..........................H FEMALE FRIEND OF FAMILY ........................
I BOYFRIEND .................................................. J STRANGEK SOMEONE AT WORK ...................................L PRIEST/RELIGIOUS LEADER........................ M OTHER (specify): _________________....... X [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] DK = 98 1004 How old were you when you first had sex?
AGE YEARS (MORE OR LESS) .................................... [ ][ ] NOT HAD SEX .................................................................. 95 ⇒ 1006 1005 How would you describe the first time that you had sex?

Would you say that you wanted to have sex, you did not want to have sex but it happened anyway, or were you forced to have sex?
REFUSED/NO ANSWER ................................................... 99 WANTED TO HAVE SEX .................................................... 1 NOT WANT BUT HAD SEX ................................................ 2 FORCED TO HAVE SEX ..................................................... 3 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER.................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................................... 9 138 1005 a The number of sexual partners women have had differs a lot from person to person.
Some women report having had one sex partner, some 2 or more, and still others report many, even 50 or more.

In your life how many different men have you had sex with?

IF NEEDED PROBE: More or less; I do not need to know the exact number.

PARTNERS ........................... [ ][ ][ ] DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER .................................... 998 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ................... 999 1005 b IF ONE PARTNER IN 1005a; ASK: Did you have sex in the past 12 months?
IF YES, ENTER “01” IF NONE ENTER “00” IF MORE THAN ONE PARTNER IN 1005a, ASK With how many of these men did you have sex in the past 12 months?

PARTNERS ..............................[ ][ ] DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ....................................98 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................99 1006 When you were a child, was your mother hit by your father (or her husband or boyfriend)?
YES ...............................................................................1 NO................................................................................2 PARENTS DID NOT LIVE TOGETHER ............................. 3 DON’T KNOW............................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ................................................9 ⇒ s10mar* ⇒ s10mar* ⇒ s10mar* 1007 As a child, did you see or hear this violence?
YES .................................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW.................................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................................... 9 * CHECK: Q.118 AND Q.120a AND q120b (s10mar) Q.118 = 1, 3, OR 4 OR Q.120a = 1 OR 3 OR Q.120b = 1 EVER MARRIED/EVER LIVING WITH A MAN/SEXUAL PARTNER [ ] ⇓ Q.120a = 5 / Q.120b = 2 NEVER MARRIED/NEVER LIVED WITH A MAN [ ] ⇒ ⇒ S.11 (2) 1008 (1) As far as you know, was your (most recent) partner’s mother hit or beaten by her husband?
1009 Did your (most recent) husband/partner see or hear this violence?

1010 As far as you know, was your (most recent) husband/partner himself hit or beaten regularly by someone in his family?
⇒ 1010 ⇒ 1010 ⇒ 1010 YES .................................................................................... 1 NO .................................................................................... 2 PARENTS DID NOT LIVE TOGETHER ................................. 3 DON’T KNOW ................................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................................... 9 YES .................................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW.................................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................................... 9 YES .................................................................................... 1 NO..................................................................................... 2 DON’T KNOW.................................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER ..................................................... 9 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 139 SECTION 11 FINANCIAL AUTONOMY Now I would like to ask you some questions about things that you own and your earnings.
We need this information to understand the financial position of women nowadays.

1101 Please tell me if you own any of the following, either by yourself or with someone else: YES YES NO Own Own with Don’t by self others own a) LAND 1 2 3 b) HOUSE 1 2 3 c) COMPANY 1 2 3 a) Land b) Your house c) A company or business d) Large animals (cows, horses, etc.)

e) Small animals (chickens, pigs, goats, etc.)


f) Produce or crops from certain fields or trees g) Large household items (TV, bed, cooker) Jewellery, gold or other valuables h) j) Motor car k) Savings in the bank?
x) Other property, specify d) LARGE ANIMALS e) SMALL ANIMALS f) PRODUCE 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 g) HOUSEHOLD ITEMS h) JEWELLERY j) MOTOR CAR k) SAVINGS IN BANK x) OTHER PROPERTY: _____________________ 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1102 FOR EACH, PROBE: Do you own this on your own, or do you own it with others?

a) Do you earn money by yourself?

IF YES: What exactly do you do to earn money?

ASK ALL.
ASK ALL.

SPECIFY: b) c) Selling things, trading d) Doing seasonal work x) Any other activity, specify Job NO...................................................A ⇒ *s11mar YES NO 2 b) JOB: ____________________ ............................... 2 c) SELLING/TRADING: ________................................ d) SEASONAL WORK: _________............................... 2 x) OTHER: __________________ .............................. 2 1 1 1 1 * CHECK: Q.118 (s11mar) Q.
118 = 1,3,4 CURRENTLY MARRIED/CURRENTLY LIVING WITH A MAN Q.

118 = 5 NOT CURRENTLY MARRIED OR LIVING WITH A MAN/CURRENT OR PAST SEXUAL PARTNER [ ] ⇓ (1) 1.

OPTIONS b) c) d) or x) MARKED [ ] ⇓ CHECK 1102 1103 Are you able to spend the money you earn how you want yourself, or do you have to give all or part of the money to your husband/partner?

140 [ ] ⇒ ⇒ S.12 (2) 2.
OPTION a) MARKED [ ] ⇒ ⇒ 1105 SELF/OWN CHOICE................................................... 1 GIVE PART TO HUSBAND/PARTNER ......................... 2 GIVE ALL TO HUSBAND/PARTNER ............................ 3 DON’T KNOW ........................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 1104 Would you say that the money that you bring into the family is more than what your husband/partner contributes, less than what he contributes, or about the same as he contributes?
1105 Have you ever given up/refused a job for money because your husband/partner did not want you to work?

1106 Has your husband/partner ever taken your earnings or savings from you against your will?

IF YES: Has he done this once or twice, several times or many times?

1107 Does your husband /partner ever refuse to give you money for household expenses, even when he has money for other things?

IF YES: Has he done this once or twice, several times or many times?
1108 In case of emergency, do you think that you alone could raise enough money to house and feed your family for 4 weeks?

This could be for example by selling things that you own, or by borrowing money from people you know, or from a bank or moneylender?
MORE THAN HUSBAND/PARTNER ........................... 1 LESS THAN HUSBAND/PARTNER .............................. 2 ABOUT THE SAME .................................................... 3 DO NOT KNOW......................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 YES............................................................................ 1 NO ............................................................................ 2 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 NEVER ...................................................................... 1 ONCE OR TWICE ....................................................... 2 SEVERAL TIMES ........................................................ 3 MANY TIMES/ALL OF THE TIME ............................... 4 N/A (DOES NOT HAVE SAVINGS/EARNINGS) ........... 7 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 NEVER ...................................................................... 1 ONCE OR TWICE ....................................................... 2 SEVERAL TIMES ........................................................ 3 MANY TIMES/ALL OF THE TIME ............................... 4 N/A (PARTNER DOES NOT EARN MONEY)................ 7 DON’T KNOW/DON’T REMEMBER ........................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 YES............................................................................ 1 NO ............................................................................ 2 DON’T KNOW .......................................................... 8 REFUSED/NO ANSWER............................................. 9 NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 141 SECTION 12 COMPLETION OF INTERVIEW 1201 I would now like to give you a card.
On this card are two pictures.

No other information is written on the card.

The first picture is of a sad face, the second is of a happy face.

CARD GIVEN FOR COMPLETION ......... 1 No matter what you have already told me, I would like you to put a mark below the sad picture if someone has ever touched you sexually, or made you do something sexual that you didn’t want to, before you were 15 years old.

Please put a mark below the happy face if this has never happened to you.
Once you have marked the card, please fold it over and put it in this envelope.

This will ensure that I do not know your answer.

CARD NOT GIVEN FOR COMPLETION ......... 2 GIVE RESPONDENT CARD AND PEN.

MAKE SURE THAT THE RESPONDENT FOLDS THE CARD; PUTS IT IN THE ENVELOPE; AND SEALS THE ENVELOPE BEFORE GIVING IT BACK TO YOU.

ON LEAVING THE INTERVIEW SECURELY ATTACH THE ENVELOPE TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE (OR WRITE THE QUESTIONNAIRE CODE ON THE ENVELOPE).

1202 We have now finished the interview.


Do you have any comments, or is there anything else you would like to add?
_____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 1203 I have asked you about many difficult things.
How has talking about these things made you feel?
WRITE DOWN ANY SPECIFIC RESPONSE GIVEN BY RESPONDENT ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 1204 Finally, do you agree that we may contact you again if we need to ask a few more questions for clarification?
COUNTRIES TO SPECIFY TIME PERIOD DEPENDING ON WHEN THEY PLAN TO DO QUALITY CONTROL VISITS GOOD/BETTER.......................1 BAD/WORSE ......................... 2 SAME/ NO DIFFERENCE ........3 YES................................. 1 NO ................................. 2 142 FINISH ONE – IF RESPONDENT HAS DISCLOSED PROBLEMS/VIOLENCE I would like to thank you very much for helping us.

I appreciate the time that you have taken.


I realize that these questions may have been difficult for you to answer, but it is only by hearing from women themselves that we can really understand about their health and experiences of violence.

From what you have told us, I can tell that you have had some very difficult times in your life.

No one has the right to treat someone else in that way.
However, from what you have told me I can see also that you are strong, and have survived through some difficult circumstances.

Here is a list of organizations that provide support, legal advice and counselling services to women in Georgia.

Please do contact them if you would like to talk over your situation with anyone.

Their services are free, and they will keep anything that you say private.

You can go whenever you feel ready to, either soon or later on.
FINISH TWO -­‐ IF RESPONDENT HAS NOT DISCLOSED PROBLEMS/VIOLENCE I would like to thank you very much for helping us.

I appreciate the time that you have taken.

I realize that these questions may have been difficult for you to answer, but it is only by hearing from women themselves that we can really understand about women’s health and experiences in life.
In case you ever hear of another woman who needs help, here is a list of organizations that provide support, legal advice and counselling services to women in Georgia.

Please do contact them if you or any of your friends or relatives need help.

Their services are free, and they will keep anything that anyone says to them private.

1205 1206 RECORD TIME OF END OF INTERVIEW: [ ][ ] (24 h) Minutes [ ][ ] ASK THE RESPONDENT.

How long did you think the interview lasted ?
Minutes [ ][ ] Hours Hour [ ] INTERVIEWER COMMENTS TO BE COMPLETED AFTER INTERVIEW ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 143 Annex 4.
Qualitative research Detailed description of topics in different focus groups: Rationale: Focus groups were targeted to collect the information about three major issues concerning domestic violence: how do men and women understand the concept of violence (perceptions and attitudes, experiences, cultural traditions and coping strategies); society awareness about the gender based violence in Georgia and evaluation the state of art of the issue personal vs. institutional, natural vs. legal; traditional/cultural vs. modern; existing policies and adequacy to the actual practice.
Current socio-­‐economic development of Georgia segregates society by income in four major groups: high income (4%), middle class (12%); low class (above the poverty level 50%) and under the poverty 30%.

Income differences between the rural and urban areas are exposed in terms of concentration of low income in rural areas as well as under poverty level.

Secondary education is the constant variable for Georgia and only special and higher education could be considered as criteria.
Multiethnic composition of Georgia could be withdrawn as criteria due to common rule of household for major group of population determined by religion (over 85% of Georgians are Christians and 12% Muslims, 3% other).

Quantitative survey collects comprehensive data to identify differences (if any) due to religion.

In Qualitative research there was no need to compose the special group depending on religion/ethnicity.
Topics discussed in women’s group (urban-­‐rural place of residence, married non-­‐abused): • What do you perceive as violence?
(perception and definition of domestic violence) • Why do you think violent acts take part between intimate partners (causes of domestic violence) • What is the most common practices of domestic violence (forms and characters of domestic violence) • What are coping strategies women use to cope with domestic violence (how do women overcome and deal with issues of their rights) • How you can describe the offenders of women, why do they perform the aggressive behavior toward • women (attitudes and beliefs of women about offenders, causes of domestic violence) If you had the chance how you will organize the system of women protection to avoid the domestic violence (possible forms and institutions women envisage as a protection) • What kind of problems women see in the existing system of protection • Generally how you would you characterize man and women as human beings (to elaborate the women understanding about the gender equality).
Topics discussed in men’s group (urban-­‐rural place of residence): • What do you perceive as violence?
(perception and definition of domestic violence) • Generally how you would you characterize man and women as human beings (to elaborate the men understanding about the gender equality) • What men and women are supposed to do to manage the household (attitudes and beliefs of role distribution within household) • Why do you think violent acts take part between intimate partners (causes of domestic violence) • What is the most common practices of domestic violence (forms and characters of domestic violence) • How you can describe the offenders of women, why do they perform the aggressive behavior toward • women (attitudes and beliefs of men about offenders, causes of domestic violence) If you had the chance how you will organize the system of women protection to avoid the domestic violence (possible forms and institutions men envisage as a protection) • Do they see any problems with the existing system or not?
144 Topics discussed in expert’s group (government, international NGO, local NGO, policy makers): Perception of domestic violence and human rights issues in Georgia The past and present situation of domestic violence in Georgia • • • What are the reasons and which types of households / women they see at risk?

• • Evaluation of the Legal Frame Strategies and solutions to cope with domestic violence have they seen any problems with women’s coping strategies?
Role of state • • Women in risk (penitential system) and problems faced • EU policies related to domestic violence in Georgia and strategies of Georgian European Nationhood Policy • Cooperation with women’s’ associations or NGO’s in Georgia Topics discussed in service provider’s group (medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, social agents, lawyers): • What do you perceive as violence?
(perception and definition of domestic violence) • Why do you think violent acts take part between intimate partners (causes of domestic violence) • What is the most common practices of domestic violence (forms and characters of domestic violence) • How you can describe the offenders of women, why do they perform the aggressive behavior toward women (attitudes and beliefs of men about offenders, causes of domestic violence) • What are the main strategies women use to cope with offenders.
What are the main challenges you are facing working with abused women?

What makes you intervention easier and what are the problems your re not able to overcome?

• How you would categorize women under domestic violence?

Are their differences among these • • groups in terms of coping strategies?

Do use the same coping with all groups or there are differences?

In general how you would value the work you are taking with victims in terms of efficiency to combat gender based violence?
If you had the chance how you will organize the system of women protection to avoid the domestic violence (possible forms and institutions service providers envisage as a protection) Topics discussed in police group: • What do you perceive as violence?
(perception and definition of domestic violence) • Generally how you would you characterize man and women as human beings (to elaborate the men understanding about the gender equality) • Why do you think violent acts take part between intimate partners (causes of domestic violence) • What is the most common practices of domestic violence (forms and characters of domestic violence) • How you can describe the offenders of women, why do they perform the aggressive behavior toward • women (attitudes and beliefs of men about offenders, causes of domestic violence) If you had the chance how you will organize the system of women protection to avoid the domestic violence (possible forms and institutions police envisage as a protection) • What types of problems exist in the present situation?
• What kind of barriers keep them from better performance for providing protection?

Topics discussed in penitential group (professionals who are working with women who are under detention due to their violent performance caused by domestic violence): • What do you perceive as violence?
(perception and definition of domestic violence) • Generally how you would you characterize man and women as human beings (to elaborate the men understanding about the gender equality) • Why do you think violent acts take part between intimate partners (causes of domestic violence) • What is the most common practices of domestic violence (forms and characters of domestic violence) NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 145 • How you can describe the offenders of women, why do they perform the aggressive behavior toward women (attitudes and beliefs of men about offenders, causes of domestic violence) • How you would describe the women who performed the criminal behavior due to domestic violence?
Are they different?

What was the drive, personal or environmental, made them to perform the aggressive and violent acts?
If you had the chance how you will organize the system of women protection to avoid the domestic violence (possible forms and institutions penitential professionals envisage as a protection) • Detailed description of topics for in-­‐depth interview: Rationale: In-­‐depth interview topics were exploring the perception of violence, perception of causes of domestic violence, coping strategies individual women use to overcome the problem and their anticipation what would be the best way to deal with problem; perception of men in general and violent men/perpetrators; and finally access and awareness of women supporting institutions and social networks.
The topics for in-­‐depth interview was similar for all sample (except the for rural women activists working on the issues of domestic violence).

1.

What do you perceive as violence?

2.

How do you think, why violent acts take part between the people, sometimes very close ones, like in family or kinship 3.

Could you recall (describe the event) the worst experience in your life when you were/ felt violated by the another person and tell us the story – frequency, intensity, actor, place, causes by her, 4.
What did you do to come up and stand for your rights – coping strategies – make simple 5.

Everyone has thought once in life How s/he will organize the world -­‐ coping strategies – how did you go about it 6.
How you can describe the offenders of women, why do they perform the aggressive behavior toward women – what do you think about these acts and what are the possible causes, attitude question what makes men to become offender If you had the chance how you will organize the system of women protection to avoid the domestic violence – what you can change –self help self initiative.

Who will change it – state or someone else, how can state change things.

7.

8.
7.

8.

Have you heard about the services or if you heard would you use or advise someone to use / Have you ever approach any official institution state or non governmental organizations for support and what was your experience to cope with your problem 9.

Generally how you would you characterize man and women as human beings Topics for in-­‐depth for rural NGO activists -­‐  What do you perceive as violence?
 How do you think, why violent acts take part between the people, sometimes very close ones, like in family or kinship  Could you recall (describe the event) the worst experience in your work, where you witnessed severe domestic violence against the women and tell us the story – frequency, intensity, actor, place, causes of violence  What did you do to come up and stand for women’s rights, How you deal with that situation – coping strategies 146  Everyone has thought once in life How s/he will organize the world -­‐ coping strategies – how did you go about it  How you can describe the offenders of women, why do they perform the aggressive behavior toward women – what do you think about these acts and what are the possible causes, attitude question what makes men to become offender  If you had the chance how you will organize the system of women protection to avoid the domestic violence in rural setting – what you can change –self help self initiative.
Who will change it – state or someone else, how can state change things.

 Overall how do you think what are the main problems women suffering in rural areas and how they deal with their problems?
 Generally how you would you characterize man and women as human beings NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 147 Total Urban 9 9 3 9 3 0 0 3 Urban Rural 0 0 4 2 2 0 1 2 0 9 8 1 1 8 9 1 Rural 7 1 2 3 1 2 Urban 3 8 1 9 6 1 Rural , 4 5 2 , 2 6 3 1 8 1 1 6 2 1 0 1 7 9 1 0 2 3 6 1 0 5 0 8 8 8 7 0 , 2 4 9 0 , 4 9 3 9 0 , 2 8 9 0 , 3 2 9 0 , 2 5 9 0 , Urban 6 7 6 7 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 6 2 0 0 1 0 0 9 4 0 8 4 1 Rural 3 5 1 1 5 1 2 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 0 0 Urban 4 3 3 3 0 2 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 9 0 1 0 6 1 2 2 0 4 Rural 8 1 6 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 Urban 1 4 1 9 2 1 5 6 1 2 3 1 5 0 0 8 3 1 0 1 0 0 Rural 7 4 3 5 3 3 1 8 1 1 1 4 2 0 0 0 6 4 1 2 0 4 0 0 Urban 3 3 0 3 2 2 0 0 5 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 Rural 7 9 0 9 1 4 1 0 5 9 1 0 1 5 2 2 0 1 0 0 Urban 6 0 1 8 8 2 0 0 3 4 1 3 1 0 1 9 3 1 1 0 3 0 0 Rural 1 2 3 9 8 2 2 2 1 9 6 3 1 2 0 0 6 1 1 9 1 0 7 0 0 Urban 7 8 2 4 6 2 5 1 7 0 1 6 2 7 0 2 3 8 5 0 3 0 0 Rural 0 0 4 6 6 3 5 1 3 2 7 1 5 3 2 0 0 7 7 1 7 0 0 2 0 Urban 6 3 4 3 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 Rural 4 0 1 1 0 1 0 5 0 1 Urban 6 3 1 2 2 1 8 9 1 4 Rural Urban , 4
, 9 7 0 1 , 2 2 7 7 8 9 0 , 1 7 9 0 , 9 8 8 8 0 , 5 1 9 0 , 5 6 9 0 , 9 0 9 0 , 8 2 9 0 , 3 8 0 , , 9 0 9 9 1 9 0 , 5 1 9 0 , 4 4 9 0 , 1 7 9 0 , 7 9 8 0 , 1 3 9 0 , 4 1 7 6 0 , Rural / / ) e m o h t a r e b m e m h h o N ( 6 1 ) g i l e t o n ( ) e m o h t a t o n n a m o w d e t c e e S l ( 3 2 ) i w e v r e t n i d e n o p t s o p n a m o W ( ) d e n o p t s o p w e v r e t n i i f o t s e R ( n a b r U - l a r u R / ti e h k a v a J - e h k s t m a S & i m u h k h c e L a h c a R l - o e r g e m a S ti e n a v S o m e v K ti e n a v S o m e Z - a t e h k s t M ti e n a ti M ti e x a K ti 148 % 0 , 6 8 % 2 , 1 9 % 8 , 8 7 % 1 , 1 9 % 2 , 4 9 % 9 , 3 9 % 2 , 8 9 % 2 , 1 9 % 0 , 0 0 1 % 4 , 9 9 % 3 , 2 9 % 0 , 3 9 % 2 , 5 9 % 0 , 0 0 1 % 7 , 8 9 % 1 , 7 9 % 9 , 8 8 % 5 , 1 9 % 5 , 6 9 % 9 , 0 9 % 8 , 2 9 % 0 , 3 8 % 0 , 0 9 % 0 , 2 9 % 5 , 9 6 % 0 , 8 9 % 1 , 9 9 % 7 , 5 9 % 7 , 6 6 % 8 , 7 9 % 8 , 6 9 % 0 , 0 0 1 % 8 , 3 9 % 4 , 9 6 % 0 , 5 8 % 5 , 4 9 % 5 , 1 9 % 2 , 5 9 % 4 , 4 9 % 1 , 7 9 % 7 , 9 8 % 1 , 3 9 % 1 e , 7 t a 6 r e s n o p s e r H H # # # # # % 3 , 5 9 % 9 , 7
 9 % 7 , 7 9 e t a % r 7 e , - l a r u R / l a t o T l d e t e p m o C ) d e n o p t s o p i w e v r e t n i f o t s e R ( ) i w e v r e t n i ) ( d e t c e e S l ( ) g i l e t o n ( e g n a r t s t a r e b m e m h h o N ( ) / / Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban s e d o c t l u s e R i s i l i b T a r a d A j a i r u G ti e r e m I ti e x a K - a t e h k s t M ti e n a ti M l - o e r g e m a S o m e Z ti e n a v S a h c a R & i m u h k h c e L o m e v K ti e n a v S - e h k s t m a S ti e h k a v a J NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA 149 150