Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694868335614.pdf (Georgia)
Men, Women, and Gender Relations in Georgia: Public Perceptions and Attitudes Tbilisi, 2020 1 RESEARCH REPORT Men, Women, and Gender Relations in Georgia: Public Perceptions and Attitudes Tbilisi, 2020 2 Published with financial support of the UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality funded by the Government of Sweden.

The views expressed in this report do not nec- essarily represent those of the United Nations, UNDP or UNFPA.

Copyright © UNDP and UNFPA Georgia, 2020 All rights reserved.
Published in Georgia.

Prepared by Promundo under the UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality.

Field work was carried out by the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health.

Authors: Deboleena Rakshit and Ruti Levtov, based on the technical report prepared by Iago Katchkachishvili.
3 Executive Summary Introduction Methodology Sample characteristics Fieldwork Research instruments Baseline comparison Chapter 1: Socio-Demographic Characteristics Chapter 2: Attitudes about Gender Equality and Social Justice Attitudes about gender equality Diversity and inclusion: Attitudes related to sexual diversity and disability Chapter 3: Women and Leadership Women’s political participation Political engagement Women and careers Chapter 4: Household Relations and Gender Dynamics Differences in education and earnings Decision-making among couples Distribution of unpaid work Communication among couples Chapter 5: Relationships and Violence Prevalence of intimate partner violence Child witnessing intimate partner violence Perceptions and norms around violence Perceived factors affecting intimate partner violence Contents 5 7 7 7 7 8 8 9 14 14 17 19 19 21 23 28 28 29 32 36 37 37 38 38 40 Chapter 6: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Maternal Health Attitudes on sex and contraception Fathers’ participation before and during childbirth Men’s participation in abortion decisions Chapter 7: Health and Quality of Life General state of health and well-being Substance use and consequences Mental health, social support and life satisfaction Chapter 8: Childhood Experiences Parents’ education and work Men’s involvement in housework Men’s involvement in decision-making in the childhood home Distribution of housework in childhood and adulthood Childhood experiences of violence Chapter 9: Caregiving and Parenting Distribution of childcare activities Child discipline Chapter 10: Gender Equality, Laws, and Policies Perceptions of paternity leave laws Perceptions of gender equality laws Perceptions of laws on violence against women Views on gender equality Conclusion and Recommendations References 42 42 43 44 45 45 45 45 47 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 52 52 53 54 54 55 57 4 Executive Summary This research report, developed within the scope of the UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality, sheds light on the present status of gender relations in Georgia while noting trends over time.
It presents the results from a 2019 survey and qualitative research based on the In- ternational Men and Gender Equality Survey (IM- AGES) and provides insights on how perceptions and behaviors have changed since 2013, when the first adaptation of IMAGES was implemented in Georgia.

Overall, Georgian men and women do not have a “zero sum” view of gender equality.

They do not view women’s empowerment as depriving men of their rights.
Since 2013, there has been a growing recognition that achieving gender equality is im- portant, and more Georgians support the idea of gender equality today than six years ago.

However, certain inequitable perceptions of women in public life and women’s leadership continue to persist.

Nearly 4 in 10 men disagreed that when a woman is equally qualified as a man, she can do the same work equally as well.
In the realm of politics, there is widespread support for greater engagement of women, and yet, near- ly 1 in 2 respondents believed men make better political leaders than women.

In the workplace, barriers to entering work are perceived to ap- ply equally to men and women, but are seen as higher for women when progressing in their ca- reers.
When asked what they perceived to be the biggest obstacle to greater engagement in pub- lic life, women cited their responsibilities in the household as the main barrier.

In the household, decision-making on every- day household expenses is generally perceived as being shared equally among men and wom- en, with the proportion of equal decision-mak- ing rising since 2013.

However, when it comes to decisions on larger investments, about 1 in 3 re- spondents reported that the decisions were not made equally.
Traditional gender roles appear to have an influence on how decision-making is shared.

The distribution of household work is also starkly segregated by gender, with women doing the cooking, cleaning, and child care tasks 5 in overwhelming numbers.

Despite more women than men reporting being more affected at work because of their household duties, generally all respondents were quite satisfied with how tasks were distributed in the home.
The home contin- ues to be perceived as a woman’s domain and this perception has not changed significantly over the last six years.

Reports of experiences of physical and sexu- al violence at the hands of an intimate partner are generally rare in Georgia.

However, when it comes to economic partner violence, 1 in 5 wom- en reported having experienced it, and 1 in 3 men reported having perpetrated it.

About 1 in 4 women had experienced emotional violence.
Attitudes around partner violence are generally disapproving, but 1 in 3 men and 1 in 4 women agree that a woman cannot refuse to have sex with her husband, while half of all men believe that violence in the home is a private matter.

On questions of sexual and reproductive health, the majority of all respondents believed deci- sions about contraception should be made joint- ly by the couple, but many still felt that avoiding pregnancy was a woman’s responsibility.
Ideas of masculinity still link being a man with being hypersexual, with 6 in 10 men believing that men are always ready to have sex.

With regard to ma- ternal and child health, more men than before are present during the birth of their children, and nearly half of all fathers accompanied their partners to at least a few antenatal care visits.
Of respondents who had terminated a pregnancy, or whose partners had done so, in most cases, men had participated in the decision to have the abortion and provided financial assistance for the procedure.

When asked about their perceptions of their own health, most men and women believed them- selves to be in good health.

However, the results suggest men do not tend to seek out health ser- vice providers regularly, with 1 in 5 men reporting never having visited a health center in the past 5 years.
The habit of binge drinking, which is often associated with ideas of hypermasculinity, was predominant among men.

While 8 in 10 women reported not having indulged in binge drinking in the past year, only 2 in 10 men reported the same.

Overall, 1 in 3 respondents reported having ex- perienced symptoms of depression the past two weeks, with more women than men reporting ex- periencing them.

Most men and women did not grow up see- ing their fathers participate in domestic work.
Only 2 in 10 men and women grew up in child- hood homes where their fathers participated in routine domestic tasks of cooking and cleaning.

About 1 in 2 respondent’s fathers regularly took care of them when they were young.

The gen- dered patterns in decision-making and distribu- tion of household work that existed in respon- dents’ childhood homes are often replicated in their adult lives.
About 1 in 5 men reported hav- ing experienced physical punishment in school, and fewer than 1 in 10 women reported the same.

About 1 in 10 men and women also reported hav- ing experienced harsh punishment as children in the home.

When it comes to taking care of their own chil- dren, respondents revealed that providing rou- tine care of children is still viewed largely as the purview of mothers, with 3 in 4 men and wom- en revealing that women nearly always changed their children’s diapers or clothes.
About half of all fathers said they had never changed their child’s diapers or clothes and almost as many said they had never bathed the child.

Nearly 2 in 3 fathers and mothers reported using some form of harsh punishment against their children.

Views on laws and policies around gender equality are generally supportive.

Nearly 2 in 3 Georgian men and women support the idea of shared parental leave and specific paternity leave.
However, fewer than 1 in 2 respondents were aware that there already existed a law en- titling new fathers to paternity leave.

Overall, slightly more than 1 in 2 respondents appeared to be aware of laws promoting gender equality in the country and most respondents were aware of laws prohibiting violence against women.

In sum, in Georgia, as in much of the world, in- equitable attitudes and behaviors persist along- side new openness and potential for change to- wards equality.
Comparisons between data from 2013 and 2019 highlight promising changes both inside and outside the home, but continued at- tention and resources are needed to maintain and accelerate progress towards equality.

6 Introduction Introduction This report, developed within the scope of the UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality, pres- ents quantitative and qualitative research re- sults about public perceptions on various issues related to gender equality in Georgia.
It follows two previous studies developed in 2013 which serve as a baseline for comparison of trends where possible.

The quantitative survey is based on the Inter- national Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAG- ES), co-created by Promundo and the Interna- tional Center for Research on Women.

IMAGES is one of the most comprehensive household stud- ies carried out on men’s and women’s attitudes and practices around a wide variety of topics related to gender equality.
The survey has been implemented in more than 40 countries, with the questionnaire adapted across contexts.

IM- AGES data provide important insights into gen- der norms, household dynamics, intimate part- ner violence, and childhood experiences, among other themes.

Across countries, the data and conclusions generated from IMAGES have con- tributed to evidence-based program develop- ment, community campaigns, local and national policy change, and global dialogue on advancing gender equality.
The goal of the present IMAGES study is to provide new data and insights to bet- ter understand how gender and masculinities im- pact a wide range of well-being and development outcomes in the country.

The following section reviews the research design.

The remaining body of the report is dedicated to thematic overviews of the results of both the quantitative and qual- itative studies.

Methodology Methodology using face-to-face interviews.
The qualitative research was conducted using focus group dis- cussions (FGDs).

The findings from the FGDs were used to adapt the survey and focus more closely on issues relevant in the Georgian context.

Sample characteristics Sample characteristics Survey sample size: 2408 respondents.

The sample is nationally representative.

Sample design: A multistage stratified (cluster) sampling was used with the 2014 General Popula- tion Census as the sampling frame.
The sampling design was chosen to ensure representativeness of geographic and demographic characteristics.

The proportion of sample distribution by Tbili- si and 10 other regions ensures a comparatively eq ual value of sampling errors.

At the first stage of sampling, the entire population was grouped in to strata of territorial and demographic units.

Qu otas for each stratum were distributed propo- r t ionately to the population aged 18 and above.
Co nsequently, a detailed sampling frame was cr- e ated, accounting for the distribution of the po- pulation by regions, districts, towns, and villages.

Fieldwork Fieldwork Quantitative Research: Interviews were carried out in households with respondents selected using the Kish selection grid.

This instrument ensures a maximum ran- domness of sampling, which is a necessary pre- condition for obtaining reliable data.
Data presented throughout the report are weighted to the national population distribution by sex.

This study involves both quantitative and qual- itative components.

The quantitative study cov- ered the whole country of Georgia (all parts con- trolled by the Government of Georgia), whereas the qualitative study was conducted in five regi- ons.

A representative sample for the quantitative survey was drawn from the population of Georgia aged 18 and above.
Respondents were surveyed Qualitative research: Ten FGDs were conducted in the following re- gions—Tbilisi, Kakheti, Imereti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and Guria—with two FGDs per region.

The participants of the FGDs included adult Georgian men and women of varied age groups (from ages 25 to about 70) with different socio-economic profiles.
7 Research instruments Research instruments For the survey, an adapted version of the In- ternational Men and Gender Equality Survey (IM- AGES) questionnaire was chosen as the research instrument.

The questionnaire was contextually adapted based on the findings from the qualita- tive research.

The survey included close-ended, semi close-ended and, in some cases, open-end- ed questions, while the qualitative research in- strument was a semi-structured questionnaire or FGD guideline.
Baseline comparison Baseline comparison At various points throughout the report, 2019 results are compared with baseline data collect- ed in 2013 that appeared in two reports, namely, “Public Perceptions on Gender Equality in Politics and Business” by UNDP and “Men and Gender Re- lations in Georgia” by UNFPA.

8 Chapter 1: Socio-Demographic Characteristics The sample included approximately 1,102 men (46 percent) and 1,296 women (54 percent)1.
Ta- ble 1.1 presents the demographic characteristics of the sample, and Table 1.2 highlights the socio- economic characteristics of the sample.

Table 1.1: Demographic characteristics of the sample 2 1 A handful of respondents (N=5) refused to respond about their gender; they are excluded from the background characteristics table by sex, but included in the total.
2 Percentages in the table, and throughout the report, reflect weighted data; the N (number of respondent) represents actual respon- dents and is unweighted.

9 10 ● About 1 in 5 respondents in the survey are 65 or older, with a higher proportion of older wom- en than men.

Given the age distribution, there is a large proportion of widowed women in the sample (also nearly 1 in 5).

Nearly 60 percent of women and 65 percent of men were currently married or cohabitating.
● The respondents are highly educated, with about 40 percent of both men and women hav- ing completed tertiary education.

● The vast majority of the sample—about 90 per- cent—are Georgians and identify as Orthodox Christians.

Table 1.2: Socioeconomic characteristics of the sample 3 3 Percentages in the table, and throughout the report, reflect weighted data; the N (number of respondent) represents actual respon- dents and is unweighted.
11 12 ● More than twice as many men as women de- scribe themselves as the main source of house- hold income, while less than 1 in 5 report that both partners contribute about equally.

Approx- imately 1 in 10 respondents said they struggled to buy food, while the majority could afford ba- sics but needed to save or take a loan to buy apparel, shoes, or extra materials.
● Women on average report lower monthly earn- ings than men: about half of women compared to just 30 percent of men report earning less than 500 GEL per month, and a larger propor- tion report having no personal income.

● Nearly 6 in 10 men were employed, primarily in skilled jobs.

A large proportion of women were retired.

Women’s employment was primarily in the public sector, while men were concentrated in the private sector.
13 Chapter 2: Attitudes about Gender Equality and Social Justice Attitudes about gender equality Attitudes about gender equality The IMAGES survey aims to assess respondents’ general views about gender equality.

Achieving the varied goals related to gender equality un- der Sustainable Development Goal 5 will require broad-based support for the idea of equality among all genders.
This section reports results on respondents’ perceptions of what gender equality implies for men’s and women’s rights, whether there is a need for gender equality in the country, and if gender equality had already been achieved.

Views on gendered inheritance practic- es, sexual diversity, and persons with disabilities are included in this section.

● Respondents generally rejected a “zero-sum” view of gender equality.
Nearly all respondents disagreed or completely disagreed that wom- en’s empowerment deprives men of their rights, or that women’s employment deprives men of job opportunities, as shown in Figure 2.1.

A ma- jority—63 percent of women and 54 percent of men—recognize that inequality persists, reject- ing the statement that gender equality has al- ready been achieved.
However, only about half of men and two-thirds of women disagree that efforts to achieve equality are only beneficial 14 to the rich; that is, a significant proportion of respondents don’t believe gender equality has value for everyone.

● Since 2013, there has been growing awareness of the need for gender equality, but some (al- ready equitable) attitudes remain unchanged.
In 2013, 42 percent of men and 47 percent of women disagreed that gender equality had been achieved; this proportion has increased substantially, especially for women.

The pro- portion of respondents who disagreed that women’s empowerment deprives men of their rights, and that when women work, this takes jobs away from men also increased slightly from 2013.
However, while more women now reject the view that gender equality only bene- fits the rich (66 percent in 2019 vs. 58 percent in 2013), the case is reversed for men (50 percent in 2019 vs. 58 percent in 2013).

Figure 2.1: Percent of respondents who disagree or completely disagree with statements about gender equality 15 en.

For example, more women now have some sources of income, which serve as a basis for independent decision-making.
“Women have become breadwinners in almost 80 percent of families, they work more, and men are not ca- pable of doing as much as women are” (a group of women, Kutaisi).

Some of the male FGD par- ticipants believe that the issue of gender equal- ity is not relevant and is fueled and supported by some international organizations and NGOs.

● Since 2013, the proportion of respondents who supported gender equality increased some- what.
For example, in 2013, 80 percent of re- spondents disagreed with the statement that when women work, they are taking jobs away from men.

There is also much greater aware- ness about the persistence of gender inequali- ties.

While in 2013, about half of both men and women disagreed that gender equality has al- ready been achieved; in 2019, this proportion increased to about two thirds.

● In focus groups, participants expressed diffe- rent views on the issues related to gender equ- ality.
Female participants of the focus groups generally believe that there are more signs of increased equality between men and wom- 16 Box 2.1: Views on inheritance Views about inheritance often reveal deep-seated gender ideas or preferences.

In Geo rgia, around 1 in 3 of all respondents be- lieve sons should inherit most or all of their parents’ property.
While 62 percent of all re- spondents think parental property (house) should be distributed equally among sons and daughters, 20 percent say sons should in- herit it all and another 15 percent believe sons should inherit a major share.

The preference for sons inheriting most or all of the prop- erty is reflected almost equally by men and women—38 percent of men and 34 percent of women—reported this view.
Similarly, a ma- jority—67 percent—agreed that land should be divided equally, with no major differences by gender.

On inheriting valuables, money, auto- mobiles and other movable property, and the family business, around 70 to 77 percent of respondents believe in equal distribution be- tween sons and daughters, and 16 to 28 per- cent prefer sons inheriting most or all of it.
These findings reflect a trend towards more equitable views about inheritance—in 2013, only 44 percent of respondents felt that pa- rental property should be divided equally, compared to 62 percent in 2019.

Similarly, ap- proximately half of respondents said that land should be divided equally in 2013, compared to more than two-thirds in 2019.
Diversity and inclusion: Attitudes related Diversity and inclusion: Attitudes related to sexual diversity and disability to sexual diversity and disability ● Homophobic attitudes continue to persist am- ong men and women in Georgia.

As shown in Figure 2.2, respondents, especially men, hold deeply homophobic views.

More than half of women and 8 in 10 men report they would never have a homosexual friend.
Even larger propor- tions believe that homosexual people should not be allowed to work with children, and that it would be embarrassing to have a homosexual child.

Findings from the focus groups similarly revealed homophobic attitudes and behaviors.

Figure 2.2: Percent of respondents who agree or strongly agree with statements about homosexuality 17 ● Attitudes toward persons with disabilities were far more accepting.
Just over a quarter of men and women reported they would not be able to have a partner with a disability, while just 13 percent of women and 15 percent of men reported that they would be embarrassed to have a child with disabilities.
Table 2.1: Percent of men and women who agree or disagree with statements about persons with disabilities 18 Chapter 3: Women and Leadership Women’s participation in public life and leader- ship is an important topic within Sustainable De- velopment Goal 5 related to gender equality.

It is also an arena where gender norms and structu- ral barriers prevent gender parity from being achieved.
This section reports results on attitu- des towards women’s political participation, views on women’s careers and leadership in the workplace.

Women’s political participation Women’s political participation ● In spite of general support for greater involve- ment of women in politics, half of all respon- dents believed that men make better political leaders.

About 6 in 10 respondents reported support for engaging more women in Geor- gian politics.
In 2013, 50 percent of all respon- dents—56 percent of women and 43 percent of men—agreed that the country would benefit if women became more involved in Georgian politics.

In 2019 this proportion increased to 60 percent of all respondents, including 72 percent of women and 45 percent of men.
However, as the gender divide in this response suggests, the idea that men are more suited for leadership appears to remain prevalent, as nearly 1 in 2 respondents agreed or strongly agreed that men make better political leaders than wom- en.

About the same proportion also agree with the statement that politics is a man’s domain rather than a woman’s.
When asked whom they 19 would rather imagine as a presidential candi- date, about 56 percent of respondents report- ed they would not distinguish between women and men.

However, 39 percent of respondents preferred men when imagining a presidential candidate, with male respondents expressing this at much higher rates—about 1 in 2 men pre- ferred men against 1 in 3 women.
Figure 3.1: Percent of respondents who agree with statements about women’s political participation4 ● Perceptions of women in politics reveal grad- ual changes from the recent past.

According to 2013 data, 61 percent of respondents believed men were better political leaders than women.

This proportion reduced to 49 percent of all re- spondents in 2019.

This change has mainly oc- curred due to a shift in the beliefs of women respondents.
In 2013, 56 percent of women and 69 percent of men believed men were better political leaders than women.

In 2019, this be- lief was held by 37 percent of women and 62 percent of men.

Thus, while women’s percep- tions changed by 19 percentage points over the last six years, men’s reports only changed by 7 percentage points.

Similarly, in 2013, 66 percent of all respondents—56 percent of women and 77 percent of men—reported believing that pol- itics was a man’s domain rather than a wom- an’s.
This proportion dropped to 52 percent—42 percent of women and 63 percent of men—six years later.

4 The figure combines the percent of all men and women respondents who reported “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” for each statement.

The reported percentage implies that the remaining percentage responded with “Disagreed” or “Strongly Disagreed” with the statements.

For instance, 37 percent of women responded agreeing with the statement that men make better political leaders than women.
This implies 63 percent of women disagreed with the statement.

20 ● Quotas for women in politics are more popu- lar among women than men.

While 1 in 2 of all respondents said they support quotas that pro- mote women’s representation in parliament, more women than men do so—about 6 in 10 women agreed with the policy against 4 in 10 men.

Qualitative research reveals that Georgian men and women have complex views on the idea of introducing gender quotas in politics.
Some male respondents in the focus group dis- cussions felt that quotas pushed women lead- ers to positions in an unjustified way.

“[It] was because of Europeanization that wom- en leaders have been pushed to reach the top.
There is an effort to introduce a gender balance, but it is not a natural process; if it had been a natural process, there would have been right women there.”— Focus group of men, Kutaisi ● Women identify their responsibilities in the household as the main constraint to great- er political participation.

Qualitative research with women in Zugdidi revealed that they per- ceive the burden of domestic work and care work in the home as a major barrier to greater engagement in public life.
Men’s attitudes to- ward women’s work—outside of unpaid domes- tic work or agricultural work—is also perceived to be quite negative and acts as a deterrent.

Participating in politics is seen as a “luxury” few women can afford.
“[Not] all the women are able to do this, they may have dreams and wishes, but they can’t make steps to fulfil them as they are too busy with household chores and because of their spouses as well.” — Focus group of women, Zugdidi “Women, who can manage to do everything at the same time, have strong personalities: they have families, care for their children and work.

But there are only a few who can manage all these.


Such women will always be leaders, but not ev- eryone can do that, that’s why there are a few of them there.

"—Focus group of women, Zugdidi Political engagement Political engagement ● Levels of civic and political engagement are generally low—and lower among women than men.

About 2 in 3 Georgians reported never having attended a peaceful demonstration or rally.
While 54 percent of men reported nev- er having attended such a rally, 70 percent of women respondents reported the same.

95 per- cent of women reported never having made a speech in public while 87 percent of men re- ported never having done so.

Men and wom- en’s online participation in political and civic activism was as limited as their activities offline with nearly 9 in 10 men and women reporting they had never signed a petition or expressed a political opinion on social media.
21 Table 3.1: Percent of respondents who ever participated in civic and political activism5 5 The table combines responses of “Sometimes,” “Often,” and “Very Often” into the “Ever” column.

This implies that for each activity, barring the non-responses, the remaining proportion of respondents had never participated in said activity.

22 Women and careers Women and careers ● Most respondents think women are equally ca- pable as men in participating in public life—but more women tend to think so than men.
When asked if men or women make for better busi- ness leaders, 55 percent of all respondents said they are both equally capable.

This is a consid- erable change from 2013 when only 33 percent of all respondents said men and women were equally capable as business leaders.
However, similar to the responses on imagining pres- idential candidates, in 2019, 39 percent of re- spondents reported they believed men are bet- ter business leaders—42 percent of men against 37 percent of women reported this preference.

Similarly, about 76 percent of women and 59 percent of men believe that when a woman is equally qualified as a man, she is able to do the same work equally well.

Nearly 40 percent of men disagreed with this statement.
Thus, there remain gaps in perceiving women and men as equally capable in various aspects of work and public life, despite broad support for equality.

23 ● Most respondents believe that barriers to en- tering work apply equally to men and women.

When asked about opportunities for employ- ment and promotion, about 40 to 50 percent of respondents believed that these opportunities and barriers applied to men and women about equally.
The responses on whether it was easier for men or women to find work in Georgia were equally split—29 percent responded with men, 27 percent responded with women, and 43 per- cent responded there was no difference.

This proportion has nearly doubled since 2013 when 24 percent of respondents felt it was equally difficult for women and men.

● However, after finding a job, women are per- ceived to have greater barriers to career pro- gression.
Overall, 37 percent of respondents perceived that career progression was easier and that there were more opportunities for promotions for men, compared to women.

Sim- ilarly, about 7 in 10 agreed with the statement 24 that women have to overcome more obstacles in their path to success—with 85 percent of women and 58 percent of men agreeing with the statement.

In 2013, nearly 6 in 10 respondents had agreed that men found it easier than wom- en to access high ranking jobs.
The percentage of respondents who felt career progression was equally easy for men and women has doubled in the past six years, with about 43–50 percent of respondents reporting this (see Figure 3.2) compared to about 25 percent of respondents who said the same in 2013.
Figure 3.2: Percent of respondents who perceive men or women as having an easier experience in the workplace 25 ● Male and female managers are generally per- ceived equally—but about 1 in 4 men report being uncomfortable with a woman manager.

Over 85 percent of all respondents reported they would be comfortable with a woman as an immediate manager.

However, among men, 74 percent reported the same, and 23 percent re- sponded they would not be comfortable having a female manager.
Since 2013, the percentage of men who reported being comfortable with a female manager increased by 14 percentage points, up from 60 percent.

It is also notable that, overall, 93 percent of respondents said they would be comfortable with a male man- ager—with 95 percent of women reporting this and 92 percent of men.
The discomfort with women in managerial roles likely acts both as a barrier to women’s career progression as well as a result of similar barriers that keep women from holding more leadership positions.

26 Box 3.1: Attitudes about Gender and Work ● Men are much more likely to hold traditional ideas about gender and work.
As shown in Figure 3.3, men are far more likely to say that it is primarily the man’s role to provide for the family, that a woman’s main responsibil- ity is to care for her family, and that this role is more appreciated.

Men were far less likely to identify having a job as the best way for women to feel independent.
However, inter- estingly, similar proportions of both men and women—about 3 in 4 respondents—agreed that it is better for a mother to stay home with young children, highlighting a long way to go to achieve equality in the workplace.

● There has been a substantial generational shift in views on women’s role in work.
In 2013, 72 percent of all respondents—66 per- cent of women and 80 percent of men—be- lieved that a woman’s primary duty was to look after the home and family rather than pursue their professional or career develop- ment.

In 2019, the percentage of respondents agreeing with the idea that women’s main responsibility was to look after the family came down to 48 percent of respondents, with 38 percent of women and 60 percent of men agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement.
● Younger women overwhelmingly disagree that women’s main duties are to their fam- ily rather than to professional aspirations.

Over 83 percent of women aged 18–24 years disagreed with the statement that women’s main responsibility is to take care of their family.

Among younger men, i.e., of those be- tween 18 and 24 years of age, 52 percent dis- agreed with the statement.
The generational gap in attitudes is evident when comparing these responses with those of respondents in the 55–64 age group, with 39 percent of women and 64 percent of men in this group agreeing with the statement (implying that 61 percent of women and 36 percent of men disagreed).
Figure 3.3: Percent of respondents who agreed or strongly agreed with statements related to gender and work 27 Chapter 4: Household Relations and Gender Dynamics This section presents findings from the survey on gender dynamics among partners, including on differences in education levels and earnings, on how financial decisions are made, on distribution of unpaid care work in the home, and satisfaction with this distribution.
Unless otherwise specified, the data reported here refer to men and women who had ever had a partner or spouse.

Differences in education and earnings Differences in education and earnings ● While most couples report equal levels of ed- ucation, 1 in 5 women report completing high- er levels of education than their partners.

For about 2 in 3 men and women, their education level is the same as their spouses.
Interestingly, about 1 in 5 women—18 percent—reported having levels of education higher than their partners.

And the number of men who said their partners had higher levels of education in the sample was also close to 18 percent.

The higher proportion of educated women in the sample does not how- ever correspond with higher earnings for women relative to their partners, as explored below.
Figure 4.1: Percent of respondents report on whether they or their partner had a higher level of education ● Men are 3 times more likely to be the sole earn- er in the couple.

Overall, only about 1 in 5 wom- en and 1 in 4 men reported having the same income as their partners.

Men were 3 times more likely than women to report they were the only one earning of the two—24 percent of men against 8 percent of women.
The same proportion is noted when looking at differences in income, with men being 3 times more likely than women to report having a higher income than their partner—20 percent of men against 8 percent of women.

The pattern is further con- 28 firmed as 1 in 10 men say their partners have a higher income, against 1 in 3 women who say the same.
The differences in income at first ap- pear to arise from one member in the couple not having any income at all, rather than from differing pay between men and women.
Howev- er, given the relatively higher levels of educa- tion for women in the sample, a gender pay gap may still exist.6 Figure 4.2: Percent of respondents report on whether they or their partner have a higher level of income Decision-making among couples Decision-making among couples ● Decision-making is generally equally shared for everyday financial decisions and for deci- sions on large investments.
1 in 2 of all couples report equally sharing decisions on household expenses and about 2 in 3 report the same for large expenses and investments.

The propor- tion of men and women respondents who re- port this is about the same as that of couples overall.

There is thus a greater likelihood of equal decision-making on major financial deci- sions than on more everyday expenses.

● More couples report equitable decision-mak- ing on household spending now than six years ago.
Comparing the results of the 2019 survey with the 2013 baseline data reveals that more couples currently report shared or joint deci- sion-making when it came to spending money on household essentials.

In 2013, about 41 per- cent of all respondents said they were equally involved in this decision-making process, while the same response is reported by about 54 per- cent of all respondents in the 2019 survey.
6 A recent analysis of 2017 Labor Force Survey data conducted by UN Women confirms the prevalence of an adjusted gender pay gap in Georgia, standing at 24.8 percent.

29 ● Traditional gender roles seem to have an in- fluence where decision-making is not equal.
While most couples report equally sharing de- cision-making, on both everyday financial de- cisions and large investments, traditional gen- der roles appear to play a part in determining who makes which decisions in cases where de- cision-making is not equal.

More women than men are likely to have the final say on decisions related to the home, while the reverse is true of larger investment decisions (See Figure 4.3 below).
About 32 percent of women against 16 percent men said they had the final say on household expenses, while 12 percent of women against 27 percent of men said the same of large investments.
These patterns are also reflected in the answers that report the partner as the main or sole decision-maker: with more women than men—22 percent against 5 percent—saying their partners solely make big financial deci- sions, and more men than women—24 percent against 12 percent—saying their partners solely make decisions on household expenses.
Tradi- tional roles of women as responsible for taking care of the home, and men as the providers and responsible for major financial decisions seem to have an influence here.

Figure 4.3: Percent of men and women respondents report on who has the final say in the household 30 ● Most men—and a significant proportion of women—continue to believe that men should have more decision-making power, including over women’s friendships as shown in Figure 4.4.
However, nearly all respondents agreed that a woman should be able to spend her own money without permission.

● Women especially are far less likely to agree that a man should have the final decision-mak- ing power in the family than they were in 2013: while 71 percent of women agreed with this statement in 2013, only about a third agreed in 2019.

The proportion for men also dropped sub- stantially from 88 percent to 68 percent.
31 Figure 4.4: Percent of respondents who agree or strongly agree with statements about decision- making Distribution of unpaid work Distribution of unpaid work ● Housework responsibilities are quite starkly gender-segregated with women doing nearly all the cooking and cleaning tasks.

Women per- form tasks that may be considered traditionally feminine in overwhelming numbers.
About 94 percent of women say they usually or always do the washing, and about 89 percent of men con- firm that their partner usually or always does this task.

Conversely, about 85 percent of men say they are always or usually responsible for the traditionally masculine task of completing repairs around the home.

Tasks around cooking and cleaning are overwhelmingly performed by women.
Only the task of buying food is some- what more equally shared with about half of all men and women saying they share it equally.

But even here, women are 5 times more likely than men to say it is always them who do this task—31 percent of women against 7 percent of men.

Paying bills is done equally according to 1 in 3 men and women.

But about half of the men say they usually or always pay the bills, with about 28 percent of women confirming that their partners are those who usually or always do this.
32 Figure 4.5: Percent of male and female respondents who report that traditionally feminine domestic tasks are done by mostly women, men, or shared equally 33 ● Childcare responsibilities remain the prima- ry domain of women—with over 2 in 3 women reporting being always or usually responsi- ble for childcare.

Nearly half of all women re- spondents say they are always responsible for caring for children.
Including women who say they are “usually” responsible for it, this pro- portion goes up 70 percent of women respon- dents.

About 49 percent of men say it is always or usually their partners or spouses who care for their children.

Interestingly, more men than women report equally sharing this responsibil- ity—with only about 28 percent of women and 43 percent of men reporting that they do this task together.
Figure 4.6: Percent of respondents report on how childcare responsibilities are distributed in the household ● Housework responsibilities affect women more than men at their work.

Slightly more men than women report that their housework responsibilities do not affect their concentra- tion at work, and vice versa.
About 33 percent of women and 41 percent of men say they have never found it difficult to do household chores due to being busy at work, and about the same proportions—37 percent of women and 45 per- cent of men—say they have never found it diffi- cult to concentrate at work because of thinking about household chores.

34 ● However, most men and women report satis- faction with the current distribution of tasks.

Men and women acknowledge that household tasks are not equally shared.
About 3 in 10 men say their partner does much more than them in the home, and about 4 in 10 women confirm that they do much more than their partners.

Men were 4 times more likely than women to say that their partner or spouse does much more than them—28 percent of men against 7 percent of women.

But acknowledging this dif- ference does not mean men and women are dissatisfied with the state of affairs—2 in 3 men and women are satisfied with the current divi- sion of domestic work.
Only about 16 percent of women and 12 percent of men are dissatisfied or completely dissatisfied with how household tasks are divided, and 74 percent of women and 78 percent of men were satisfied with this divi- sion.

These patterns are largely also reflected in respondents’ perception of their partners’ satisfaction on this question.

● More women than men disagree that men should be more involved in housework.
On be- ing asked if men should be equally involved as women in housework, 21 percent of women and 14 percent of men disagreed.

The result sug- gests that the home continues to be perceived as women’s domain and perhaps that is why women prefer to retain more control and influ- ence in this sphere.

● The patterns have largely remained the same over the last few years.
Data fro m 2013 re- Data from 2013 re- vealed similar patterns in respondent vealed similar patterns in respondents’ shar- ing of household tasks and satisfaction with the existing division of tasks between men and women.

According to the 2013 data, 46 percent of men believed that women did much more than they did, with only 9 percent of women re- spondents saying the same of their partners.

As in 2019, 4 in 10 women reported that they did much more of the housework than their part- ners.
In terms of satisfaction, the 2013 survey showed that about 89 to 95 percent of men and women were satisfied or very satisfied with the existing division of household tasks between men and women.

● Men’s attitudes about caregiving largely mir- ror reality, but they also reflect an empha- sis put on the role of the father and indicate some flexibility surrounding roles within the family.
As shown in Figure 4.7, while more than two thirds of men (but only slightly more than half of women) agree that everyday childcare activities are the mother’s responsibility, more than 3 in 4 men and women agreed that a man should be equally involved in house/family work.

In addition, more men than women sup- ported spouses to take on alternate roles as needed, and a similar proportion highlighted that being a father is the most important role in a man’s life.
35 ● Since 2013, the proportion of both men and women who agreed that caregiving tasks are the mother’s responsibility declined substan- tially, from 81 percent to 69 percent for men, and from 76 percent to 54 percent for women.

Figure 4.7: Percent of respondents who agree or strongly agree with statements related to caregiving roles Communication among couples Communication among couples ● Twice as many women as men reported never having discussed everyday problems with their partners.
When asked about the quality of the relationship in terms of openness of communi- cation, nearly 1 in 2 men and women reported dis cussing everyday problems with their part- ner in the past week - although slightly fewer women (42 percent) stated this than men (48 percent).

However, 31 percent of women repo r- ted never having discussed problems with the ir partner or having done so very long ago, ag- a i nst only 15 percent of men who stated the sa me.
This disparity may reflect a difference in men and women’s conceptions of or abilities to respond to different needs of their partners - with women expecting more in terms of open co mmunication from their partners than men do.

● Qualitative research indicates gradual chang- es in gender roles from changing economic cir- cumstances.

Focus group discussions in Zugdidi reveal that men and women feel that men still have the final word in most decisions even if they confer with women.
However, the role of breadwinner no longer seems to be held exclu- sively by men, as weakening economic condi- tions had pushed more women into having to provide for their families.

The group of men and women separately reflected on how younger couples did not distribute tasks based on tradi- tional gender roles.
“When a woman is independent, is working, and is a breadwinner for the family, she naturally takes on the role of a leader.”—Focus group of women, Zugdidi “Today's young couples tend to equally divide activities and do things together; now men do a lot of things which might have been embar- rassing for them in the past.”—Focus group of women, Zugdidi 36 Chapter 5: Relationships and Violence This section presents results on prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) including eco- nomic, emotional, physical, and sexual vio- lence.7 Women were asked about their expe- rience of different forms of violence and men were asked about their perpetration.8 Results are also presented on children’s witnessing of violence between their adult caregivers, per- ceptions and norms around partner violence in Georgia, awareness about resources for survi- vors of domestic and intimate partner violence.
Some qualitative findings on the causes of part- ner violence in the regions are also presented.

Prevalence of intimate partner violence Prevalence of intimate partner violence ● About 1 in 5 women have experienced economic partner violence—and about 1 in 3 men report having perpetrated it.
On the question of eco- nomic partner violence, 18 percent of women reported ever having experienced one or more forms of economic violence—including having their earnings taken away by their partners, being prohibited from work, or being expelled from the house.

Men’s reports of having perpe- trated one or more of these forms of violence at least once in their lifetime was higher at 27 percent of male respondents.

The difference in men’s and women’s reports may be driven by stigma around victimization.
● 1 in 5 women report having experienced emo- tional violence at the hands of their partners.

When asked if they had perpetrated any of multiple forms of emotional intimate partner violence—including belittling or humiliating their partner in front of others, threatening to hurt someone close to their partner, or refus- ing to sleep in the same room—24 percent of men reported having done so at least once in their lifetime.
Women’s reports of experience of these forms of violence confirmed this find- ing—21 percent said they had experienced 1 or more in their lifetime.

● 96 percent of respondents said they had never experienced or perpetrated any form of phys- ical partner violence.

To the question of ever having perpetrated any form of physical part- ner violence including slapping, hitting with fist, choking, or burning, 4 percent of men re- ported ever having used at least one form of such violence in their lifetime.
Nearly the same proportion of women respondents confirmed experiencing at least one form of physical vi- olence in their lifetime at the hands of their partners.

On related questions about the use of or threatening use of weapons by a male part- ner or the threat of hurting children by a male partner, women and men again overwhelmingly responded never having experienced such vio- lence—97 percent of men and women confirm- ing these findings.
● 5 percent of women have experienced sexual partner violence in their lifetime.

Women were asked about having experienced sexual vio- lence, whether by a partner or by someone who was not a partner at the time, and 5 percent reported ever having experienced either.

When asked if they had perpetrated sexual violence against a partner or against a woman who was not their partner at the time, 3 percent of men reported ever having done so.
This is substan- tially lower than reported in 2013, where 19 per- cent of men reported ever having had sex with their partner without the partner’s consent, and 6 percent of women respondents reported ever having experienced the same.

7 Questions on specific acts of economic, emotional, physical and sexual violence were combined into distinct composite variables for analysis.
Reporting experiencing or perpetrating any of the acts involved, once or more, is counted as lifetime experience or per- petration of that form of violence.

For example, if a woman answers “Once” to having had her earnings taken away by a partner, the response is counted as “1” for the binary composite variable of economic partner violence and included in the 21 percent of women who experienced it.

If responses were missing on all questions, they were not included in the total percentage reported.
8 The survey also included a question around women’s perpetration of physical violence against their male partners, but fewer than 1 percent of men reported experiencing it, and the same held true of women reporting use of such violence.

37 Child witnessing intimate partner violence Child witnessing intimate partner violence Perceptions and norms around violence Perceptions and norms around violence ● A child was present during incidents of inti- mate partner violence in 5 percent of cases.
Of those who reported having experienced or per- petrated any form of intimate partner violence, 5 percent of respondents said a child was pres- ent during the incident.

The literature shows that violence is frequently intergenerational.

Children’s witnessing of violence between adult caregivers has been linked with perpetration of violence in the case of men and experience of violence in the case of women in adulthood.
9 ● Men were more likely than women to hold attitudes supportive of intimate partner vio- lence.

As shown in Figure 5.1, while justification of physical IPV appears to be less acceptable, about 1 in 4 women and 1 in 3 men agree that women cannot refuse to have sex with their husbands, and an even larger proportion, in- cluding more than half of men, feel that vio- lence in the family is a private matter.

These attitudes can hamper action towards reporting on and reducing violence in the family.
This was also reflected in attitudes about power and control in intimate relationships.

About twice as many men as women—60 percent of men against 30 percent of women—agreed with the statement that a good woman never questions her husband’s opinions and decisions even if she disagrees with him.

Figure 5.1: Percent of respondents who agree or strongly agree with statements about violence 9 Fleming et al.
2015; Hindin, Kishor, & Ansara, 2008; Fulu et al., 2017 38 ● There appears to be little change in attitudes related to violence since 2013.
While questions were not asked in an identical manner, accord- ing to the 2013 survey data, 80 percent of re- spondents excluded existence of any situation in which a woman deserves to be beaten—a proportion that remains roughly the same since then, as does the proportion of respondents who agree that women should endure violence in order to maintain family integrity (14 percent of men and 10 percent of women).
According to the data of the same survey, 14 percent of male respondents and 10 percent of female respon- dents agreed with the statement that women should endure violence in order to maintain family integrity.

● About 2 in 3 women perceive violence against women as being common in Georgia—while fewer than 1 in 2 men believe the same.
Vio- lence against women in the country is per- ceived as common or very common by 65 per- cent of women respondents, but among men respondents, 47 percent perceived its preva- lence to be as common.

Conversely, about 43 percent of men believed violence against wom- en not quite common, while only 25 percent of women perceived the same.
This view of wide- spread violence against women could be due to under-reporting of actual rates of perpetration and experience of partner violence, or due to violence against women taking place outside the home or in public spaces.

● 1 in 5 respondents said they knew someone who had perpetrated intimate partner viole- nce.
When asked if they knew someone who us ed violence against their female partner, 27 percent of women respondents reported know- ing at least one such person, while 21 percent of men reported the same.

More than 1 in 4 wom- en knew women who had been a victim of do- mestic violence, while fewer men reported the same-28 percent of women against 18 percent of men.
The relatively high rate of knowing both perpetrators and victims of intimate partner vi- olence in the sample, despite quite low rates of violence prevalence suggests that rates of inti- mate partner violence may be being under-re- ported.

● More women than men are aware of different resources and services for survivors of domes- tic violence.

About 3 in 4 women knew of the existence of a hotline for survivors of domestic violence in Georgia, while 2 in 3 men were aware of the same.
About 1 in 2 women knew about shelters and crisis centers for survivors, while 1 in 3 men knew of these services.

Among women, 91 percent felt it was normal for a physician to ask a female patient with injuries whether they were a result of violence, while only 71 percent of men felt this was a normal question.
39 Figure 5.2: Percent of respondents who were aware of different resource centers for survivors of domestic violence Perceived factors affecting intimate Perceived factors affecting intimate partner violence partner violence ● Qualitative research suggests widespread disapproval of domestic violence in Georgian society.

Male and female participants of focus group discussions affirmed that they consider domestic violence absolutely unacceptable.
On the potential causes of violence, participants believed poverty and economic hardship, sub- stance use, early marriage, and adverse gender norms among others affected the prevalence of intimate partner violence.

“I am absolutely against all forms of violence.

Violence is violence.” — Focus group of women, Zugdidi.

“Gambling and alcoholism cause all problems, especially in the regions, where [the] majority of the families are hard up”— Focus group of wom- en, Ozurgeti.
“[Men who use violence] think slapping or using profanity is a norm, because it’s what they have witnessed, what they used to see done by their father, uncles” — Focus group of women, Tbilisi.

“Values are changing for couples.

When they get married at the age of 18, they have the same interests, but then they grow up, they learn, they develop different ways of thinking and they no longer understand each other and start argu- ing.” — Focus group of men, Zugdidi.
40 Box 5.1: Rape Myths Respondents were also asked a series of questions representing common misconcep- tions or myths about rape.

Again, men were far more likely than women to hold attitudes supportive of or justifying violence than wom- en.

About 1 in 3 men agreed that in some cas- es, women actually want to be raped, and that a woman’s reputation would have to be ques- tioned in any rape case.
Importantly, half of all men and 30 percent of women still define rape in terms of women physically fighting back, ig- noring fear and other forms of coercion often used in the context of sexual violence.

Figure 5.3: Percent of respondents who agree or strongly agree with statements related to rape myths Comparison with 2013 data suggests that with regard to the level of awareness of rape myths, the situation in Georgia has changed slightly.
Although most of the respondents participating in the 2013 survey disagreed with the rape-related statements, the proportion of respondents with similar standpoint has increased over the last 5 years.

This suggests that the level of awareness of, both, rape- rape- related issues and of the id entification of rape related issues and of the identification o cases has increased.

As a result, the state- ments included in this section are considered stereotypical and inconsistent with reality.
41 Chapter 6: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Maternal Health This section presents results on attitudes re- lated to sex and contraception, on men’s partic- ipation in antenatal care visits, and on women’s experience of and men’s participation in termi- nating pregnancies, including in decision-mak- ing, provision of financial support, or accompa- nying the women to get an abortion.

and the majority of men would judge a woman who carried condoms as “easy” or promiscu- ous.
While the proportion of women supporting joint decision-making around contraception stayed roughly the same since 2013, it actual- ly declined slightly for men, from 74 percent in 2013 to 69 percent in 2019.
Attitudes on sex and contraception Attitudes on sex and contraception ● The majority of both men and women agree that couples should make joint decisions about the kinds of contraception to use, but a significant proportion—more than a quarter of women and more than a third of men—still felt that avoiding pregnancy was a woman’s responsibility.
Similar proportions of men and women also felt that it was not acceptable for a woman to ask her husband to use a condom, Men were far more likely to adhere to ideas about male hypersexuality.

About 4 times as many men as women agreed that a man needs other women even if his relationship with his wife are fine.

Similarly, nearly twice as many men as women reported that men are always ready to have sex.
When asked to respond to the statement that men were always ready for sex, 65 percent of men respondents and 35 per- cent of women respondents agreed.

Figure 6.1: Percent of respondents who agree or strongly agree with statements about sexand contraception 42 Fathers’ participation before and during Fathers’ participation before and during childbirth childbirth ● Slightly more fathers attend the birth of their child than did in the recent past.
In the sample, about 2 in 3 respondents had children, with an average of 2 children each.

Only about 7 per- cent of fathers in the sample had attended the birth of their child, which is not a significant change from the 2013 data that revealed only 4.5 percent of fathers had attended their chil- dren’s birth.

Only about 1 in 5 fathers took a leave of absence or day off from work to attend their youngest child’s birth.
● These low rates of attendance are reflected in the attitudes parents report on fathers being present for the birth.

While 48 percent of moth- ers report that it is generally acceptable for a man to attend the birth of his baby, 45 percent of fathers disagreed with the sentiment.

It is also worth noting that overall more than 4 in 10 mothers and fathers report that having the fathers present for the birth is not generally ac- ceptable.
● Nearly half of all fathers accompanied their Nearly half of all fathers accompanied their partners to at least a few antenatal care vis- partners to at least a few antenatal care vis- its.

About 1 in 2 fathers have accompanied the its.

About 1 in 2 fathers have accompanied the mother of their child to at mother of their child to at least a few of her antenatal care visits.
Of those who have ac- 43 companied their partners, about half sat in the waiting room, and about a quarter dropped their partners off at the entrance.

Only 1 in 4 of these fathers said they also met with the health care provider.

Fathers seem to view antenatal care as something they are either not or only marginally involved in, extending their partic- ipation to mostly just taking their partners to the clinics.
Men’s participation in abortion decisions Men’s participation in abortion decisions ● Most men say they participated in the decision to terminate a pregnancy with their partners and provided financial support for the pro- cedure.

Of the 12 percent of men who report that their partners have had an induced abor- tion—135 male respondents in the sample— nearly 3 in 4 say they participated in the de- cision and provided financial support to their partners for the procedure.
However, fewer men—about 4 in 10—accompanied their part- ners to the abortion facility.

In 2013, men had participated in abortion decisions in only 37 percent of cases.

● Women’s reports on their partners’ participa- tion in abortions largely confirm the same pat- terns as those reported by men.

About 38 per- cent of women in the sample reported having had an induced abortion.
Of them, 63 percent said their partners had participated in the de- cision—against 71 percent of men who reported the same in their responses.

Women confirmed partners accompanying them to the abortion facility at much higher rates than men did—82 percent of women said their partners accom- panied them, against 40 percent of men who reported doing this themselves.

● About 6 in 10 respondents said it was a joint decision to terminate the pregnancy.
Overall, 60 percent of respondents who had experi- enced abortion—either their own or their part- ners’—said it was a joint decision to terminate the pregnancy.

Combining men and women’s responses, 31 percent reported it had mainly been the woman’s decision to terminate the pregnancy and about 5 percent reported it was mainly the man’s decision.
Figure 6.2: Percent of respondents who said the decision about their last abortion was made by the woman or the man 44 Chapter 7: Health and Quality of Life This section presents findings on respondents’ general health and well-being, including ques- tions on visits to healthcare providers, substance use, and depression screening questions.

General state of health and well-being General state of health and well-being ● About 1 in 2 men and women believe their health to be good or very good.
When asked to assess their own health, most respondents perceived their health to be good or very good, with men slightly more likely to say this than women—54 percent of men against 45 percent of women.

● Around 1 in 5 men have never been to a health service provider or last visited one over 5 years ago.

When asked about their last visit to a clinic or hospital to receive a medical service, about 31 percent of respondents said their last visit was within the past 12 months.
However, about 1 in 5 respondents had last visited a health service provider 2 to 5 years ago, with slightly more men falling in this group than women—23 percent of men against 19 percent of women.

Of the 17 percent of all respondents who had not been to a clinic or hospital in 5 years or ever, men are overrepresented again—with 22 percent of men falling in this group against 13 percent of women.
Men’s lower rates of visits to health clinics may have to do with age, educa- tion and employment status, or gender norms that discourage men from health-seeking be- havior.

Substance use and consequences Substance use and consequences ● Over 4 in 5 women respondents reported not binge drinking in the past year—against only 1 in 5 men who said the same.

Binge drinking is usually defined as consuming over 5 glasses of alcohol at a time.
When asked about binge drinking in the past year, 52 percent of all re- spondents said they had never done it.

This group is represented by almost entirely wom- en respondents—with 81 percent of women saying they had never had an episode of binge drinking in the past year against only 18 per- cent of men who reported the same.

Around 24 percent of respondents said they had done it a few times—meaning 1–3 times a month or fewer than once a month—in the past year.
Of those who had drunk over 5 glasses of alcohol at least once in the past 12 months, over 94 per- cent said they had not experienced any injuries or problems as a result of the drinking.

● Nearly all women and men reported not having used any drugs in the past year.

Among women respondents, 99 percent reported never having used drugs in the past year, while 87 percent of men respondents reported the same.
Mental health, social support and life Mental health, social support and life satisfaction satisfaction ● Respondents turn to their partner, friends, and family members in times of sadness or frustra- tion in almost equal proportions.

When asked who they turn to during moments of sadness or frustration, 1 in 4 men and women reported their partner, and about 1 in 5 said it was their friends and family members.

However nearly 1 in 4 reported never asking anyone for help.
About 3 percent reported turning to a spiritu- al advisor for help.

Interestingly, more women than men reported never asking anyone for help with 25 percent of women and 19 percent of men reporting the same.
Though the differ- ence is not very substantial, the idea of the Man Box—a set of rules and beliefs prevalent in so- ciety that place pressure on men to behave in certain prescribed ways—usually suggest that men find it more difficult than women to seek support and friendship in the attempt to ap- pear self-sufficient.10 Men also tend to turn to their friends for help more than women, while women tend to turn to their family members for help more than men do.
10 More information on the “Man Box” and what it means can be found in the Heilman, Barker, and Harrison, 2017 study.

45 Figure 7.1: Percent of total respondents report on whom they turned to in moments of sadness or frustration ● Nearly 1 in 3 respondents reported depres- sive symptoms in the recent past.

Respondents were asked about feelings indicative of poten- tial depression such as feelings of reluctance, lack of energy, depression, or suicidal thoughts over the last two weeks.
While 2 in 3 respon- dents did not report experiencing any signs of depression, 33 percent reported they had felt reluctant to do something on some days or quite frequently and 27 percent reported the same about feeling a lack of energy or feeling depressed.

More women than men—25 percent against 22 percent—reported feeling down, de- pressed, or hopeless on some days.
Similarly, more women than men—32 percent against 26 percent—reported experiencing a lack of inter- est or pleasure in doing things on some days in the past two weeks.

Women thus appear to be slightly more vulnerable to depression than men.
Figure 7.2: Percent of women and men respondents who report having experienced different dep- ressive symptoms in last two weeks 46 Chapter 8: Childhood Experiences This chapter presents results on experience in the respondent’s childhood home including dis- tribution of housework between caregivers, deci- sion-making in the household, and experiences of harsh discipline.

Parents’ education and work Parents’ education and work ● Education levels attained by men and women primary caregivers are similar.
Respondents reported the highest level of education at- tained by their parents, which were grouped into categories of secondary, tertiary and vo- cational education.

Across all categories, the difference in mothers’ and fathers’ educational attainment does not appear significant.
Slightly more women than men—14 percent against 11 percent—had incomplete secondary education as their highest attained level, while slightly more men than women—21 percent against 19 percent—had completed some form of voca- tional education.

Figure 8.1: Percent of respondents report on their parents’ educational attainment ● For over 4 in 10 respondents, mothers did not work outside the home in their childhood.
While for a majority of the respondents—over 53 percent—their mothers worked outside the home during their childhood, for as many as 44 percent of the respondents, this was not the case.

Nearly 47 percent of women respondents reported that their mother did not work out- side the home in childhood, while 41 percent of men respondents reported the same.11 11 Missing values were not included in the percentage totals.
47 Men’s involvement in housework Men’s involvement in housework ● Only 2 in 10 respondents grew up in homes where their father regularly participated in do- mestic tasks.12 When asked how frequently the respondents’ fathers participated in at least one of four routine domestic tasks—cooking, clean- ing the house, washing clothes, or cleaning the bathroom—over 78 percent of all respondents reported “rarely” or “never.” This proportion is almost equal among men and women respon- dents—78 percent of men and 79 percent of women reported that in their childhood homes their fathers rarely or never performed at least one of the four listed domestic tasks.
● Only about 1 in 2 fathers regularly took care of the respondents or their siblings in their childhood home.

Aside from the routine do- mestic tasks listed earlier, respondents were asked about their fathers’ participation in the childhood home on other tasks.

About 1 in 2 re- spondents reported that their father never or rarely took care of them or their siblings—with 56 percent of women and 53 percent of men respondents reporting this.
However, it is also worth noting that 1 in 4 respondents report- ed that their father took care of them “almost every day.” Patterns of gendered caregiving re- sponsibilities that are reflected in respondents’ present lives thus seem to have their roots in the childhood home.

For instance, as detailed in a previous chapter, 2 in 3 women respon- dents report that they are always or usually re- sponsible for caring for their children in their present lives.
● Fathers’ participation in tasks around the home was slightly more noticeable in other tasks.

For instance, 53 percent of respondents reported that their fathers did the shopping for house- hold items, and 50 percent of respo ndents said their fathers helped with their homework when they were children.
Reports by men and wom- en respondents were very similar in proportion and revealed the same patterns.13 Men’s involvement in decision-making Men’s involvement in decision-making in the childhood home in the childhood home ● 1 in 5 respondents reported their mothers had the final say on decisions about them in their childhood home—nearly twice as many report- ed the same of their fathers.
While 40 percent of respondents said decisions about them and their siblings in the childhood home were made jointly by their mothers and fathers, 20 percent said it was their mothers who had the final say, and 37 percent said it was their fathers who did so.
Disaggregating by gender, the reports of mothers as decision-makers were about the same between male and female respondents, but more men reported their fathers having been the decision-makers—44 percent of men against 32 percent of women.14 ● On final decisions about major financial invest- ments, four times as many respondents said their fathers had the final say as did those who said mothers.
The difference between fathers and mothers as decision-makers in the child- hood home was especially stark on the ques- tion of who had the final say on major financial decisions.

Overall, 41 percent of respondents said it was their father, while only 10 percent said it was their mother.

Many more men re- ported their fathers as the final decision-mak- ers than did women—50 percent of men against 34 percent of women.
More women perceived the decision-making as shared equally be- tween their parents—53 percent of women said that decision-making was shared, while only 40 percent of men reported the same.

12This percentage is reported using a composite variable that was constructed as follows.

Responses were compiled across 4 questions asking about the frequency of the respondent’s father’s participation in preparing food, cleaning the house, washing clothes, and cleaning the bathroom or toilet.
If the respondent reported their father participated in at least one of the four tasks more frequently than “never” or “rarely”—i.e., responded with “Almost every day,” “Once a week,” or “Several times a month”—they were included in the 22 percent who reported their fathers as participating in these tasks regularly in their childhood homes.

Missing responses on any of the 4 statements were excluded from the analysis.

13 Missing responses not included in the total percentages.
14 Missing responses not included in the total percentages.

48 Distribution of housework in Distribution of housework in childhood and adulthood childhood and adulthood ● The gendered distribution of housework tasks persists between generations.
In addition to being asked about fathers’ participation in the four routine domestic tasks usually done by women—cooking, cleaning the house, washing clothes, or cleaning the bathroom—respon- dents were also asked about the distribution of these tasks in their own homes with their part- ners.

The patterns of responses confirm that these tasks remain allocated to mostly wom- en across generations.
For instance, 80 percent of respondents said their fathers were rarely or never involved in cooking in the home, and about 83 percent of respondents said that in their present home cooking was done almost always or usually by women.

Similarly, 89 per- cent of respondents reported that their fathers did not participate in cleaning the home, and 92 percent report that cleaning the home is usu- ally or always done by women.
The responses are similar for washing clothes or cleaning the bathroom with over 90 percent of responses in each case confirming these tasks remain solely women’s responsibilities in the home.

Childhood experiences of violence Childhood experiences of violence ● 1 in 5 men respondents experienced violence in the school as children.
When asked if they had ever been beaten or physically punished at school by a teacher, 20 percent of men re- spondents reported having experienced this “sometimes” against 8 percent of women who reported the same.
Although the majority of re- spondents reported never having experienced violence in school—including in the form of bul- lying—the fact that men experienced physical violence in school from their teachers at more than twice the rate women did as girls suggests that corporal punishment continues to be used in schools and in gendered ways.

● Sexual violence in childhood is rare.


When asked if they had been coerced into having sexual intercourse or touched sexually against their will as children, over 96 percent of men and women respondents reported never hav- ing experienced either form of sexual violence.

About 2 percent of respondents did not respond to the question.

● 15 percent of respondents had experienced harsh physical punishment as children.
When asked if they had ever been slapped or spanked by their parents in the home, 16 per- cent of respondents overall reported they had experienced this “sometimes”, and another two percent reporting it happened often with men having experienced this at slightly higher rates—18 percent of men against 14 percent of women.
Even though 97 percent of respondents reported never having been beaten so hard at home that it left a mark, the fact that nearly 1 in 5 men experienced violence at home as boys and nearly the same proportion experienced violence in school suggests that physical vio- lence continues to be used against children in the form of harsh discipline and punishment.

● More men than women reported having wit- nessed their mother experiencing physical violence at the hands of her partner.
While 95 percent of women respondents reported never having witnessed their mother being beaten by her husband or partner, only about 90 percent of men respondents reported the same.
6 per- cent of men–against 3 percent of women—re- ported they had witnessed this “sometimes.” As mentioned in the section on intimate partner violence, children’s witnessing of violence be- tween adult caregivers has been linked with perpetration of violence in the case of men and experience of violence in the case of women in adulthood.15 15 Fleming et al.
2015; Hindin, Kishor, & Ansara, 2008; Fulu et al., 2017 49 Chapter 9: Caregiving and Parenting This section reports findings on division of child care tasks between partners, and parents’ use of discipline with their children.

Distribution of childcare activities Distribution of childcare activities m ewhat more equally shared, including taking the child to a doctor, playing with the child, tal- king to the child about their personal issues, or ta king the child to and picking them up from school.
● Providing routine care of children is still large- ly the purview of mothers.

Nearly all activities related to routine care of children are over- whelmingly performed by women.

For instance, 3 in 4 mothers say they always or usually cha- nge their children’s diapers or clothes and 3 in 4 fathers confirm the same of their partners.
While no activity is performed by fathers more regularly than by mothers, some tasks are so- ● Fathers are slightly more likely than mothers to perceive that a task is equally shared.

For instance, 1 in 2 fathers believe taking the child to and picking them up from school is shared equally between parents, but only 4 in 10 moth- ers say this task is equally shared.

Such gaps also appear on tasks like taking the child to the doctor and talking with them about personal issues.
50 ● Nearly 20 to 40 percent of fathers report nev- er having performed 1 or more tasks related to childcare.

About half of all fathers said they had never changed their child’s diapers or clo- thes and almost as many said they had never bathed the child.

1 in 4 fathers said they had ne ver helped the child with their homework and about 1 in 5 fathers said they had never tal ked to their children about their personal is- sues.
Figure 9.1: Percent of respondents report on how often they performed various child care tasks at home Child discipline Child discipline ● Both fathers and mothers report using some form of harsh punishment against their children.

Nearly 2 in 3 fathers and mothers report scold- ing or using verbal punishment sometimes or often to discipline their children.
More mothers than fathers report using physical punishment to discipline their children often or sometimes—39 percent of mothers against 24 percent of fathers.

While the frequent use of physical punishment against children is generally low, the proportion of mothers who do so is nearly twice that of fa- thers—15 percent against 6 percent.
The some- what higher rates of use of harsh discipline by mothers is also likely to be a function of mothers spending more time with their children overall, as seen in the results above on fathers’ and moth- ers’ distribution of and involvement in childcare tasks.
51 Chapter 10: Gender Equality, Laws, and Policies This section presents results on respondents’ awareness of and attitudes about laws and poli- cies on gender issues, such as laws and policies on parental leave, laws promoting gender equal- ity and prohibiting violence against women, and quotas for women’s political representation.

Perceptions of paternity leave laws Perceptions of paternity leave laws ● Fewer than 1 in 2 Georgian men and women were aware that there is a law regulating pater- nity leave.
About 54 percent of all respondents reported not knowing about the existence of a law that entitles new fathers to paternity leave, while about 20 percent incorrectly reported that such a law did not exist.

More women than men seemed to be aware of the law—about 31 percent of women against 21 percent of men— correctly reported that such a law existed in Georgia.
This has changed substantially from the baseline in 2013, when 91 percent of all re- spondents either did not know if such a law ex- isted (22 percent) or incorrectly believed that it did not (69 percent).

52 ● Nearly 2 in 3 Georgian men and women support the idea of shared parental leave and specific paternity leave.

When asked if it was necessary to have a law guaranteeing leave for new fa- thers, 2 in 3 of all respondents agreed that it was, with nearly equal rates of agreement be- tween men and women.
On the question of if there should be a law entitling mothers to ma- ternity leave and fathers to paternity leave, 2 in 3 respondents showed support for the pro- posal.

The support for parental leave for fa- thers has grown in recent years.

In 2013, 1 in 2 respondents believed a law guaranteeing leave for new fathers was not necessary, and nearly the same proportion did not support the idea of employers being mandated to provide pa- rental leave for fathers.
Figure 10.1: Percent of respondents who were aware of the law on paternity leave and who agreed it should exist Perceptions of gender equality laws Perceptions of gender equality laws ● More men than women appeared to be aware of laws promoting gender equality.

When asked about if they knew of a law in Georgia that pro- moted gender equality, about 64 percent of men reported being aware of it, while only about 52 percent of women reported the same.
Overall, slightly more than 1 in 2 respondents appeared to be aware of legislation around gender equal- ity in the country.

53 Perceptions of laws on violence Perceptions of laws on violence against women against women ● Most respondents—about 3 in 4 overall—were aware of laws prohibiting violence against women.

Only about 24 percent of respondents in the survey appeared not to know about laws on prevention of violence against women in Georgia.
When asked specifically about marital rape, 2 in 3 respondents confirmed that it is a criminal offence for a husband to force his wife to have sex against her will.

There appeared to be some ambiguity about this idea, as 1 in 5 replied they did not know if this constituted a criminal offence.

This could reflect a lack of fa- miliarity with laws and jurisprudence and may not necessarily be a reflection a social norm approving rape within marriage.
Views on gender equality Views on gender equality ● About 2 in 3 respondents agree that gender equality means equal rights for men and wom- en.

When asked what gender equality rep- resents and what it is associated with, 62 per- cent of respondents—64 percent of women and 60 percent of men—responded with the idea of equal rights for men and women.

About 9 percent of respondents believed that gender equality is associated with equal rights for men and women in the family specifically.
And about 10 percent of all respondents associated gen- der equality with promoting women’s rights.

The conception of gender equality seems to have slightly moved towards equating it with women’s rights in the recent past.

In 2013, 64 percent of respondents reported believing that gender equality meant equal rights for men and women, while only 3.5 percent related it to women’s rights.

This percentage has increased to nearly 10 percent of all respondents in 2019.
This change may be due to a greater awareness about the sometimes-disadvantaged position of women in Georgian society or may, more worryingly, reflect a backlash against the idea of gender equality as benefiting everyone.

54 Conclusion and Recommendations In Georgia, some gender inequitable attitudes and behaviors continue to persist, but alongside a growing receptivity to the idea of—and will- ingness to change for—a more equitable future.
Comparisons between data from 2013 and 2019 reveal some promising trends, but more resourc- es and continued attention are needed to accel- erate change toward gender equality.

Some areas that would require special focus are described below.

● Gender norms continue to affect how house- hold tasks are divided—and keep women from pursuing other opportunities.
Women in Geor- gia cited their responsibilities at home as a ma- jor reason for why they did not enter politics, and more women than men reported finding it difficult to concentrate at work because of their household responsibilities.

This is unsurprising in the light of how tasks are divided in the home.

Nearly 95 percent of women respondents said it was usually or always them who completed traditionally “feminine” tasks like cooking and cleaning.
Despite 3 in 4 respondents agree- ing that men should be involved in household chores as much as women, in practice, the bur- den of unpaid work appears to fall dispropor- tionately on women.

Recognizing, valuing, and promoting a more equitable division of work in the home is a critical step toward moving closer to gender equality in Georgia.

55 sex with her husband.

Over half of all men felt that violence in the home was a private matter.
Such attitudes of secrecy and stigma around intimate partner violence discourage reporting of such incidents and could potentially under- estimate the prevalence of domestic violence.

● Greater awareness is required about policies of parental leave and laws on gender equality.

Only about 1 in 2 women were aware of laws in Georgia that promoted gender equality.

Only 31 percent of women and 21 percent of men were aware that there was a law entitling new fa- thers to paternity leave in the country.
This was a strong improvement from six years ago, and there is broad support for such a law among respondents.

Thus, greater awareness about laws and policies that exist in the country to promote gender equality can help individuals claim and use these to their benefit.
In conclusion, policies seeking to promote gen- der equality in the home and in the workplace would need to tackle gender norms that contin- ue to affect distribution of household work and shape women’s experiences in public life and employment.

Further, greater awareness of laws and policies that entitle new fathers to paternity leave would be needed to promote their use.
Fi- nally, attitudes condoning domestic violence, or treating it as a private issue, will need to change to encourage survivors to report such incidents.

Significant progress has been made in the past few years, but there are still important areas for further progress towards equality, benefiting all of Georgian society.

● Childcare also continues to be viewed primar- ily as a woman’s domain.

About 3 in 4 mothers say it is always or usually them who perform routine childcare tasks like changing diapers.
About half of all fathers reported never having bathed their children or changed their diapers.

Some tasks like dropping off a child to school are viewed as being somewhat equally shared by fathers, but mothers report here too that it is them who usually perform this task.
The burden of childcare responsibilities in addition to other unpaid housework is borne dispropor- tionately by women and redistributing this load more equitably between genders is crucial to equalizing opportunities open to women and men.

● Certain inequitable attitudes about women’s leadership, role in public life, and employment persist in Georgian society.

About half of all men and women reported believing that men were more suited to politics than women were.
More men than women reported not being com- fortable reporting to a female manager.

Career progression was perceived as being more dif- ficult for women than for men.

However, some positive trends can be noted over the past six years, with more people reporting that they be- lieved an equally qualified woman would do as good a job as a man, and more people respond- ing positively to women’s participation in pol- itics.
There is also a clear generational divide around attitudes to women’s work, with young- er men and women much more convinced that women have more aspirations beyond those related to their home and family.

Norms and attitudes that exclude women from participat- ing in public life can reinforce the gendered di- vision of women responsible for the household and men responsible for being the breadwin- ner, and vice-versa.
● Attitudes around violence in the home are sometimes supportive of intimate partner vi- olence.

While the reported prevalence of phys- ical and sexual violence by an intimate partner is generally low in Georgia, economic and emo- tional violence had been experienced by about 20-25 percent of women respondents.
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