On October 18, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia presented a special report on the fight against discrimination, its prevention and situation of equality to the diplomatic corps, state agencies, international organizations and local NGOs.

The report was prepared on the basis of the Law of Georgia on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination and reviews the situation of vulnerable groups, including women, persons with disabilities, LGBT community and religious minorities, as well as the investigations of alleged hate crimes, deficiencies in the anti-discrimination law and the statistical data on the case proceedings at the Public Defender's Office, including the tendencies of the recommendations and general proposals developed in the Public Defender's Office.

According to the report, from September 2016 to August 2017, the Public Defender considered 201 cases related to discrimination, while in the previous reporting period, only 113 applications were considered; in addition, 11 recommendations, 11 general proposals and 4 amicus curiae briefs were developed in this reporting period, while 12 recommendations and 4 general proposals were developed last year. Case proceedings were terminated in 99 cases, compared with 41 such cases in the previous reporting period; 1 case was declared inadmissible, compared with 19 such cases in the previous reporting period.

Most of the cases concerned alleged discrimination on grounds of different opinion (12%), sexual orientation and gender identity (11%), religion (10%) and political opinion (9%). There were also many cases concerning alleged discrimination on grounds of disability (9%), ethnic origin (7%), sex (6%), age (4%) and nationality (4%). 13% of the submitted applications indicated “other grounds”, while 13% did not show any grounds. Last year, most of the cases concerned alleged cases of discrimination on grounds of political or other opinion (18%), religion (17%) and nationality/ethnicity (14%). There was also a significant number of applications concerning alleged cases of discrimination on grounds of sex (10%). 8% of the applicants complained about discrimination on other grounds. In addition, in the previous reporting period, the number of alleged cases of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation/gender identity and disability were relatively low, 8% and 7% respectively.

The Public Defender of Georgia also launched an informational campaign - Equality Around Us, within which, an information video clip on equality will be circulated and a photo contest will be continued; for the purpose of lobbying and advocating legislative amendments, meetings are scheduled with various stakeholders, including international and local NGOs; a street event will be held within the framework of the Human Rights Week.

See the electronic version of the report