NATIONAL RESEARCH ON

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST

WOMEN IN GEORGIA 2009

SELECTED FINDINGS

Sub-Regional Workshop on Gender Statistics

27-29 September, 2010 ● Tbilisi, Georgia

Lela Bakradze,National Programme Analyst,

UNFPA/Georgia

OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION Background of the project;

Research objectives;

Methodology;

HH population and characteristics of the respondents;

Selected indicators of the quantitative survey: prevalence, health consequences of DV, sharing the violence experienced, coping mechanisms.

BACKGROUNDCombating Gender-based Violence in the

South Caucasus – the first region-wide project to hold a multi-pronged approach to combat gender-based violence through:

Informing, communicating and educating the public on gender rights and issues;

Engendering laws, policies and plans; Supporting establishment of service

mechanisms to prevent, protect and respond to GBV acts;

Increasing efficiency and effectiveness of efforts aiming at addressing GBV.

THE NATIONWIDE RESEARCH ON DV AGAINST WOMEN: The first comprehensive survey in the

country on DV with the biggest sample; The research combines quantitative and

qualitative approach in exploring the causes and consequences of DV, as well as perceptions and attitudes towards DV;

The questionnaire used in the quantitative survey is based on the WHO methodology, which allows for cross-cultural comparison;

The first survey collecting data on physical and sexual violence for under-aged group of women;

OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH:

To obtain nationwide data on DV against women that will enable the formation/improvement of policies and programmes at the state level;

To provide reliable data for all stakeholders for better advocacy of human rights and women rights;

RESEARCH TEAM ACT Research Centre for Social Science

GeoStat granted the access to the Census cluster database

Qualitative data collected in Samtskhe-Javakheti region within the frames of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women funded Project “Interdepartmental and Public Measures for Elimination of Family Violence in Georgia”.

METHODOLOGY – QUANTITATIVE RESEARCHObjective: To obtain data on the prevalence

of forms of DV against women for urban and rural settlements and for the capital and the country as a whole

Sample design used a weighted, stratified and multistage cluster sample approach;

Sampling was based on the Clusters Database available at the GeoStat and 2 listing/updating processes were performed;

The target sample size was 5,080 HH; 2,391 interviews with women were

completed.

METHODOLOGY – QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH Survey Questionnaire:Designed based on the methodology of

the WHO “WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women”.

2 Questionnaires were used: HH questionnaire; Questionnaire for individual interviews.

Field-work plan: diversified approach for Tbilisi, regional cities and village areas, including quality control methodology;

METHODOLOGY – QUALITATIVE RESEARCHObjective: Understanding of the concept of violence by

women and men (perceptions and attitudes, experiences and coping strategies);

Identifying the personal, institutional and cultural peculiarities of GBV in Georgia;

14 Focus Groups (rural and urban women; rural and urban men; experts in DV field; Service providers; police officers) and

34 in-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed2 Participant observations were performed at a

DV shelter

HH POPULATION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RESPONDENTSTable 3.4 Background characteristics of the respondentsPer cent distribution of women according to education and marital status Georgia, 2009

Background characteristicsPer cent

Unweighted number of women

Education  

No education 0.5 [11]

Incomplete secondary 9.8 193

Complete Secondary 31.1 731

Technical 25.4 656

Higher 33.2 800

Marital Status

Never married 27 530

Currently married 68 1722

Widowed 2 57

Divorced/separated 3 82

Total 100 2391

PREVALENCE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

6.9% of women reported having experienced physical violence;

3.9% of women reported having experienced sexual violence (64% were married and 37% were unmarried);

2.3% of women said they had experienced both – physical and sexual violence;

14.3% of women reported having experienced emotional violence;

6.0% of women said they have to give some of the money they earn to their husband/partner;

4.7% of women admitted that their husbands/partners took their earnings against their will;

35.9% of women reported having experienced acts intended to control their behaviour by their husbands or partners;

PREVALENCE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Table 4.1: Physical violence experienced by women.

Percentage of women who experienced physical violence according to background variablesGeorgia, 2009

Place of residence Physical violence Education Physical violence

capital 32.1 secondary 27.8rural 36.9 technical 33.4urban 30.9 higher 21.1

Age Physical violence Independent income Physical violence

15-24 - yes 28.525-34 32.2 no 71.535-44 43 45-49 -

ATTITUDES TOWARDS GENDER ROLES AND VIOLENCE 78.3% of women think that family

problems should only be discussed within a family;

capital 21,7%, urban 30.3% and rural 48, 0%.

52.1% of women think that if a man mistreats his wife, others outside the family should not intervene;

30.7% of women think that family abuse is a private affair and the law should not interfere;

34.1% of women think husbands are justified in beating their wives in certain cases.

HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF DV Every 11th woman in a marriage or serious relationship is

a victim of physical abuse; among those 60.3% has had injusires more than one time;

The most frequent forms of injuries are scratch, abrasion, bruise (84,4%) and internal injuries (29,1%);

18,8% of women reports brain concussion due to the violence of husband/partner,

15,3% of women who have ever been victims of their husband’s/partner’s physical or sexual violence, have needed medical assistance at least once;

Only one third of injured women receive appropriate medical care always, when needed;

2.7% of women who have ever been pregnant experienced physical violence;

The number of women reporting that physical or sexual violence by a partner has significantly affected their health, was three times as high as the number of women who said it had no effect at all (56.7% vs 17.3%).

SHARING THE VIOLENCE EXPERIENCED

Table 6.3B. Sharing the violence experiencedGeorgia 2009 Background characteristics

Police Health worker

Priest NGO/women's organization

Grandmother Spouses relatives

Type of residence

           

Urban 2.2 0 3.5 3 2.1 0Rural 1.3 3 1.7 0 0 1.3Tbilisi 2.6 2.6 5.1 0 0 0Education            Incomplete secondary 0 0 0 0 0 0Complete secondary 2.5 4.2 2.4 0 0 0Technical 2.4 2.4 5.9 0 2.1 1.6Higher 2.2 0 3 4.2 0 0Independent income            Yes 4.5 4.5 5.2 0 0 0No 1 0.9 2.5 1.3 0.9 0.7Georgia 2 1.9 3.2 1 0.7 0.5

SEEKING HELP IN SOCIAL NETWORKS OR OFFICIAL INSTITUTIONS

Mostly women receive help from: their own parents (37.9%),husband's family (17.5%), friends (15.7%), brother or sister (11.2%), neighbours (9.8%), children (9.4%), uncle or aunt (3.5%), priest (1.8%), police (0.5%)

38% - are not able to receive any assistance

LEAVING HOME DUE TO VIOLENCE More than 40% of women ever experienced

violence have left home due to husband/partner’s violent behavior;

The main reason for going back to an abusive husband are related to family and children;

The most frequently cited reasons for never leaving home:

the fear of giving the family a bad name – 32.3%;

the prospect of losing the children – 25.2%;they had nowhere to go - 14.9%

AN IDEAL WORLD The main obstacle to be overcome on the

way to achieving the ideal situation free from domestic violence is lack of women’s empowerment (awareness and independent income);

Promotion of human rights/equal rights for all in general in the country will have a positive impact on family relations;

In an ideal world men should make women’s burden lighter through sharing responsibilities with them at home and outside the home;

Parents should make equal contributions in raising their children.

THANK YOU