The Public Defender of Georgia echoes and negatively assesses the draft law initiated in the Parliament of Georgia, the purpose of which is to abolish gender quotas by making changes to the organic law of Georgia, the Election Code of Georgia.

“These changes are particularly noteworthy in light of the fact that, contrary to the above, in 2022 the Parliament of Georgia supported the extension of gender quotas until 2032 and thus clearly emphasized the importance of women’s political participation and the implementation of relevant necessary measures to increase women"s involvement.

The gender quota mechanism is not a privilege granted to women, but an important tool for eliminating discriminatory attitudes towards women, fighting stereotypes, and fulfilling international obligations.

Women face invisible barriers every day, which can be eliminated and substantial equality can be achieved in the country by improving the proportion of the mandatory gender quota and implementing other supportive measures, while the planned legislative changes ignore the results of the long-standing struggle of women and worsen the existing mechanisms for achieving equality.

For the democratic development of the country, it is necessary for women’s voices to be clearly heard in the country’s legislative body and other policy-making agencies, so that women’s needs and measures promoting gender equality are kept on the agenda”, - reads the statement.