Consent, a Women’s Association and local NGO that focuses on IDPs, has reached Georgia’s regions, including the most remote areas, to bring people’s attention to women’s property rights issues and to provide advice on the assistance available to them.
“There are two radically different attitudes towards women in Georgia,” Lela Akiashvili, Consent’s project officer, said on January 29 while making a presentation on the topic. “When toasting a woman, men always describe them as special, unique and blameless, while on the other hand, they are against allowing women to play a role in decision-making saying that women have less experience.”
To examine the real situation, Akiashvili’s organization interviewed people in four regions of Georgia: Gardabani (southeast Georgia); Ingiri (west Georgia); Nikozi (Central part of the country) and Tskhaltubo (west Georgia).
The research found that there is a radical disparity in terms of property rights in rural and urban areas. Traditional attitudes which favor registering property in men’s names rather than women’s are stronger in the regions.
As an illustration of the situation, Akiashvili provided her own example. “I’m from Kazbegi, Georgia’s mountainous region famous for observing its strict traditions. This means that my father recognizes only my brother as his child, despite the fact that we are three children in the family (one boy and two girls),” she said, “It means that all my parents’ property will go to my brother and we don’t have rights to them.”
According to her, when her family has guests, her mom is always in the kitchen preparing a meal and joins the guests only when her father toasts her.
In Georgia, by law women have the same rights as men to own property.
“However,” says Julia Kharashvili, Director of Consent, “the reality is different as in many situations the property is officially registered to the men, which means that if a couple decides to get divorced, a women must depend on her husband’s good will to give her part of the assets.”
Consent prepared the campaign as part of a regional project, coordinated by CARE International in the Caucasus, which is funded by the European Union with co-financing from the Austrian Development Cooperation. Similar campaigns are taking off in Armenia and Azerbaijan run by local NGOs.
As part of the campaign, Consent published pamphlets as well as shot a 10 minute film, where they underscored the key topics concerning women’s rights. The film was screened throughout the country and according to the organizers the result was “fantastic.”
Thomas Reynolds, Mission Director of CARE International in the Caucasus, believes that cultural norms which restrict the freedom of women to make choices related to property hinder their opportunities to improve their lives and project their interests.
Women who do not have property registered in their names have problems starting legal entities, such as businesses or organizations; have little chance to access credit, are more likely to tolerate more abuse in the home and have a smaller role in decision making at the domestic level.
The lack of information on women’s rights and how they can protect themselves is also a concern. In addition, in many cases women are under the influence of “old fashioned” traditions.
Akiashvili complained that couples attribute more importance to the religious wedding ceremony rather than giving a legal basis to the wedding. “Which according to the law does not have any legal power,” she explained. This fact indeed may lead to complicated situations.
“I got married at an early age,” Nana Mikeladze, from Nikozi, tells her story in the film. “But I was not happy so we divorced finally. Since our marriage was registered only by the church it had no legal basis, meaning that I was not allowed to get anything from my husband’s home.”
“People’s feelings were very different before and after the film,” Akiashvili said, adding that “people watching our film felt the importance of women’s property rights and gained much knowledge on their rights.”
In addition, Consent presented a packet of materials which can be used by organizations and activists to bring attention to the issue, to inform society on how to find legal assistance on this issue.
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