Public Defender Issues Statement Supporting Alleged Victims of Sexual Harassment
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
The Public Defender of Georgia Levan Ioseliani responded to the publicized facts about the possible sexual harassment on several women by the head of the media company, Shalva Ramishvili in recent days and the subsequent events that followed this publicity.
"The Public Defender expresses his support for the alleged victims of violence and, as a mechanism for fighting against discrimination, expresses his full readiness to study their individual cases within the mandate of the institute, if they wish and apply.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time when a part of the public and politicians directs aggression towards the alleged victim - they question their narrative without appeal, point out that they started talking about sexual harassment only years later to damage the reputation of the alleged harasser, and they show support to the alleged harasser.
According to the assessment of the Public Defender of Georgia, such statements by members of the public and especially by politicians further strengthen the existing stereotypes towards the victims of violence, increase discrimination against them and create an additional social barrier for them to talk about their difficult experiences in the future and apply to the appropriate legal mechanisms," the statement reads.
The Public Defender drew attention to the issue of media coverage of these events.
"Due to the importance and sensitivity of the topic, the public defender calls on the media to respect the rights to privacy, space and communication protected by the Constitution of Georgia and to take into account the obligation of the Law of Georgia 'On Broadcasting', which obliges the broadcasters to take all measures to ensure the accuracy of the facts broadcasted on the air and to correct errors in a timely manner. In addition, the Public Defender will be interested in the course of the criminal investigation, which, according to the private person, was started on the basis of a false report.
The Public Defender would also like to remind the public that any kind of violence against journalists is not allowed and unacceptable," the statement reads.
