Georgian female MP speaks about ex-husband’s domestic violence

Georgian MP Sofiko Kiladze says she was the victim of psychological abuse by her ex-husband.  

According to her, two weeks ago, she turned to law enforcement officers, a hearing was held, and her ex-husband was issued a restrictive order. The court deprived him of the right to approach her and communicate with her for a month.

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Sofiko Kiladze is a member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on

protecting human rights.

According to Kiladze, her case proves that “any person, including a human rights advocate or a member of parliament, may end up in this position.”

The MP stressed that she did not want to talk about the details of her case publicly.  

“I worry about the emotional state of the people around me, about my health, about my underage child, his interests, and therefore I don’t want to go into details,” Kiladze told Rustavi 2 TV company.

Before that, information was released on Facebook that her husband had beaten her; however, Kiladze herself does not confirm the fact of physical violence.

Despite the fact that Sofiko Kiladze as the chairman of the parliamentary committee for the protection of human rights has been repeatedly criticized by human rights activists, she has received the full support of the public. 

Member of the Women’s Movement Ida Bakhturidze told JAMnews that domestic violence has become a large-scale problem in Georgia, and “the case of Sofo Kiladze proves that violence has no cultural, economic, social or any other limits.”

“Touching upon the problems of violence, one cannot exclude a representative of any segment of society both as a rapist and as a victim,” said Ida Bakhturidze.

She draws attention to the fact that women with high social status in Georgia avoid public talk about violence.

“Sofo Kiladze, sharing the problem, showed great courage.  It is rare that women with high social status, especially politicians, talk about becoming victims of violence. Perhaps this is also a ‘stereotype’ – strong, self-fulfilling women cannot be victims of violence.  It’s time to recognize that MPs, ministers, well-known journalists and human rights defenders are victims of gender-based violence and abuse,” says Bakhturidze.

• Residents of Georgia often experience violence from their husbands or partners.  In 2018, at least 5,875 cases were recorded. 

• According to a joint study conducted in March 2018 by the UN Women’s Organization and the National Statistics Service, one out of seven women in Georgia were directly confronted with the problem of violence.  According to a UNWOMEN study, in Georgia, the most common forms of violence are psychological and physical.