Ever since its independence, Georgia has worked on enhancing its relationship with the EU, officially becoming a candidate member in 2023. These efforts include increasing equality – particularly regarding women and LGBTQ+ rights – in the country. However, many of the new policies that the successive Georgian governments have introduced throughout the 21st century clash with the conservative attitudes that are dominant in Georgia’s society and the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church.
This working paper examines this tension. In light of this, it maps out the different policies which were introduced in Georgia and discusses what reactions this has received from the Georgian public. In doing so, it outlines current gender norms in Georgia and shows how these interact with the wider world, both specifically regarding the EU and geopolitically in general. In this discussion, I juxtapose the policies introduced with the gender norms that are currently dominant in Georgia and the position of the current Georgian government. These domestic developments are also put in their wider context regarding the current geopolitical polarization surrounding issues of gender and sexuality and the anti-gender movement.
The paper finds that Georgia has done a lot to increase equality in a legislative sense, but the vast majority of these new laws and policies were never properly implemented and, thus, barely had an impact on the ground. Women continue to be less independent than men and bear a double burden of both productive and reproductive labour. Furthermore, violence against LGBTQ+ people continues and is even on the rise. Nonetheless, attitudes are evolving and growing more accepting, but this happens very slowly.
