The persecution and sexism against women involved in peaceful protests have taken severe forms, indicating not only the continuation of repressive practices within the police but also the strengthening of a misogynistic culture.

Across various regions and cities of Georgia, women of different groups and ages have been actively engaged in the resistance movement against the repressive regime. In the prolonged and nonhierarchical protest, numerous women activists have emerged. At every level of the protest, in demonstrations organized by various professional groups, women's voices are heard loudly. Alongside their fellow protesters, they stand tirelessly in the front lines of the protest with equal responsibility, courage, and determination.

In recent weeks, women have increasingly become the targets of the law enfrocement and masked security forces at various protests, suffering both physical and psychological violence. Over the past weeks, more than 19 female activists have been arrested, detained, and/or fined in Batumi, Zugdidi, and Tbilisi. On February 1, during the searches of activists' homes, and on February 2, at the protest held near Tbilisi Mall, the police demonstrated exceptional brutality towards women and aggressively used sexist and misogynistic language.

The threat of sexual violence and the sexist language actively used by the police against women participating in the rally

Severe cases of rape threats, other forms of sexual violence threats, and the use of sexist language by the police against women have been documented during the ongoing protests.

The first public account of a rape threat during the violent dispersal of peaceful assemblies came from a 26-year-old woman, who spoke anonymously to Radio Liberty on December 19. She was herself a victim of physical violence: "They were dragging me toward the police car and hitting me. They said, ‘We will make you kneel in the car and do this to you in your mouth. What did you think, coming here—did you think you would get away?‘ I was so terrified that I urinated on myself. Then I lost consciousness.”

Later, on February 2, in interviews with the media about the protest near Tbilisi Mall, women reported that masked security forces spoke to them using propagandistic, sexist, and violence-laden messages, insulted them, physically touched their hair and bodies, and used excessive force in their arrests. "You are Elena’s slave for a hundred lari! The ruble has arrived, Elena! How much are they paying you? You must be eating well, since you’re so fat! ‘We will f***k] you all’"— these were the words heard by activist Tata Khundadze during the march on February 2, when she was with Elene Khoshtaria, the leader of the Droa party. Tata also recalls a police officer addressing a female protester with: "Shut your mouth, you old slut”. Other female demonstrators were subjected to similar verbal abuse: "Let’s see how wide you can open your mouth," "How many can you take at once?" "You can fit a lot, can’t you?"

At the same protest, police punched Salome Kamladze in the face when she attempted to engage in a simple conversation with them. Blood started flowing from her nose, to which the police responded with: "I’ll f***k you, and you’ll bleed from there too."

Teona Bekishvili, an editor at Sulakauri Publishing, who was also present at the February 2 protest, recalls that the police tightly compressed the crowd of demonstrators, eventually causing a crush. The police became especially aggressive when Zviad Kharazashvili (known as "Kharazha") arrived at the scene. Masked officers began cursing and, without any prior warning, started physically assaulting protesters. "They threw me to the ground... pushed me... all I could see were their feet and hands stepping over me... they hit me and trampled me... people shielded me... they pulled me away from the police and saved me from being arrested."

On the same day, a group of police officers used force and aggression to detain Tamuna Tevzadze, a member of the Ilia State University student movement. She was later released after signing a written statement.

Degrading Treatment During Searches, Arrests, and Other Procedural Actions

A particularly severe example of degrading treatment against women during the protests is the case of Mzia Amaghlobeli, the founder and director of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, arrested by the regime arrested on absurd charges approximately one month ago. Since her arrest, Mzia Amaghlobeli has been on an uninterrupted hunger strike.

On January 11, 2025, Mzia Amaghlobeli was arrested twice. The first time, she was detained along with several activists for attempting to put up a sticker, but the police soon released her after she signed a written statement. However, shortly after, the police re-arrested her on criminal charges. According to eyewitness accounts provided to us, this incident was preceded by the arbitrary and aggressive detention of peaceful protesters at the scene, including relatives of Batumelebi’s editor, Eter Turadze. The crackdown resulted in a crush. Mzia Amaghlobeli and Eter Turadze protested these actions on the spot. At that moment, a senior police officer, Irakli Dgebuadze, insulted Mzia Amaghlobeli, directing obscene verbal abuse at her as a woman. It was in this situation that Mzia Amaghlobeli slapped Dgebuadze, an act that appears to have been provoked by the unlawful, arbitrary, and degrading actions of the police officers. It is worth noting that as early as December 16, 2024, during one of the protests, the Director of the Adjara Police Department, Grigol Beselia, and the Head of Batumi Police, Irakli Dgebuadze, had threatened Batumelebi’s staff and its editor, Eter Turadze, with arrest.

Following her criminal detention, Mzia Amaghlobeli again became a victim of degrading treatment. "Before being taken into the police building, while still in the yard, Irakli Dgebuadze repeatedly insulted her and threatened to initiate criminal proceedings against her. Inside the department, he attempted to physically assault her several times. Other police officers managed to restrain Dgebuadze and remove him from the room. During one of his entries, he spat in Mzia Amaglobeli’s face. Additionally, under his orders, she was denied access to drinking water and other basic necessities for a certain period of time.”

One of the most alarming incidents involved Nancy Woland (Kristina Botkoveli), one of the founders of the group Daitove. She recalls the humiliating treatment she endured during the search of her home on 1, February: "Two female police officers entered and told me that I had to completely undress. When I asked why, they said it was the procedure. They demanded that I move in certain ways so they could check if I had anything hidden… This happened in front of my mother, who was present as a witness at the time." Nancy states that her detained friends reported experiencing similar procedures and treatment while in detention. After the search was completed, an officer dressed in plain clothes physically assaulted Nancy Woland’s mother, pushing her to the ground and seizing her phone. This individual demanded that Nancy follow him to the police station, telling her: "It’s better if you come with me—I don’t want to do anything ugly here!" During the search, the police confiscated Nancy’s personal belongings, including a camera she had installed to monitor her cats. The camera contained private footage of Nancy.

There have been multiple reports of the use of force and degrading treatment against women during arrests. For instance, on January 11 and 12, 2025, in Batumi, during the so-called "sticker case" protests near the Batumi Police Main Department, officers detained a total of 20 people, including eight women. They were charged with failing to comply with police orders. One of the detainees was Shushana Matsaberidze, a member of the Droa party, who had traveled to Batumi in her act of solidarity with Mzia Amaghlobeli and others. She was arrested on January 12 during a protest in front of the Constitutional Court and sentenced to 12 days of administrative detention. Shushana Matsaberidze described physical violence and threats during her arrest, stating to journalists: "There was physical abuse during my detention, including being dragged by my hair. It was clearly meant as a form of punishment. They also threatened that if I didn’t stop, they would punish me even more. The officer was wearing a mask, so I couldn’t identify him."

On January 18, during a march near Temka police station, six people were forcibly detained for wearing masks. Among them were four women: Sona Kalandadze, Mariam Paichadze (manager of Haraki theater), Tamar Chumashvili, and Mariam Gilashvili. The women were detained under administrative charges for allegedly failing to comply with lawful police orders. The detained women reported verbal and physical abuse. According to their lawyer, Mariam Pataridze: "Sona Kalandadze was grabbed by her hair and insulted as she was being taken into the police station—within seconds of passing through the door. After that, no further incidents occurred. However, Mariam was also pulled by her hair during her arrest." All four women were released 24 hours after their detention.

Repeated Punishment of Women

Cases of repeated punishment of women are particularly evident in the experiences of female protesters in Zugdidi. Since January 13, police have detained Mariam Sichinava, a representative of the Droa party, multiple times under administrative procedures near the State Representative’s Administration in Zugdidi. The reason for her arrest was the use of fireworks during a protest. Prior to her detention, Mariam Sichinava had been fined six times for setting off pyrotechnics and wearing a head covering (balaclava).

Her lawyer, Ronald Shonia, states that procedural violations occurred during her arrest, as Mariam was not informed of the grounds for her detention. On January 24, she appeared in court wearing a bathrobe and slippers. This time, she was accused of violating the law for wrapping a scarf around her face during the protest. On January 27, at the start of a court hearing, Mariam Sichinava put on a mask depicting the face of Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili and left the courtroom in protest, shouting: "No to oligarchy!" In total, the activist has already been fined with total of 20,000 GEL. Alongside Mariam Sichinava, three other female activists—Keren Esebua, Miko Mikava, and Tsabunia Vartagava—were also detained on administrative charges.

Assessment

It is evident that police repression and arbitrary actions directly impact the safety, dignity, and freedom of female activists. In recent times, the measures used by law enforcement against peaceful protests have become increasingly harsh and brutal towards women. Moreover, threats, persecution, and various procedural actions against women are often accompanied by sexist and misogynistic rhetoric from police officers.

Historically, authoritarian regimes have been deeply rooted in patriarchal principles—characterized by the vertical concentration of power, demands for obedience, and hierarchies upheld through violence. Women’s active participation in the public sphere has always challenged patriarchal order and dominant perceptions of women’s roles and positions in society. Consequently, authoritarian political systems tend to instinctively suppress female resistance. Threats of sexual violence, humiliation, and degradation by law enforcement are not merely displays of power but deliberate attempts to push women out of the public sphere.

Generally speaking, the humiliation of women active in public spaces, the use of sexism, and hate speech against them are not unfamiliar to the Georgian context. Such practices aim to intimidate women, silence their voices, and suppress their participation. In previous years, there have been severe instances of sexist and offensive language used by members of Georgian Dream against female politicians in the Parliament, creating a hostile environment for them. Following the protest near Tbilisi Mall, Georgian Dream leader Mamuka Mdinaradze made the following statement about the women actively participating in the demonstrations: "Young women, in particular, are very active in these protests. I don’t know what this phenomenon is. Not a single man would stoop to what some of these young women are doing."

Women have always played a crucial role in resistance movements that emerge in response to democratic backsliding, while autocratic regimes demand submissive female bodies. Such regimes actively work to reinforce patriarchal beliefs and rigidly gender-segregated roles—advancing narratives such as the protection of family purity. Autocracies like Georgian Dream oppose women’s activism because it directly challenges the status quo, the averice of the regime, and the consolidation of power in the hands of the ruling elites. To suppress activism, these regimes restrict fundamental tools of resistance—freedom of speech and assembly. Meanwhile, female activists fighting for justice, gender equality, human rights, and political change often become targets of intimidation, imprisonment, censorship, and violence. This is why, under authoritarian rule, a woman’s body becomes not only a biological entity but also a political battleground. Sexual threats, physical violence, and degrading treatment serve not only to punish individual activists but also to instill fear in society as a whole. This mechanism aligns with the core logic of patriarchy: to keep women’s bodies under control, weaken their agency, and silence their voices. This trend is particularly pronounced in modern populist parties, which weaponize anti-feminism as an ideological tool of authoritarianism.

In Georgia’s patriarchal social system, power is concentrated in the hands of men. Political life is structured according to masculine norms and values—men dominate the political arena and make the country’s strategic decisions. The ruling men of the Georgian Dream regime dictate the rules of the political game. Their politics are based on the idea of winners and losers, competition, aggression, dominance, and confrontation, while the ethics of cooperation, consensus, support, and care are devalued. Within this space, women and femininity are marginalized—women are relegated to decorative roles and secondary positions. This is particularly evident within the Georgian Dream party, where male dominance is striking, and the number and representation of women at both party and institutional levels have significantly declined.

However, the structure and experience of the ongoing resistance movement tell a different story. For the groups and individuals participating in the protests, equality is a core value. Women who persistently resist the Georgian Dream regime—through their defiant bodies, alongside their comrades—are creating unique experiences of solidarity, resilience, and mutual care. It appears that this resistance is becoming increasingly intolerable for the regime, prompting it to not only suppress women through police repression but also to delegitimize their opposition by directing sexualized violence and hate speech against them—thus making protests less safe for women.

The Social Justice Center continues to monitor and defend women's security and rights during protests, as well as to study their role in self-organization and resistance.

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