The Council of Europe Office of Georgia presented the results of a project “Fight against Discrimination, Hate Speech and Hate Crimes” that was carried out from 2018-2021, and the main findings of a study “Hate Speech, Hate Crimes and Discrimination: Attitudes and awareness in 2021”, conducted as part of the project and comparing changes in public attitudes towards diversity over the last three years.
The project, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark through its Neighbourhood Programme, aimed to provide expertise, build competences, advocate and raise awareness about equality in Georgia. CRRC Georgia, commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, through its Neighbourhood Programme (DANEP), was to conduct a survey in 2021, including a nationally representative survey, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. The study would compare the results with those from a similar study conducted in 2018.
The study focused on the awareness and understanding of diversity within the Georgian Society; the protection of vulnerable groups and minorities; the occurrence of hate crimes and hate speeches in the Georgian Society and who they affect; the public’s attitude and knowledge about Georgian legislation against hate crimes, hate speech, and discrimination; existing redress mechanism and their effectiveness; and the work of different actors in this area.
The study shows that between 2018 and 2021, the knowledge and appreciation of Georgian society’s diversity has increased. Positive attitudes towards diversity have increased from 56% up to 70%. This is a 14-point increase. In 2018, the most common answer to this question was either “don’t remember” or “cannot recall a minority group”, which was given by 36%. In 2021, however, only 28% of respondents said the same, an 8-point change.
When asked to name a minority group, people are better able to do so. The public has a significantly more positive attitude towards diversity in general and ethnic and religious differences in particular. The data shows a 12-point increase of positive attitudes towards ethnic diversity from 56% to 68. The data for religious diversity show an increase of 14 points, from 46% to 60%.
In comparison to 2018, the public began to recognize to a greater degree the importance of protecting minority rights. The number of people who think that protecting LGBTI rights is very important has increased from 33% to 47% by 2021. Those who thought that the protection of LGBTI rights was not important decreased from 44% to 29% between 2018 and 2021.
While attitudes towards diversity have improved, there has not been much change in the awareness of Georgian laws against hate crimes, discrimination and hate speech. The public’s knowledge and appreciation of existing redress systems and their effectiveness has also remained unchanged.
You can download the full report “Hate Speech and Hate Crimes in Georgia: Attitudes and awareness in 2021”. It is available in both English and Georgian.
The Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2020-2023 has implemented the co-operation project “Fight against Discrimination, Hate Crimes and Hate Speech in Georgia”, with the support of Danish Neighbourhood Programme in Georgia.
Source: CoE.int
Image source: Democracy & Freedom Watch
Read More @ georgiatoday.ge