What do 54 % of Voters Want?

Priorities of Women Voters in the Regions of Georgia before 2017 Local

Elections

The report was prepared by a non-governmental organization CiDA and Regional Civil Society
Network (R-CSN) with the financial support of East-West Management Institute’s ACCESS Program
and the European Union

1
Preface

52 % of Georgian population and 54 %1 of all officially registered voters are women. Reflected
both in the national policies 2 and in numerous research documents and reports produced by
Georgian and international non-governmental organizations, are the necessary steps that
Georgia has yet to take to ensure protection of women’s rights and gender equality. Various
countries, especially in Europe and the US, conduct parties’ and election candidates’ programs
gender analysis. It is also a well-established practice that election results, including gender
breakdown of electorate and share of women voters in influencing the candidates’ win, are also
analyzed.

Simiar analyses in Georgia are almost non-existent3. A special emphasize on women voters’
problems and preferences has not been made in the 2017 local elections either. The research
conducted in the pre-election period by the Regional Civil Society Network (R-CSN) and the
non-governmental organization CiDA aimed at identifying the needs and priorities of women
voters in the regions, serves to fill this important gap. The research has three key objectives: (a)
to inform parties and election candidates about concerns and priorities of women voters, (b) to
highlight certain differences between priorities of men and women voters and (c) to create an
example of election’s gender analysis and establish this process as one of the most important
political practices.

R-CSN and its member organizations will continue working on problems identified through
the research in the aftermath of regional elections. They will seek to incorporate women’s
needs and priorities in local budgeting and programming processes as well as have them
reflected throughout local self-government activities.

About R-CSN

R-CSN is an informal network of regional civil society organizations and active citizens of
Georgia founded in 2012 and uniting 64 regional organizations. The network is facilitated by

1
According to Central Election Comission of Georgia, 53.76% of all registered voters in Georgia are women
http://cesko.ge/statistic/en/
2 National strategy for the protection of human rights in Georgia 2014-2020. Strategic Direction #14: Ensuring gender equality,
protecting women’s rights and fighting domestic violence
3
Women’s Needs and Gender Sensitivity of Election Programs of Political Manifestos, Media Development Fund, 2015
http://mdfgeorgia.ge/uploads/library/13/file/MDF-Publication-2015-GEO-WEB.pdf
2
CiDA and financially supported by East-West Management Institute’s ACCESS program and
by the Mission of the European Union to Georgia.

A research on priorities of women voters in the pre-election period is a joint campaign of R-

CSN member organizations, 23 of which conducted the research in ten regions of Georgia (see
the list of participant organizations in the attachment).

Research Methodology

To identify women voters’ priorities, R-CSN conducted a quantitative research using a face-to-
face interview method in September 2017. One thousand hundred and six (1106) respondents
were interviewed. The target group were women.

The structured questionnaire with open and closed questions was used as a research tool.
When selecting their priority issues, women selected from the list of issues that mirrored local
self-government competency areas. Respondents had an opportunity to add "other" issues to
the list.

Prepare questionnaire and visuals materials for the

reseach

Select and train R-CSN members

Conduct surveys and ensure publicity

Analyse data and prepare a report

Research presentation and introduction to election

candidates

3
Main findings

The most problematic issues named by women voters in the regions are as follows:
1. Inaccessible roads and sidewalks with no pavement Inaccessibility to drinking water
2. Poorly managed or unavailability of parks, squares and other green public spaces, poor
or lack of street lighting
3. Poor access to and quality of kindergartens and pre-school care institutions
4. Unavailable waste management services, especially in rural areas

Issues such as unmanaged stray animal population, lack of problems and services to homeless
and socially vulnerable people, as well as frequent occurrences of domestic violence and
violence against women were listed by women.

These issues affect women in very specifical ways. For instance, as female respondents noted,
in terms of road infrastructure, the most problematic issues are large potholes and damaged
pavements, narrow sidewalks and/or their absence that make walking with baby strollers
and/or carrying toddlers dangerous and extremely uncomfortable or even impossible at times,
especially in winter when sidewalks are covered with snow and ice. Another problem
identified by women is the lack of access to drinking water. This issue is very much linked to
women’s “traditional role” of housekeepers, but in concert with the poor road infrastructure,
creates a double burden on women, commonly among rural women, as in addition to
housekeeping chores that require water, they are also responsible for cattle’s hygiene upon
their return to cow-steeds from dirty fields and muddy roads. Yet another problem of parks
and squares is associated with a need for cleaner and greener spaces for bothchildren and their
entertainment opportunities, and for women to communicate and interact in the public spaces
(the latter is of particular importance where communication for women in the public space is
not encouraged by local traditions). While the lack of kindergartens and pre-school care
institutions and/or poor quality of their services is naturally associated with the well-being of
children, it especially affects both working and stay-at-home mothers. Interviewed women
voters voiced their concerns that as kindergartens’ working hours coincide with the office
hours of working mothers (including at local public intuitions like schools, government
office…), they are often late for work and/or are forced to leave early to pick up their children
from these facilities. As women take a larger share of child-care, they are the ones often
confronted, limited and troubled by irregular kindergarten working hours. Despite the fact
that the problem of violence against women as prioritized by women voters goes beyond the
competence of just the local self-governments, women consider that local self-governments
should take better measures to help women victims of domestic violence, including
establishing shelters and crisis and rehabilitation centers and providing other services.
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The research also looked into the most preferred communication methods on women voter
needs between the women voters and election candidates and parties, as well as into the areas
that impact women voters voting decision, and inquired about the ways that women voters’
priorities shall be addressed in local self-governments.

When it comes to the preferred communication method for sharing women voters’ needs to
the election candidates, 29% of interviewed women said that would like political parties and
electoral candidates to ask women about their problems. Another 28% of them believe that
women and citizen groups should take the initiative to talk to the election candidates, and
about 1/5th of all interviewed women, or 22%, would trust the NGO sector to fulfil the role of
communicating women voters’ priorities to the election candidates.

It is for the great interest of the election candidates and parties to know that 67%
ofinterviewed women would vote for a party or candidate whose election program and/or
campaign echoes women priorities and concerns, and that only 17.5% of interviewed women
would not consider candidate’s women-oriented program as a deciding factor when voting.

Research Description

The average age of all interviewed women is 40 years. Age group distribution is presented in
the diagram # 1.

Diagram 1: Age

9.2
16.0

18-25 years
26-35 years
28.2
36-45 years
22.5
46-60 years
61- and up

24.1

5
59% of all women respondents are employed and 41% are unemployed or pensioners.

Diagram 2: Employment

40.7

Employed
59.3
Unemployed

61% of all women respondents have higher education and 29% of them hold secondary
education.

Diagram 2: Education

Incomplete Master's Degree .1

Higher education/Master/Bachelor 61.2

Bachelor's Student 2.4

Vocational Institution/College Graduate 5.6

Secondary 29.0

Incomplete Secondary 1.7

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

The survey was conducted in all regions of Georgia and the number of respondents was
distributed equally.

6
Diagram 3: Geographic area

Shida Kartli 9.1

Racha-Lechkhumi - Kvemo Svaneti 9.0

Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti 8.8

Guria 11.0

Kakheti 10.1

Mtskheta-Mtianeti 11.0

Imereti 11.7

Kvemo Kartli 12.8

Samtskhe-Javakheti 10.1

Adjara 9.1

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
%

Main Issues and Priorities

The women voters selected their priority issues from the list of issues within the competences
of local self-governments. They were asked to choose the three top priorities and a put them
on a range from most important to least important

The ranging of three priority issues led to the identification of five most pressing concerns:
1) Need for improvedroads and sidewalks
2) Lack of access to drinking water
3) Few and/or unmanaged parks, squares and other green public places, and street lighting
4) Unavailability of or/access to, and low quality of kindergartens and pre-school institutions
5) Need for state-organized regular waste collection and disposal

The percentage difference between the third and the fourth priorities was insignificant.

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Diagram 4: Range of Priorities

Please name top three most important priorities in your village/town -

Range based on top 3 issues:

Organized waste management

1
Access to improvement kindergartens and Pre-
school Care Institutions 2
Cleaner parks, squares and other green spaces
3
Access to drinking water in homes
4
Improvement of roads and pavement
5

The list of most important issues before putting them on a range is:
Diagram 5: Problems based on the overall number of votes
Please name three most important problems in your village/town- Range

Lack of access to kindergartens and pre-school care

institutions 16.30%

lack of access to libraries, museums and entertainment

16.40%

Littered parks,squares and other green spaces/broken

street lights 20.30%

Unorganized waste collection and disposal

21.40%

Regular access to women's reproductive healthcare

25.00%

Frequency of domestic violence and violence against

women 31.00%

Lack of programs for homeless and socially vulnerable

people 34.1% 34.10%

Poor infrastructure of roads and sidewalks

34.80%

Lack of access to drinking water

35.10%

Unmanaged populations of stray animals

35.40%

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There results vary insignificantly by regions:

Diagram6: Top 3 Priorities through Regional lenses

Homeless and socially vulnerable… 35.6%

Stray animals 35.6% Shida Kartli
Libraries, musems and entertainment… 33.3%

Stray animals 49.0%

Recycling 40.8% Racha-Lechkhumi -
Kvemo Svaneti
Improvement of roads and pavements 28.6%

Stray animals 47.9%

Improvement of roads and pavements 44.8% Samegrelo
Homeless and socially vulnerable… 36.5%

Improvement of roads and pavements 45.8%

Homeless and socially vulnerable… Guria
37.3%
Stray animals 33.9%

Cleaning of parks, squares and public… 52.3%

Kakheti
Improvement of roads and pavements 43.0%
Stray animals 36.4%

Improvement of roads and pavements 34.5%

Mtskheta-Mtianeti
Libraries, musems and entertainment… 33.6%
Stray animals 32.8%

Cleaning of parks, squares and public… 44.9%

Imereti
Libraries, musems and entertainment… 36.2%
Homeless and socially vulnerable… 35.4%

Homeless and socially vulnerable… 42.4% Kvemo Kartli

Cleaning of parks, squares and public… 41.7%
Stray animals 36.7%

Cleaning of parks, squares and public… 58.2% Samtskhe-Javakheti

Improvement of roads and pavements 43.6%
Stray animals 33.6%

Libraries, musems and entertainment… 48.5% Adjara

Homeless and socially vulnerable… 44.4%
Stray animals 35.4%

0.0% 10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%

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When listing three top priorities, women were asked to specify each. The table below shows
these most frequent specifications.

Table 1: Priority Issues and their Specifications

Problem Specifications by Respondents

Problem #1 Roads and Pavements
Inefficient response/reaction mechanisms from state agencies and competent authorities regarding
infrastructure damages (road maintenance issues)
Seasonal problems (measures against snow and ice in winter )
Narrowness of roads (cars and locals find it difficult to move around)
Only central streets are repaired
Malfunction of drainage channels and lattices
The lack of pavements
The lack of road signs / absence
The parking problem
Problem # 2 Parks, Squares and Public Spaces
Littered parks and squares
Absence and/or malfunction of street lighting
The lack of squares/absence
Fewer trees and benches in squares
Absence and/or malfunction of children's playgrounds/ carrousels
Absence of public toilets
Problem # 3 Drinking Water
Access to drinking water
Bad quality of drinking water
Water supply problem/access to water by schedule
Malfunction of water supply reservoir
Malfunction of water meters (wrong estimates)
Problem # 4 Kindergartens and Pre-School Care Facilities
Large number of children in kindergartens and pre-school institutions/ small number of staff
Insufficient number of kindergartens
Large number of children per class
Distance to kindergartens and the absence of appropriate transportation
Kindergartens’ work schedule (the working hours of kindergartens and offices coincide, are irregular
seasonally), during winter and summer holidays the rural population cannot access pre-school services
as they shut off
The heating systems’ malfunction in the kindergartens
Ignoring appropriate standards for construction and arrangement of kindergarten buildings

10
Children’s hygiene and nutrition problems are overlooked
Inadequate qualifications of kindergarten teachers and personnel (their attitude towards the children
should change)
Furnishing kindergartens /outdated inventory
Low salaries of teachers in the kindergartens
Frequent violations of work schedule in kindergartens (late start / closure and early closing / closing
time)
Problem # 5 Organized Waste Collection and Disposal
Garbage in public spaces (its late collection)
The lack of trash-bins
Absence of waste collection system
The absence of waste organized collection and disposal systems
The large number of illegal landfills
Problem # 6 Stray Animals
A large number of dangerous stray animals
Ineffectiveness of animal vaccination system
The absence of special shelter (s) for stray animals
Bad attitude/treatment of stray animals (and their killing as a method of population control)
Problem # 7 Libraries, Museums and Entertainment Venues
The lack of space / absence of such spaces
Outdated infrastructure at libraries, museums and other cultural / entertainment sites
Lack of libraries in many cities / villages
Lack of material-technical bases in libraries
Problem # 8 People with Disabilities, Children and the Elderly
Absence of programs and services for persons with disabilities
Insufficient care for persons with disabilities
Lack of infrastructure and issues with accessibility for the people with disabilities
Absence of entertainment places / infrastructure for children with disabilities
The absence of / poor medical services for persons with disabilities, children and elderly
The lack of adapted public transportation for persons with disabilities
Lack of social benefits / programs for persons with disabilities
Problems of socialization and employment for people with disabilities
Lack of rehabilitation centers for children with disabilities and their parents (including psychological
assistance)
Problem # 9 Homeless and Socially Vulnerable People
Unfairly discontinued social allowances
The limited amount of social allowance
Ineffectiveness of the database of the socially vulnerable and the points system
Lack of access to medicines, personal hygiene items and nutrition products for socially vulnerable
women

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Employment of socially vulnerable persons
Non-existence of shelters / housing for the socially vulnerable people
Problem #10 Women’s Reproductive Health
Access to reproductive healthcare and required tests
Shortage of medical staff with adequate qualifications and competence
Some tests are often impossible to access locally and require travel to larger cities
Access to subsidized breast cancer screening programs locally (including age limits for free screening
Limited cover for subsidized regular check-ups
Lack or absence of locally accessible medical facilities
Shortage of appropriate medical equipment in regional hospitals
Access to affordable insurance package
Problem # 11 Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women
Frequency of violence cases
Lack of awareness about psychological violence
Ineffective response mechanisms for violence cases
Mistrust towards police (including due to lack of protection of anonymity)
Low level of awareness among women [on domestic violence and violence against women]
Early marriage
The absence of shelter and / or rehabilitation centers for victims of domestic violence in the regions
Indifference towards women's rights

The responses to the question on how can women voters best communicate their needs and priorities to
the election candidates are provided below:

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Diagram 7: In your opinion, how should women voters provide political parties and election
candidates with information about their needs and priorities?

Gender councils should give them information

6.3

NGOs should give them information

21.7

Women and citizen groups should give them

information
27.7

Election candidates and parties should ask women

29.3

it's difficult to answer

15

The responses are largely homogeneous across all regions. While in most regions, responsibility
to inquire about women voters’ needs and priorities lay with election candidates and parties,
women in Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi believe that it is NGOs (29%), and women and
citizen groups (35%) that shall take responsibility of communicating their needs and priorities
to the election candidates.

When asked to identify the best ways to solve women voters’ priorities through local
government in post-election period, majority of women stated that the members of the
Sakrebulo should include these priority issues into the Sakrebulo agendas. It is noteworthy that
the role of Gender Councils to bringing these important issues to the attention of local
decision-makers is seen important by only the smallest portion of interviewed women (10.5%).

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Diagram 8: How should women’s priority issues and needs be solved locally?

Women should advocate for

6% these issues to be included in
the Sakbrelo agendas

30% NGOs should advocate for these

issues to be included in
Sakrebulo agendas
31% Gender councils should
advocate these issues in the
agenda of Sakrebulo
Sakrebulo members should
advocate these issues in the
agenda of Sakrebulo

10% 23% It's difficult to answer

There are small differences among regional perspectives in terms of best ways to advocate for
women’s priority issues. Most women in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Mtskheta-Mtianeti think that
NGOs should advocate for their priority issues to be included in Sakrebulo agendas and
discussions. In Samegrelo, Shida Kartli, Kakheti and Adjara, women think that women should
advocate for their own needs’ inclusion in Sakrebulo agendas, while in Racha-Lechkhumi,
Guria, Imereti and Kvemo Kartli women believe that Sakrebulos should take responsibility for
advocating for women voters’ priorities.

This result indicates the level of awareness regarding existence of the Councils and their
functions in the regions.

14
Diagram 9: How should women’s priority issues and needs be solved locally? (Regional
Perspective)

Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 41.9%

Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 25.6%
NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 20.9% Shida Kartli
8.1%
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 3.5%

Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 53.6%

Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 38.1%
NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 15.5% Racha- Lechkhummi -
4.1% Kvemo Svaneti
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 3.1%

Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 38.9%

Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 30.5%
NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 16.8% Samegrelo - Zemo Svaneti
13.7%
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 2.1%

Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 42.0%

Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 25.2%
Guria
21.0%
NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 9.2%
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 4.2%

Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 34.9%

NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 32.1% Kakheti
Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 29.2%
16.0%
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 3.8%

NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 25.0%

Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 25.0% Mtskheta-Mtianeti
Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 22.5%
13.3%
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 15.0%

Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 29.8%

Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 28.2% Imereti
NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 26.6%
6.5%
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 12.1%

Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 37.2%

NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 30.7% Kvemo Kartli
Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 21.9%
3.6%
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 8.0%

NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 37.6%

Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 30.3% Samtskhe-Javakheti
Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 25.7%
6.4%
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 3.7%

Women should promote these issues in Sakrebulo… 33.0%

Sakrebulo members should promote these issues in… 27.7% Adjara
NGOs should promote these issues in Sakrebulo 22.3%
12.8%
I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer. 5.3%
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%

15
As the chart below demonstrates, when making a decision on whom to vote for, 67% of
women interviewed would definitely consider or consider election candidates and/or parties
whose election programs and/or campaign speeches include focus on women’s priority and/or
women's rights issues. This, however, would not be a deciding factor for 17.5% of women
voters.

Diagram 10: Do you prefer a candidate or a party whose election program and/or campaign
speeches echo priority issues for women or issues related to women’s rights?

I don’t give it any importance

9.2

I give it a little importance

8.3

I may give it an importance

15.5

I will give an important when voting

40.3

I will definitely give it a great importance when

voting
26.7

When considering the differences between average indicators, there are small differences
among the responses across the regions. To the question do you prefer a candidate or a party
whose election program and/or campaign speeches echo priority issues for women or issues
related to women’s rights, Samtskhe-Javakheti women, on average, vote yes more so than
women from other regions. In contrast, for women voters in Kvemo Kartli region, the
candidates and/or parties’ women oriented program is least of a deciding factor when voting.

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Diagram 11: Do you prefer a candidate or a party whose election program and/or campaign
speeches echo priority issues for women or issues related to women’s rights? Regional
Perspective Comparison of means on 5-point ascending scale

Samtskhe-Javakheti 3.9

Shida Kartli 3.9

Guria 3.8

Samegrelo 3.7

Racha-Lechkhumi - Kvemo Svaneti 3.7

Kakheti 3.7

Adjara 3.7

Mtskheta-Mtianeti 3.6

Imereti 3.4

Kvemo Kartli 3.4

1 2 3 4 5
I don’t give it any importance I will definitely give it a great
importance when voting

17
Annex:
1. Questionnaire
1. Please name three most problematic issues in your village/town that concern women about the
most. Rank your answers by a range of priorities (1, 2 and 3), where 1 has the highest priority:

 Roads and sidewalks

 Parks, squares and other public spaces, tree-planting and green space management,
street lighting
 Drinking water
 Kindergartens and pre-school care facilities
 Waste Management
 Stray animals
 Libraries, museums, entertainment and recreational places
 People with disabilities, children and elderly
 Homeless and socially vulnerable people
 Women’s reproductive health
 Domestic violence and violence against women
 Other

2. Please specify under each selected issues:

I. First problem/priority
Specific issue_________________________________________
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Second problem/priority

Specific issue _________________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Third problem/priority

Specific issue _________________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. In your opinion, how should women voters provide political parties and election candidates with
information about their needs and priorities?
Please choose one option:
 Parties and candidates should ask women
 Women and citizen groups should give them information

18
  NGOs should give them information
 Gender councils should give them information
 Other
 I do not know, it is difficult to answer.

4. In your opinion, how should women’s priority issues and needs be solved in your village/town?
 Women should advocate for these issues to be included in the Sakbrelo agendas
 NGOs should advocate for these issues to be included in Sakrebulo agendas
 Gender Council should advocate for these issues to be included in Sakrebulo agendas
Sakrebulo members should advocate for these issues to be included in Sakrebulo agendas
 Other
 I do not know. It is difficult to answer.

5. Do you prefer a candidate or a party whose election program and/or campaign speeches echo
priority issues for women or issues related to women’s rights
Please use the scale below:
1 (I don’t give it any importance)
2 (I give it a little importance )
3 (I may give it an importance )
4 (I will give an important when voting )
5 (I will definitely give it a great importance when voting)
6 (I don’t know)
Demographic indicators:
Age _________________
Education _________________
Employed/unemployed
Place (village/town) _________________

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 2. R-CSN Member NGOs Participating in the Campaign by Regions

Region Municipality Organization

Kvemo Kartli Rustavi 1. Civil Development Agency (CiDA)
Marneuli 2. Society of Democratic Women of Marneuli
Bolnisi 3. Kvemo Kartli Public Information Center
4. Bolnisi Language House
Mtskheta- Mtskheta 5. Anti-Violence National Network: Mtskheta-Mtianeti
Mtianeti Regional Committee
Dusheti 6. Dusheti Development Fund
Stepantsminda 7. Mountain Development Center
Shida Kartli Gori 8. Friendship Bridge “Kartlosi”
9. Society ''Biliki''
Kakheti Lagodekhi 10. Georgian Civil Development Association
Telavi 11. Region Development Centre
Sagarejo 12. Association „Spectr“
Samtskhe- Akhaltsikhe 13. Akhaltsikhe Youth Centre
Javakheti 14. Union of Democrat Meskhs
Ninotsminda 15. Peace Charter
Imereti Kharagauli 16. Public Monitoring and Research Centre
Kutaisi 17. Nabiji Kharagauli
Chiatura 18. Association “Chiaturians Union”
Samegrelo-Zemo Khobi 19. Association “Atinati”
Svaneti Zugdidi 20. Association „Dea“
Racha- Ambrolauri 21. Rach-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti Self-Government
Lechkhumi – Resource Center
Kvemo Svaneti
Guria Lanchkhuti 22. Lanchkhuti Information Center
Ajara Batumi 23. Institute of Democracy

Additional information about members of R-CSN and electronic version of the

research may be accessed at
www.cso.ge

20