Women-politicians need support, conference in Georgia believes

In Georgia, women-politicians who want to take part in elections face two serious problems: the financial difficulties and the stereotype that it is very difficult for a woman to be a majoritarian deputy – this was the conclusion reached at the conference "Win together with women – strengthen political parties", organized by the US National Democratic Institute (NDI).

The conference was attended by about 50 delegates from the country's leading political parties.

According to Nino Burjanadze, a former Speaker of the Parliament and now the leader of "Democratic Movement – United Georgia" Party, mostly the women-politicians who want to run for parliament under the majoritarian system, are facing scepticism – will they be able to work in the parliament?

"The point is that a majoritarian MP should know the problems of the people who live in his or her constituency, get into the concerns of the population, starting from repairing roofs and up to laying roads to villages. There's a stereotype that this is the business for male deputies not females," said Nino Burjanadze.

The fact of existing difficulties faced by women-candidates during campaigning at majoritarian constituencies was supported by Manana Kobakhidze, the Vice-Speaker of the Parliament and Chair of the ruling party "Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia", who ran for the MP in the Sachkher constituency.

During the campaign, women-candidates had much less conflicts than men, as Pikriya Chikhradze, one of the leaders of the "New Right-Wingers" Party, has stressed. However, she noted that women's participation in politics is complicated by the fact that "not all their family members want to see them involved in power-related political processes."