Promoting IDPs' and Women's Voices in Post-Conflict Georgia

early morning…when I was going to my job, they were sitting in an open area drinkingfrom 9 o’clock in the morning.” 288This response highlights the challenges that many IDP men face in coping with displacement, which inturn works against their capacity to participate in public life.On the other hand, many displaced women have adopted a unique approach to dealing with traumathat may have the opposite effect. According to Dr. Shelley Taylor, women’s response to stress cannotbe reduced to the traditional “fight-or-flight” stress response, because women’s stress response is morefrequently marked by a “tend-and-befriend” pattern. 289 Taylor and her team concluded that biologically,women in stress are more likely than men to assume nurturing activities and to create and maintainsocial networks in efforts to protect themselves and their children. 290 The response to stress could alsooffer one explanation for the general argument that IDP women have integrated better than men, whichin turn bodes well for their participation, at least within their families and communities.Domestic ViolenceIDP women may also face the additional trauma of being a victim of domestic violence. Women aregenerally disproportionately affected by gender-based violence compared with men. Rape and domesticviolence are underreported in Georgia, and their incidences are difficult to assess given the taboosabout coming forward as a rape victim or seeking treatment. 291 These issues relate to both the conflictitself and life in displacement. In the Abkhazian conflict in the early 1990’s, “rape was systematic andwide-spread” as a tool of ethnic cleansing on both sides of the conflict. 292 Domestic violence is also asignificant issue affecting IDP communities. Statistics on rates of domestic violence in Georgia are varied.In 2005, the Caucasus Women’s Research and Consulting Network conducted a random survey of 1,000women married for at least one year and found that “every fourth or fifth woman (22.2%) admits theyhave experienced physical abuse. And for 5.2% of women this experience was very frequent.” 293 The UNPopulation Fund conducted a wide-scale study in 2009-2010 revealing that one out of every 10 or 11women in Georgia suffers domestic violence in her lifetime. 294 These statistics, not disaggregated bydisplacement status, show that domestic violence is an issue across Georgian society.However, as domestic violence risks increase amidst conflict, displacement and unemployment, IDPwomen may also be disproportionately affected in comparison with the general population. 295 Anegative cycle arises, as the psychological impact from being displaced by conflict may result in higher288 Manana Gabashvili, Personal Interview.289 Shelley E. Taylor, Laura Cousino Klein, Brian P. Lewis, Tara L. Gruenewald,Regan A. R. Gurung, and John A. Updegraff,“Biobehavioral Responses to Stress in Females:Tend-and-Befriend, Not Fight-or-Flight,” Psychological Review 107: 3 (2000),411.290 Ibid.291 Ibid, 5292 Thomas Buck, Alice Morton, Susan Allen Nan, and Feride Zurikashvili, 5.293 United Nations Universal Periodic Review, 6.294 Ibid., 7295 Juliet Schofield, Steven Schoofs and Hema Kotecha, “Building Inclusive Governance: Women’s Political Participation inConflict-Affected Georgia,” International Alert, Nov 2010, 14.59