National Research on Domestic Violence Against Women in

a) Understanding of the concept of violence by womenand men (perceptions and attitudes, experiences andcoping strategies);b) Identifying the personal, institutional and culturalpeculiarities of gender-based violence in Georgiac) Identifying country-specific features in order to developpolicies for combating gender-based violence.The qualitative data was collected in focus group discussionsand in-depth interviews, as well as two participantobservations. The training for the qualitative researchpart was designed specifically for more qualified graduatestudents in gender studies from Tbilisi State University.Graduate students already had sufficient experiencein fieldwork on gender related issues and were atthe stage of masters’ thesis writing. During there studiesat masters course students were trained in research ethicsas well as sensitivity matters of the issue and subjectsof domestic violence. The training for the qualitative researchwas given in May 2009 and covered qualitativeresearch methodology and guidelines for interviewingand each topic was discussed during the interactivetraining process. All training was built on role play – oneinterviewer, one respondent and a group of observers.At the end of interview each party shared their thoughtsand identified weaknesses in questions or interviewers’conduct. There was not any specific training for thefocus group moderator as the experienced academic(TSU professor) was the only moderator for all 10 focusgroups. The qualitative methodology was used to collectthe data in in Samtskhe-Javakheti region within theframes of UNIFEM-administered UN Trust Fund to EndViolence Against Women funded Project “Interdepartmentaland Public Measures for Elimination of FamilyViolence in Georgia”. The following organizations:Women’s Information Center, International AdvisoryCenter for Education of Women, Democrat Women’s Organization,Women’s Hope and “Dynamic Psychology forDevelopment and Democracy” took part in the project.Within the above mentioned project 4 focus groups and9 in-depth interviews were conducted. 6 Interviewers,representatives of NGO Women’s Information Center,who have the experience working with severe abusedwomen, were trained with masters’ students of GenderStudies. The collected material was analyzed with UN-FPA survey data, 7Focus groups:Data collected within the focus group aimed to collectfirst-hand information about the underlying differencesbetween men’s and women’s of understanding of violence,practices of domestic violence, experiences ofparticipants, their perception and coping strategies towardsviolence and their evaluation and vision about theservices provided to the victims of domestic violence.Group composition:• Women – three groups. Selection criteria: rural (2)and urban (1), age 35-59, vocational or higher education,employed and currently unemployed (whohad been working but have been unemployed for atleast five years).• Men – three groups. Selection criteria: rural (2) andurban (1), age 35-59, vocational or higher education,employed and currently unemployed (who had beenworking but have been unemployed for at least fiveyears).• Experts in domestic violence – three groups. Selectioncriteria: Governmental and international NGOrepresentatives, policy makers (1), local NGO leadersand policy makers, women activists (2).• Service providers - three groups. Selection criteria:professionals – medical doctors, psychologists, socialworkers, social agents, lawyers working with victimsin various settings• Police officers and penitential system officials – twogroups. Selection criteria: police who work on issuesof domestic violence; penitential system personnelwho work with women in detention due toviolent behaviour which resulted from domestic violence.It should be emphasized that the questions for discussionwere slightly modified based on the focus groupcategory. 86. Overall 14 focus groups and 34 in-depth interviews were analyzed.Anallysis of qualitative research see chapter 7.7. Moderator for the focus groups in Samtskhe-Javekheti was thesame academic who lead the all 10 focus groups in UNFPA survey2009.and two employees of NGO Women Infrmation Center werecollecting interviews .8. Detailed description for topics in focus group discussion see annex 4.NATIONAL RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN GEORGIA27