Baia Pataraia
Baia Pataraia is a human rights defender and lawyer focusing on women’s rights in Georgia. She is the founder of the Georgian Women’s Movement, an informal social initiative group composed of more than 700 women activists.
Baia Pataraia is also the Executive Director of Union “Sapari”, a leading women’s rights organisation in Georgia. The organization was founded in 2001 to combat domestic and gender-based violence through lobbying, legislation and advocacy. Since its inception, Union “Sapari” has provided legal and rehabilitation services to hundreds of victims of gender-based and domestic violence. Since 2013, the organisation has also extended its work to women’s political empowerment and fight against gender discrimination.
Baia Pataraia has co-authored a number of reviews and recommendations about the progress of women’s rights in Georgia which were used in strategic advocacy on national and international levels.
Human rights defenders in Georgia are often subjected to physical attacks, threats and insults, defamation, and slander. In most cases, these forms of intimidation are levelled against those who protect and promote the rights of migrants and members of national, religious, or sexual minorities, as well as those working on politically sensitive cases and in remote areas where they have almost no opportunities for protection.
