Tbilisi - In aid of International Women’s Day on 8th
March, Georgian TV channel, Rustavi2 agreed
to broadcast a live and powerful feature.
The footage of a female presenter on daytime TV show ‘Skhva Shuadge’ being verbally abused by a male producer
in the background, for making a simple mistake, makes for uncomfortable
viewing.
You can see the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=797d9JiFJls
The film, which was recorded last Thursday,
was shared more than 6000 times, and had 200,000 views. In 3 days, it became the most watched and
shared film of the month. In a small
country such as Georgia, this is a huge achievement. Rustavi2 is the country’s most viewed channel,
with 28% market share. Its weekly news
round-up show featured the initiative, with it also being covered by all the
major news sites in the country.
Baia
Dvalishvili, the film’s TV host and actress said: “Don’t ignore the
violence. This is happening every minute, every second. We can hear it behind the walls, we see it, we
are looking at it everyday. Let’s hope,
that this will end someday.”
"According
to statistics, every 3rd woman in Georgia experiences domestic violence. But no one does anything about the problem.
Sometimes people even think that women deserve it. We are very proud that our idea initiated so
much society discussion and might become the first step to change," said
Anton Demakov, ECD Saatchi & Saatchi Georgia.
The problem of domestic violence is still ignored
in some countries, Georgia included. The
objective of this campaign is to urge people not to turn away and ignore the
issue anymore. The need to face the problem
and deal with the problem must be addressed.