Transgender Activist Got Attacked in Tbilisi

On 28^th of January, a transgender woman and an activist of Equality Movement, Miranda Pagava was insulted and physically assaulted by a stranger in Tbilisi. Perpetrator was using homophobic and transphobic hate speech while physically assaulting Miranda. Incident started with conversation, when perpetrator complimented the victim and asked her to follow him. Miranda ignored the request and went to the nearest shop. Stranger followed her and once he found out that Miranda was a transgender woman, he started insulting her and stalked her while she was trying to escape. The victim had an attempt to get rid of the perpetrator by using pepper spray, however, she failed to hit the mark and as the result perpetrator started beating her with a blunt item. Taxi driver managed to stop the perpetrator and Miranda managed to escape.

Investigation has started and Lawyers of Equality Movement and Women’s Rights Organisation – Sapari are representing the interests of Miranda Pagava. Equality Movement urges the Ministry of Internal Affairs to draw attention to the explicit transphobic grounds of the crime. Transgender women are the most marginalized group in the society and they are frequently abused on the grounds of gender identity. Therefore, we hope that Government of Georgia will create effective policy for reacting to hate crimes, including by setting up an independent, effective and human rights oriented mechanism of investigation.