Sexist Hate Speech and Homophobia - Amid 2024 Parliamentary Elections

The instrumentalization and political use of gender and sexual orientation has emerged as a particularly pressing issue in recent years. While in previous years public opinion on these topics was mainly manipulated by pro-Kremlin and far-right actors, recently, the Georgian government has been attempting to mainstream this rhetoric. This effort is not limited to rights-opposing discourse alone. As a result of government-initiated legislative changes, the term "gender” has been removed1 from the legislation, and a newly adopted law under the pretext of protecting family values aims to restrict the freedom of expression of LGBTQ+ individuals.

The aim of the following study was to examine sexist and homophobic hate speech and its sources, as well as the targets of these attacks, in the context of the 2024 parliamentary elections.

The report covers the pre-election and post-election period (July 1 – November 30) and is not limited solely to political actors participating in the election or election-related topics.

The first part of the report reviews the general quantitative data on sexist and homophobic hate speech. The second part includes a qualitative analysis of sexist hate speech alongside the quantitative data. The third part presents both the quantitative and qualitative data related to discrimination based on homophobia.

Author: Tinatin Gogoladze

Editor: Tamar Kintsurashvili

Media monitoring by: Sopho Chkhaidze, Mariam Kavtaradze, Sopho Gogadze, Lika Matcharadze, Gvantsa Seturidze, Salome Norakidze, Natia Alavidze

Design: Mariam Tsutskiridze

Cover photo: SHUTTERSTOCK, valiantsin suprunovich

link: Sexist Hate Speech and Homophobia - Amid 2024 Parliamentary Elections