Baia Pataraia (Georgian: ბაია პატარაია; born 1982) is a leading feminist activist and human rights lawyer in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. She is the director of the women's rights organization Sapari.

Early life and education

Baia Pataraia was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

in 1982. She studied international law and economics at

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი ''Ivane Javaxishvi ...

, graduating in 2004, then obtained a master's degree in human rights law from

Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social sciences and ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

in 2006.

Career and activism

Beginning in 2008, Pataraia became a visiting lecturer at Tbilisi State University and the

Free University of Tbilisi Free University ( ka, თავისუფალი უნივერსიტეტი) is a private research university in Tbilisi, Georgia, founded by Kakha Bendukidze, Georgian statesman, businessman and philanthropist often regarded as the ...

. She worked in the

Ministry of Justice of Georgia The Ministry of Justice of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს იუსტიციის სამინისტრო, ''sakartvelos iustitsiis saministro'') is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Georgia in charge of regu ...

from 2009 to 2013. While there, she helped draft the new law Article 126, which formally defined the crime of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

in Georgia. Her work also included ensuring that

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

was covered by the Law on Gender Equality. She eventually left government to focus on activism full-time. While working to help rehabilitate torture victims in 2007, she was recruited by the feminist activist Natalia Zazashvili to join Sapari, a nascent human rights organization in Georgia. Sapari initially focused on helping women facing domestic violence. She would go on to become the organization's director, and its mission would expand to include fighting for women's political empowerment and against discrimination. Pataraia has been heavily involved as a leader in her country's

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

movement since 2012, when she began organizing with the Independent Group of Feminists. By her own account, early activists in Georgia did not explicitly describe themselves as "feminists," but that changed in the early 2010s. In 2014, she led a national campaign against

femicide Femicide or feminicide is a hate crime which is broadly defined as "the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female," but definitions of it vary depending on cultural context. In 1976, the feminist author Diana E. H. Russel ...

in response to an apparent spike in domestic violence. She is also the chair of Human Rights House Tbilisi and the founder of the semi-formal Georgian Women’s Movement. Critics have questioned Pataraia's independence as an activist due to her prior work in the federal government, but she argues this experience has made her a more effective advocate. She has also been the target of death threats and street harassment for her work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pataraia, Baia 1982 births People from Tbilisi Women lawyers from Georgia (country) Women's rights activists from Georgia (country) Feminists from Georgia (country) Living people