“Lazy”, “shameless”, “don’t you have a mirror at home?!”, “unwomanly”, “the embodiment of ugliness”, “slut”, “crazy”, “stupid goose”, “b*tch”, “peasant”, “faggot”, “LGBT goat”, “worked up doll”, “smelly feces”, “just whimpering”, is not even a full list of the insults people commented on the video by the politician Teona Chalidze. A number of the trolls and bots was high among the authors of the remarks, but there also were actual people among them.
Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
Teona tells us that she has repeatedly been the target of organized attacks by troll bots affiliated with government groups. The comments mainly concerned the degradation of her appearance, tone of her voice, visual or other characteristics.
“Georgian Dream uses a number of methods to create an uncomfortable and hostile environment for women in politics. The repeal of the gender quota law is a clear example of this, which has already had its negative consequences. If we look at the Georgian Dream party itself or the various branches of the government, women are also exemplarily absent from their ranks. And towards opposition female politicians, sexist, hateful language is often heard from them.”
Multiple studies by Meta and the Atlantic Council’s Digital Investigative Research Lab have confirmed political party connections to inauthentic accounts that, among others, attack, insult, and incite hatred against women and queers. Based on the studies, we can say that the Georgian Dream and its associated propaganda channels and Facebook platforms have been the most active in this direction in recent years.
According to Teona, in addition to the fact that women have faced greater aggression during the continuous protests, after the parliamentary elections, there is a critical situation for female politicians in the parties. In addition to solving everyday problems, permanent rallies, court proceedings, inquiries in investigative agencies, and young children require a significant amount of time and energy. Financial or other crises have a doubly negative impact on the personal and political lives of female politicians. The stressful environment also affects the psycho-emotional state and requires certain actions for stability.
“I have repeatedly been the target of verbal abuse at protests by so-called law enforcement officers. I have not been recognized as a victim, but it is a fact and there is video evidence at the Special Investigation Service of a disguised police officer hitting me with all his might in the face on December 4, in Freedom Square. It is tragic that journalist Mzia Amaglobeli is in prison precisely for slapping a police officer.”
Teona’s example is not the only one. Various methods are used to discredit women and exclude them from the political field both internationally and in our reality. Appearance, competence, or personal life in the case of female politicians often become both the subject of public judgment and the target of disinformation. Among them is gender disinformation, that is, discrediting them due to identity, which the Georgian Dream and its related groups actively use against women and LGBTQ+ people.
The NGO Sapari, in a study published in 2024 — “Gender Disinformation Against Women Politicians,” offers the following definition of this term:
“Gender disinformation typically belittles women’s intellectual abilities and aims to exclude women from public life and decision-making positions in politics. It attempts to portray publicly active women as stupid, immoral, deceitful, and weak. This strategy significantly harms women and prevents them from holding positions of power.”
“They’re creating a narrative that these women don’t deserve solidarity, they don’t deserve respect…”
Ani Kavtaradze is a doctor by profession, an anesthesiologist-resuscitator. She has been actively involved in politics for a year now. Ani is a member of the New Party and is one of the women who became the target of verbal abuse and sexist language from the police forces during a protest on Agmashenebeli Avenue on February 2. In addition to be called a “100 GEL women“, these were the shouts that the black-uniformed people addressed to the women participating in the protest.
Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
“The man cursed at me in front of you, he cursed at a mother of three children, he cursed at an anesthesiologist-resuscitator with 17 years of experience. I treated guys like you in 2008,” — these are the words Ani addressed to the police officer in response to the curse. This address spread on social networks. Ani connects the popularity of the video with the fact that they began to search for “compromising” footage against her.
“They found a video where I am with my young child, feeding her porridge and entertaining her with rally chants. I say: “Fire to the oligarchy”, “If there is be no justice, there will be no peace” – the child is happy and eating porridge, we have a fun morning. This video was actually posted on Nika Gvaramia’s page three weeks earlier. It seems that in the end they could not find anything that would belittle me in their eyes as a woman, a mother, or as a politician and a socially active person. They used this footage to show their electorate — “this is the kind of a mother she is”. In the comments, trolls and bots became active with common messages that we should take away motherhood, what does this woman teach, doesn’t she know fairy tales to tell her child?! Didn’t she read the book, etc.”
Ani tells us that the video was shared on propaganda sites, and in some places the young child’s face was not even covered. She believes that this video was used to discredit her as a person who talks to police officers about the August 2008 war, about heroes, and is fighting the Georgian Dream’s policies. Ani connects these methods of disinformation to the struggle of women against the regime.
“They create a narrative that these women don’t deserve solidarity, they don’t deserve respect, they don’t deserve to be supported and empathized with, and they deserve what they get. In fact, they [Georgian Dream] have undermined the values on which they have built everything.”
Over the past years, violence against protestors has intensified. The main means of justifying the use of illegitimate and disproportionate force and violence has become disinformation and propaganda. This was the case in the spring, when the Russian law was adopted, and it is still the case today, amid ongoing protests. For example, the day after the police used abusive and sexist language against female protesters, on February 3, Mamuka Mdinaradze made a statement in which he blamed women and tried to justify the aggression of the black-masked protesters, as well as voiced sexist and discriminatory messages:
“Young women are especially active in the protests. I don’t know what the phenomenon is. No man is doing something like this, which several young women are doing. For some reason, women in the National Movement bubble are more active than men — through the practice they learned in trainings. When you answer, that’s when they remember their homeland — before that, they spoke such disgusting words, it’s unimaginable coming from a woman’s mouth.”
Gender Disinformation During the Pre-election Period
Nukri Tabidze and Keti Murghulia investigated gender and identity-based disinformation spread in the media during the 2024 election period. The document discusses disinformation against female politicians and activists, as well as the homophobic discourse of the Georgian Dream.
The research makes it clear that in recent years, the main author of disinformation has been the Georgian Dream, and the main sources of its dissemination have been government media and related social platforms.
The main focus of the Georgian Dream’s pre-election campaign, in addition to anti-Western narratives, was gender disinformation. According to the study, due to gender stereotypes, misogyny, and homophobia prevalent in society, women and LGBTQ+ people became “easy targets” in the Georgian Dream’s pre-election campaigns to consolidate or gain power.
The study discusses disinformation tactics against specific female politicians:
Salome Zurabishvili
Along with the Georgian Dream, Imedi TV, POSTV, as well as violent, far-right leaders, were actively involved in the campaign to discredit President Zurabishvili through conspiracy theories, hate speech, and other methods of disinformation.
“Imedi TV journalists and Georgian Dream politicians use sexist language against the president, which aims to diminish her intellectual abilities and criticize her based on appearance and moral criteria. For example, in the Imedi Live program on March 7, they point to Zurabishvili’s attempt to “pull up” the “low-ranking parties” of the opposition using high heels. In the same program, their guest, Georgian Dream Deputy Chairman Giorgi Tsagareishvili, quotes the “Dream” MP Sarjveladze and calls the president “a coquette,” the study notes.
The document states that Salome Zurabishvili is accused by the leaders of the Georgian Dream of “treason” and “support for radical forces.” She is portrayed as a controlled political actor. During the research period, journalists from Imedi TV also used sexist language against Zurabishvili, which serves to diminish her intellectual abilities and criticize her based on her appearance and moral criteria.
Elene Khoshtaria
During the research period, the leader of the political party It’s Time, Elene Khoshtaria, was targeted by both the TV company Imedi, pro-government online media, Facebook pages, and far-right groups. In addition to the use of conspiracy theories and rumors against her, there were also attempts to discredit her on the grounds of gender expression. Specifically, a photo manipulation was spread, where Elene Khoshtaria is depicted as a masculine-looking driver.
“The photo manipulation was spread with mocking captions on various Facebook pages, such as, for example, “Ar Agarevinebt”, which is associated with the leader of the far-right platform “Georgia First”, Vato Shakarashvili, and is distinguished by its anti-Western, anti-liberal content. Far-right pages quickly picked up on this photo manipulation and reshared it. “Wow, guys, Makho (common male name in Georgia) has arrived” — this is the title of the photo manipulation that was spread on far-right Facebook pages: “Politicians from 1 GEL”, “Media Free from Conscience” and “ Ironews”. The mentioned pages are characterized by anti-liberal and anti-gender content and, in turn, are associated with Bakur Svanidze, who in the past actively conducted a media campaign in support of the openly pro-Russian political party, the Alliance of Patriots”, — We read in the document.
Tina Bokuchava
Another strategy of gender disinformation, less visible to the unobservant eye, is the objectification and sexualization of women. The study defines objectification as the situation when women are equated with inanimate objects or presented as subordinate, agencyless objects that, as a rule, carry out the orders of men. For example, the document cites a case when Nino Tsilosani said about Tina Bokuchava: “An emotional hostage of her own leader — Mikheil Saakashvili.” Tamar Chiburdanidze made the following statement: “They replaced a dumb man with a beautiful doll, that’s all.”
The investigation also mentions an example of sexualization regarding Tina Bokuchava — on August 7, a video manipulation with disinformation content was spread on the Facebook page “Time for Truth”.
“The video fragment begins with the question: Misha (the ex-president and leader of the National Movement) or your husband? To which Tina Bokuchava responds: “It’s not easy, because I love both of them very much.” It is noteworthy that the video in question is edited and aims to degrade the politician with sexual or degrading indicators. In the authentic version of the video, instead of asking Tina Bokuchava “Misha or your husband,” they actually ask her — “Mtsvadi or Khashlama,” (Georgian dishes) to which Tina Bokuchava responds that she loves both of them very much, but still, mtsvadi.”
Salome Samadashvili
Another example of disinformation that the document discusses was shared by Natia Beridze, a journalist for the pro-government POSTV television station, on May 13. The video shows Salome Samadashvili, one of the leaders of Lelo, applying lipstick. Natia Beridze attached the following false information to the video: “While people who did not sleep all night were outside in the rain, and a session was going on in the parliament, she was putting on makeup and entered late. See how much they really care about the people outside and the law inside.”
The study specifies that the video, which was aimed at discrediting Samadashvili, was filmed and published from the court hearing of Lelo member Irakli Kupradze. On May 13, Salome Samadashvili was in the parliament building, but was unable to attend the hearing due to delays by the police.
“Samadashvili’s discrediting is done by pedaling misogyny — the authors of the disinformation are trying to banish women and feminine expression from the public and political space. To this end, women’s appearance and any action (in this case, applying lipstick) are portrayed as frivolous and inappropriate behavior for a politician,” the study authors write.
Salome Samadashvili has been in politics for many years. She has been a member of the Georgian parliament of three convocations. In an interview with Aprili Media, she noted that the role of female opposition leaders was prominent in the 2020 parliament.
“When the Russian law was first introduced and afterwards, the composition of opposition women was such in terms of both competence and fighting ability that we were creating the political weather. Accordingly, in the last convocation (2020) aggression and pressure on female politicians increased in the parliament, because I think we were creating problems for them,” Salome Samadashvili tells us.
She recalls that the ruling party did not confront women with anything as a counterweight to intelligence, and did not resort to beating women, so they confronted them more from a moral point of view. According to Salome Samadashvili, pressure on women through personal life is the signature of Ivanishvili’s regime, and he also used this method against his former teammate.
“In general, our society is somehow more demanding of women and there is a double standard. Women are much more exposed to criticism, they are constantly evaluated not according to their professional abilities or intellectual abilities, but rather on their appearance… For example, I and other female politicians are often the targets of hate speech regarding their appearance or dress — this is more pronounced in the case of female politicians.”
Salome Samadashvili also discusses the situation where social norms and stereotypes prevent women from understanding and becoming aware of the discriminatory environment. That is why changes in education are important so that women believe in their own strength and double standards are eliminated.
Forms of Exclusion of Women from Politics
“A female politician becomes a target when she becomes a ‘factor, a problem’, that is, she is not under control and it is necessary to make this woman passive, stop and neutralize her. And if the woman herself has not become passive, then they try to make society’s attitudes towards her negative so that she loses influence as a politician,” — say female politicians and journalists in a study conducted by Sapari in 2024.
The document specifies that gender disinformation has been observed in Georgia for two years, the targets of which are mainly female politicians, activists, journalists, and human rights defenders. Respondents participating in the study name the disinformation as aimed at discrediting women, silencing them, exerting psychological influence, and attempting to exclude women from the public and political arena.
The female politicians interviewed cite another purpose of disinformation: revenge and political destruction. This effect is often achieved against female politicians by spreading disinformation related to their personal lives — this is the method that can have a “devastating effect.”
Common forms of exclusion of women from politics include:
- “Man’s shadow” – when information about a female politician’s statements or actions is disseminated as if she is doing so on the instructions of a man.
“When discussing the work of female politicians, they often look for the men behind them as taskmasters. They noted that this role is often taken to include male party leaders, but in some cases, it can also be a male family member, such as a husband, father, uncle.”
- Gaslighting is a form of manipulation that forces people to doubt their own perceptions and reality.
“Women politicians report that gaslighting is a big problem early in their careers. One respondent recalls that at first they were told to be calm and that they had to be too emotional to succeed, and later on, they told her how moderate she used to be, and that she was becoming radical.”
- Radiation — It is especially painful for female politicians when disinformation affects their own family members and they are unable to protect them from the harmful effects of disinformation.
“One female politician recalls disinformation about her child: ‘[My child] told me to protect her. I remember hearing this phrase all the time, ‘protect me with something’… There were also cases when a teacher bullied a child based on disinformation… a case where a ten-year-old child was beefed with and the child developed a fever due to nervousness.”
In the study, respondents also talk about the consequences of gender misinformation on their physical and mental health. Female politicians unanimously say that the most important thing for them is to express solidarity. They note that an attack on a particular female politician is an attack not on one, but on all women. They consider it important to express solidarity both from colleagues and from women’s groups.
The Sapari study revealed that a systematic approach to combating gender disinformation is through education. The respondents to the study believe that gender disinformation works effectively due to the existence of gender stereotypes and that the solution is to combat these stereotypes. However, in the context where the Georgian Dream is trying to introduce anti-European and anti-democratic legislation in order to maintain power, while at the same time erasing the word “gender” from the legislative space, it is perhaps not surprising that it does nothing against disinformation and, specifically, gender disinformation. Moreover, this method remains one of the essential tools of the Georgian Dream to gain and maintain power and, in parallel with continuous protests, even to justify police violence.
The material was prepared in collaboration with the Women’s Fund.