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New Draft Law Envisages Mandatory Registration of Pets
Georgian Parliament has started discussions on a new draft Law on Animal Welfare which envisages mandatory registration of pets. The annual control of the pets will also be compulsory. The bill says the registration of domestic animals will be free of charge and will see them registered on a special data base. “In order to achieve this goal, along with other services, a special data base will be created on which owners have to register their domestic animals,” the explanatory part of the document reads. The draft also reads that the legislative record aims to establish a quality living environment for pets and ensure their well-being and protection. Registration of domestic animals will be mandatory from 1 month of age. If there is any change with regard to the domestic animal, re-registration should take place in a month. In case of loss of a domestic animal, the owner is obliged to notify the agency within a week. According to the authors of the draft law, it will not be permitted to bury a deceased domestic animal just anywhere: if a pet dies, the owner has to notify the agency within a week so the animal can be buried in a special area designated by the municipality, be cremated or be placed in a bio-thermal pit. The bill reads that having more than five pets may be prohibited for those living in a flat. Also, if the carer does not fulfil their obligations towards the animals, treats them severely or neglects their needs, administrative or criminal responsibility will be imposed on the owner. The draft law says that all domestic animals have the right to live in a natural environment. Their abandonment and killing (except for cases envisaged by the bill) are unacceptable. As for the welfare of animals, the draft reads that the specific needs of the animal must be satisfied by their owners: ·         Proper nutrition and water supply for pets; ·         Creation of a favorable environment for domestic animals - allocation of a sleeping place, heating and lighting if necessary; ·         Proper physical activities and walks; ·         Timely and appropriate veterinary services; ·         Establishment of appropriate sanitary-hygienic conditions for domestic animals; ·         Availability of appropriate training facilities for their domestic living and integration into a social environment. The draft law states that any person who looks after a domestic animal is responsible for their health and well-being and must take all reasonable actions to prevent the escape or loss of the animal. It is also not permissible to give a domestic animal to somebody as a reward, prize or bonus. In addition, the owner of a domestic animal is obliged to provide care for the animal in their possession as well as their babies. "It is not permissible to keep animals chained or in a closed space for a long period of time,” the draft underlines. Mistreatment of pets or violation of the rules will result in the following sanctions: ·         Use of domestic animals for conducting scientific and laboratory experiments and carrying out surgery without the purpose of veterinary treatmentshall be punishable by fine or by imprisonment for up to one year; ·         Unlawful killing of a domestic animal shall be punishable by fine or by imprisonment from one year to two years; ·         Animal training and distribution of video or photography of animal fights shall be punishable by fine or by imprisonment up to one year; ·         Betting money on pet fights or allowing usage of personal facilities or buildings for such fights shall be punishable by fine or imprisonment for up to two years; ·         Arranging, propagating or spreading of footage or photos of animal fights will be subject to a fine or imprisonment from two to three years; ·         Violation of the rules of animal living conditions will result in a fine to the amount of one fifth of the violator’s monthly income. If the violator is an official, they have to pay half of their salary to create safe conditions for the pet(s). ·         Violation of domestic animal transport rules will be subject to a fine of GEL 100;  ·         Abandoning of the pets will result in a GEL 100 fine; ·         Having more pets in one flat than allowed will be punished by GEL 300 fine; ·         Violation of pets’ health conditions will cost the owners GEL 150; Georgian Parliament starts discussions on the new draft about pets from May 17.

For Female Pleasure!
REVIEW CinéDOC-Tbilisi just ended and we thought it important to pay tribute to the amazing documentary “Female Pleasure” by Barbara Miller, screened last Sunday. It portrays five women all over the world, each part of a religious community that supresses their femininity, their identity as women, their rights, and ultimately their humanity. The film director follows these five women into their hard and exhausting fight for freedom and sexual liberation within a patriarchal society that has for long normalized these power relations.   Deborah Feldman grew up in an ultra-orthodox, Hasidic family in Brooklyn, New York. After being married to a husband she did not know and whom she had to have sexual intercourse with, she gave birth to her son. She realized that she did not want her son to be raised in such an enclosed community and decided to leave the community with him. She had to break all ties with this society and received a lot of very violent threats from her family. She re-built her life in another neighborhood of New York and bravely began a new life of her own. Leyla Hussein is a Somalese woman who experienced genital mutilation at the age of 7 because she comes from a Muslim community. She gave birth to her daughter and refused to make her undergo this atrocious practice. According to her, no girl should suffer from female genital mutilation (FGM) since everyone is responsible and master of their own body. She also condemns the practice that prevents women from ever enjoying sexual pleasure. She denounces society’s pressure that pushes people to go on with the tradition of FGM. She lives in London and fights FGM in African communities as well as in Europe. Her message is especially striking since the public faces the violence and inhumanity of such practice on little girls. It is simply off-putting and deeply revolting. Her story is moving and it is impossible to feel indifferent to it.  Rokudenashiko is a Japanese artist who creates artworks representing vaginas. She fights the demonization of female sexual organs in Japanese society. Even though pornography that objectifies women is normalized and widely spread in Japan, she was arrested by the Japanese authorities in 2014 for obscenity. Thanks to her humor and easy-going character, she is able to twist our vision of female genitals and make us reconcile with it. She breaks the taboos and makes us see the vagina as a natural, beautiful and even artistic part of the woman.   Doris Wagner comes from a Protestant-Catholic family and became a nun at 19. She was raped several times by the superior priest in the convent. She denounces the whole religious system that uses the name of god to perpetuate the patriarchal power relations of society. She relates her experience as a nun, someone to whom everything was dictated, who was not allowed to think by herself or even have feelings. She explains that the religious system in which she lived deeply depressed her and supressed her identity as a woman as well as a critical and alive human being. She finally had the courage to denounce her sexual aggressor publicly, she left the convent and is now enjoying the happiness of living with her husband and child. Vithika Yadav grew up in a traditional Hindu family in the north of India. She experienced sexual harassment and was always told to cover herself to avoid male abuse. She is the only one of her family who refused to have an arranged marriage and who was able to marry a husband for love. She created a platform promoting love, sexual education, consent and sexual pleasure for women as well as for men. The documentary cleverly treats these very sensitive subjects. It shows the imprisonment of women in the religious context as well as its other extreme in the secular one. Indeed, women are also the subject in the overwhelming presence of sexuality, pornography and sexual advertisement in the society. It objectifies them as banalized sexual beings instead of giving them the possibility to define themselves and seek their own sexual liberation. It is a sometimes heart breaking but passionate, human and instructive film to see.   For more information: https://www.femalepleasure.org/

Matador Network: Why You Need to See Tbilisi
Matador Network has dedicated an article to the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, giving reasons why it is a good idea to visit the city. The article reads that Georgia is unknown to many travelers but that it is slowly becoming a hot destination. It also says that there are a lot of activities that can be done in Tbilisi. “You can stroll in Rike Park along the Mtkvari River and watch kids play in the grass. From the park, you can take a cable car to Narikala Fortress for a sweeping view of the city. Or you can wander around in the streets of Old Town, go to the market, and eat all the food you can,” it says, adding the food is very inexpensive, and you can find good private accommodation for a few dollars a night. Moreover, traveling by taxi is also common and cheap. Another reason named in the article as to why travelers should visit Tbilisi is that the architecture there is “quirky and awesome.” “Influences from Europe, Persia, the Arab world, and Russia have shaped Georgia’s identity, resulting in one of the most unique cultures in the world,” the article reads, adding this combination of the future and the past will definitely leave an impression. For people traveling with kids, the article recommends visiting Mtatsminda Park, a big amusement park at the top of Mount Mtatsminda, at over 2,500 high and the highest point in the city. It was also a very popular public park in the USSR during the Soviet Union. The author underlines that Georgian people are very welcoming. “Georgians are some of the warmest and most welcoming people in all of Europe. Although many of them don’t understand or speak English, they’ll go out of their way to help you out,” it says. And of course, Georgian cuisine is one of the top reasons why one should visit the country, where “every meal is a feast.” “Most meals in Georgia include more food than can physically fit on the table. A must-try is khinkali, Georgian dumplings,” the article reads. In addition to this, only a two-hour drive away from Tbilisi you will find Sighnaghi, a picturesque, small town in Kakheti, the wine region of Georgia. “Sighnaghi is a cobblestoned village and the perfect place to try some of the famous Georgian qvevri wine,” reads the article.

Tbilisi International Festival of Literature May 17-21
On May 17-21, the Writer’s House of Georgia at 13 Machabeli Street, is to transform into the go-to destination for literature enthusiasts, as on these dates it will host the 5th Tbilisi International Festival of Literature (TIFL). The organizers of the festival have put a lot of effort into offering an interesting, diverse and eclectic range of events for visitors. Throughout the five days of the TIFL, bookworms will have a chance to attend presentations of both foreign and contemporary Georgian authors and literary critics, enjoy talks, poetry readings, engage in panel discussions and debate on various topics related to literature, including “What Happens to Text in Translation?”, “Is It Necessary to Declaim Poetry?” and more. Within the scope of the festival, some of the visiting authors will visit a number of educational institutions of Georgia and meet with the students of the faculty of literature and related subjects. The TIFL 2019, full of various interesting options for literature-lovers, will wrap up on May 21 with an anniversary evening marking 200 years since the birth of Walt Whitman, an American poet, within which his legacy and works will be discussed.

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