Front Line Defenders – This is the name of an international organization that protects human rights defenders around the world. Every two years, the organization convenes a conference called Dublin Platform. At the conference over a hundred human rights defenders are invited from around the world. At the conferences discussed are the risks and challenges that human rights activists / defenders face in their activity.

In 2017, the head of “Sapari” Baia Pataraia was invited to the conference held on 17-19 October. She delivered a speech on one of the expert panels dedicated to the “assessment and prevention of gender-based risks”. She spoke about the specific problems that female human rights defenders face in Georgia. The report emphasized the forms of psychological pressure and threats that female human rights advocates/ defenders most often experience from various organized groups.

Also discussed was the situation in the NGO sector in Georgia, namely the problem NGOs often being referred to as “grant-eaters”, “undermining” organizations and “foreign agents”, which is directly associated with Russian propaganda in Georgia. Apart from  human rights defenders, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, EU Special Representative for Human Rights and Irish Foreign Minister had their speeches at the conference.

On October 19, a protest rally will take place at the Turkish Embassy in Dublin. The action will be dedicated to the ten human rights defenders detained in Turkey who are charged with  terrorism by Turkish government.