According to the 2025 data presented in the annual report of the Public Defender of Georgia to Parliament, the Unified Database of Socially Vulnerable Families includes 379,957 children, of whom 23,322 were registered for the first time.

The report emphasizes that poverty remains one of the main challenges in the country, negatively affecting the realization of all human rights and worsening the situation for vulnerable groups.

“In 2025, the targeted social assistance program aimed at combating poverty registered a total of 1,307,607 individuals. Among them, 463,122 received subsistence allowance nationwide. Regarding child poverty, the Unified Database of Socially Vulnerable Families recorded 379,957 children, of whom 23,322 were registered for the first time. Poverty also negatively affects the rights of the elderly. The proportion of socially vulnerable and impoverished elderly is high, making them a particularly vulnerable group,” the report states.

The document also addresses protest actions and legislation. Compared to 2024, the number of arrests and alleged mistreatment of activists during protests decreased in 2025, largely due to a reduction in the scale of demonstrations.

“The Public Defender’s representatives visited 573 individuals detained during protests. Alleged mistreatment was reported by 302 detainees, and 194 individuals suffered injuries. Among those visited, 49 were women and 2 were minors,” the report notes.

Detained individuals reported physical violence, humiliating and degrading treatment, verbal insults, excessive handcuffing, and being restrained with hands behind the back for several hours. They also mentioned disproportionate use of force by police.

“Unfortunately, in 2025, legislative restrictions on the freedom of assembly became stricter. The Public Defender challenged some legislative provisions in the Constitutional Court. Moreover, the amendments to the Organic Law on ‘Common Courts’ on June 26, 2025, negatively affected the full exercise of freedom of expression by limiting the principle of court session publicity, undermining the previous practices of transparency in justice,” the report states.

Another area of concern highlighted by the Ombudsman is gender-based murders (femicides).

“Regarding gender equality, prevention of femicides and the effective exercise of justice and law enforcement in such cases remains a challenge. In 2025, among 12 reported cases of women killed, 10 were committed by family members, and among 21 attempted murders, 9 were committed by family members. From the overall statistics, the Prosecutor’s Office officially identified 5 cases of femicide and 8 cases of attempted femicide. Unfortunately, in some cases, even with prior state knowledge of possible violence, killings or attempted killings could not be prevented,” the report notes.