This is also due to the fact that transgender persons avoid seeking medical help, choose to present as cisgender men or women during the necessary visits, and some of them avoid starting transition or changing their name in their documents. Transgender men who are undergoing hormone therapy without medical supervision (due to financial constraints, but also for fear of discrimination) are, on the other hand, changing their name in their documents, saying that sometimes operators in different fields, such as banks, customs, etc., simply ignore their gender marker. The cases of discrimination known to us are perpetrated mostly by private individuals and companies. We currently have one case of discrimination (two transgender women denied service by a cab driver due to their gender identity) submitted to the Public Defender’s Office. Prevention of, as well as adequate reaction to, hate crimes still remains a problem in Georgia. Violence against transgender persons (especially trans women) is widespread. Throughout 2016, WISG documented around 20 cases of attacks on transgender persons. The severity ranged from physical assault to attempted murder. WISG’s observation is that, in 2016, attacks on transgender sex workers, as well as their illegal detention, became more prevalent. It has been observed that the police are not responding to hate crimes perpetrated against trans women sex workers. During such incidents, both perpetrators and victims are detained and charged with petty hooliganism. In court, however, the charges against transgender women are dropped because the prosecutors cannot provide proof of the charges. One such case made it to the report of the Public Defender of Georgia (N7216/16)9. According to the Ombudsman’s report, a trans woman called the police to report a violent attack on several transgender women in a cruising area, however, the police did not take this call seriously and used transphobic slurs against the survivors of the attack. This case 9 Ombudsman’s Office of Georgia: Special Report on Equality and Prevention of Discrimination in Georgia, 2016 http://www.ombudsman. ge/uploads/other/3/3966.pdf