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ARMENIAN WOMEN'S GROUPS SEEK INCREASED PENALTY FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE
Trust Law (trust.org)
http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/armenian-womens-groups-seek-increased-penalty-for-sexual-assault-and-rape
May 17 2011
Source: trustlaw // Courtney Harvey
NEW YORK (TrustLaw)--In May 2010, Levon Avagian, a teacher at
Nubarashen special needs school in Armenia, was convicted of sexually
abusing five students who were minors. Originally sentenced to two
years in prison, Avagian's sentence was increased by the Court of
Appeals to the full three year maximum sentence allowed by Armenian
law. Armenian women's rights advocates now seek to increase this
penalty and make other amendments to Armenia's laws related to sexual
assault and rape.
In response to the high profile Nubarashen case, the Women's Resource
Center Armenia organized a special working group of experts in June
2010 to draft amendments to the Armenian criminal code to ensure rape
and sexual assault are classified and punished on the same level as
other serious crimes.
'We were supporting the victims and ensuring civil society's
involvement and media coverage of the (Nubarashen) trial to make
sure that everything would be fair. At the end the perpetrator got
three years which was the maximum based on the law. So the problem
was also the weakness of the law, and it needed to be changed,' Lara
Aharonian, co-founder of the Women's Resource Center Armenia (WRCA),
told TrustLaw.
Photo talen on April 13, 2011 when the Women's Resource Center Armenia
held a press conference in Yerevan to discuss their work to amend
the Criminal Code. By Tamar Sarkissian.
Aharonian calls Armenia's laws on sexual assault and rape "weak"
in comparison to other countries in the region and believes they are
'inherited from the Soviet regime." If the amendments currently in
circulation in parliament pass, it will mark the first change in
Armenia's laws on sexual violence.
Aharonian believes the amendments stand a high chance of succeeding
due to strong support "among civil society, particularly NGOs working
in children's rights, trafficking and women's rights, and among
politicians as well."
One challenge the legislation could face concerns amendments addressing
the age of minors. The amendments divide the section dealing with
minors into two parts handling children under the age of 14 and over
the age of 14 in different ways. There already have been questions
raised about how to address cultural factors such as the age of
marriage among minority groups in light of the proposed changes.
For those advocating for the amendments, this is only the first step
in revising the Armenian criminal code. In addition to weak penalties
for sexual violence, Armenia has no laws explicitly addressing domestic
violence or even addressing gender-based discrimination.
"It's an important step toward gender-sensitive legal reform and
a step toward greater awareness of justice and rights issues in
Armenia." says Aharonian. While there is more to be done, she hopes the
amendments will 'give confidence to women to report (sexual violence)
and go forward with legal procedures since sanctions will be stronger
compared to the old law where a perpetrator could end up paying just
a fine or face just a couple of years in prison.'
Key changes proposed by amendments:
- Classifies sexual violence/assault as grave crimes, enabling
sanctions envisaged in Articles 140, 141 and 142; the RA Criminal Code
(chapter 18 on sexual violence/assault) to be realised, adding up
to 15 years imprisonment depending on circumstances and making the
concealment of the crimes punishable.
-Removes "fine" as a method of punishment for rape.
- Adds aggravating conditions to offenses. For example, the old law
didn't take into consideration the number of victims or number of
offenses on the same victim; it was all treated equally as if the
offense was against one person. These factors would be taken into
consideration along with other conditions, such as if a woman is
pregnant and if there is use of a weapon,
- Removes the term "consent" if the victim is underage. A child
cannot give consent even if there is no apparent "physical violence"
committed.
-Revokes guardianship rights immediately if the alleged perpetrator
is a parent.
Background: Women's Resource Center Armenia
In 2003, the then 30-year-old Lara Aharonian co-founded the Women's
Resource Center Armenia with two local friends to "create a safe
space for women in Armenia to gather and voice their concerns and
issues and collectively find solutions to obstacles faced by women
in order to advance in society and make decisions for themselves."
The WCRA is the first resource center created in post-Soviet Armenia
for young women. Now with more than 300 members in Yerevan and a
sister branch in Shushi, the conflict zone of Nagorno-Karabakh, it
works in the areas of women's human rights, reproductive and sexual
rights, sexual violence and women's role in conflict resolution and
peace building in the region of the South Caucasus.
The work of the WCRA on amending Armenia's criminal code is part of a
larger project funded by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry that gave the
WCRA three years of funding for their sexual assault crisis center,
whose needs outgrew its volunteer staff.
Beyond running a hotline for sexual assault survivors, the center
also runs a national awareness campaign that seeks to better define
sexual violence, works to establish preventive activities for different
institutions and supports vulnerable groups.
From: A. Papazian
Trust Law (trust.org)
http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/armenian-womens-groups-seek-increased-penalty-for-sexual-assault-and-rape
May 17 2011
Source: trustlaw // Courtney Harvey
NEW YORK (TrustLaw)--In May 2010, Levon Avagian, a teacher at
Nubarashen special needs school in Armenia, was convicted of sexually
abusing five students who were minors. Originally sentenced to two
years in prison, Avagian's sentence was increased by the Court of
Appeals to the full three year maximum sentence allowed by Armenian
law. Armenian women's rights advocates now seek to increase this
penalty and make other amendments to Armenia's laws related to sexual
assault and rape.
In response to the high profile Nubarashen case, the Women's Resource
Center Armenia organized a special working group of experts in June
2010 to draft amendments to the Armenian criminal code to ensure rape
and sexual assault are classified and punished on the same level as
other serious crimes.
'We were supporting the victims and ensuring civil society's
involvement and media coverage of the (Nubarashen) trial to make
sure that everything would be fair. At the end the perpetrator got
three years which was the maximum based on the law. So the problem
was also the weakness of the law, and it needed to be changed,' Lara
Aharonian, co-founder of the Women's Resource Center Armenia (WRCA),
told TrustLaw.
Photo talen on April 13, 2011 when the Women's Resource Center Armenia
held a press conference in Yerevan to discuss their work to amend
the Criminal Code. By Tamar Sarkissian.
Aharonian calls Armenia's laws on sexual assault and rape "weak"
in comparison to other countries in the region and believes they are
'inherited from the Soviet regime." If the amendments currently in
circulation in parliament pass, it will mark the first change in
Armenia's laws on sexual violence.
Aharonian believes the amendments stand a high chance of succeeding
due to strong support "among civil society, particularly NGOs working
in children's rights, trafficking and women's rights, and among
politicians as well."
One challenge the legislation could face concerns amendments addressing
the age of minors. The amendments divide the section dealing with
minors into two parts handling children under the age of 14 and over
the age of 14 in different ways. There already have been questions
raised about how to address cultural factors such as the age of
marriage among minority groups in light of the proposed changes.
For those advocating for the amendments, this is only the first step
in revising the Armenian criminal code. In addition to weak penalties
for sexual violence, Armenia has no laws explicitly addressing domestic
violence or even addressing gender-based discrimination.
"It's an important step toward gender-sensitive legal reform and
a step toward greater awareness of justice and rights issues in
Armenia." says Aharonian. While there is more to be done, she hopes the
amendments will 'give confidence to women to report (sexual violence)
and go forward with legal procedures since sanctions will be stronger
compared to the old law where a perpetrator could end up paying just
a fine or face just a couple of years in prison.'
Key changes proposed by amendments:
- Classifies sexual violence/assault as grave crimes, enabling
sanctions envisaged in Articles 140, 141 and 142; the RA Criminal Code
(chapter 18 on sexual violence/assault) to be realised, adding up
to 15 years imprisonment depending on circumstances and making the
concealment of the crimes punishable.
-Removes "fine" as a method of punishment for rape.
- Adds aggravating conditions to offenses. For example, the old law
didn't take into consideration the number of victims or number of
offenses on the same victim; it was all treated equally as if the
offense was against one person. These factors would be taken into
consideration along with other conditions, such as if a woman is
pregnant and if there is use of a weapon,
- Removes the term "consent" if the victim is underage. A child
cannot give consent even if there is no apparent "physical violence"
committed.
-Revokes guardianship rights immediately if the alleged perpetrator
is a parent.
Background: Women's Resource Center Armenia
In 2003, the then 30-year-old Lara Aharonian co-founded the Women's
Resource Center Armenia with two local friends to "create a safe
space for women in Armenia to gather and voice their concerns and
issues and collectively find solutions to obstacles faced by women
in order to advance in society and make decisions for themselves."
The WCRA is the first resource center created in post-Soviet Armenia
for young women. Now with more than 300 members in Yerevan and a
sister branch in Shushi, the conflict zone of Nagorno-Karabakh, it
works in the areas of women's human rights, reproductive and sexual
rights, sexual violence and women's role in conflict resolution and
peace building in the region of the South Caucasus.
The work of the WCRA on amending Armenia's criminal code is part of a
larger project funded by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry that gave the
WCRA three years of funding for their sexual assault crisis center,
whose needs outgrew its volunteer staff.
Beyond running a hotline for sexual assault survivors, the center
also runs a national awareness campaign that seeks to better define
sexual violence, works to establish preventive activities for different
institutions and supports vulnerable groups.
From: A. Papazian