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TRADITION V. CHANGE: OPPONENTS OF GENDER LAW SAY "EQUAL RIGHTS" THREATENS THE NATION
http://www.armenianow.com/news/49256/armenia_gender_issues_equal_rights_domestic_violen ce
NEWS | 16.10.13 | 15:44
Photolure
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
The bill on equal rights and opportunities for men and women passed
months ago by the parliament of Armenia keeps being a subject of
controversy and discontent among traditionalists as Wednesday a group
of NGOs and clergymen went on a march of protest demanding to annul
the law.
With slogans "the Armenian nation against the law on gender", "Gender
law is a threat to Armenian families, we won't let you ruin Armenian
families", "Let us save children from gender perversion" and the like,
some three hundred protestors marched from Alexander Tamanyan statue,
downtown Yerevan, to the government building, where they handed a
letter to the members of the government with 3,500 signatures in
favor of annulling the law.
The word 'gender' was removed from the law adopted in May of 2013 and
verified by the president under public pressure and was replaced by
'equal rights and opportunities for men and women'. Protest initiators
claim that the law "undermines the foundation of traditional Armenian
families, on which the Armenian nation has been able to survive
thousands of years".
Haykanush Aloyan, member of "No to the Law on Gender Equality "
initiative, says the law has to be declared anti-constitutional
as it contradicts a number of provisions of the family code of the
Constitution of Armenia.
"The negative consequences of the gender policy against which European
peoples are fighting, will shortly reach Armenia, if today that law is
not declared anti-constitutional," he says, adding that their struggle
will be consistent till they achieve what they are fighting for.
Meanwhile, Women's Support Center NGO director Maro Matosyan told
ArmeniaNow that Armenia, on the contrary, is greatly in need of such
law to break "the powerful gender dogmas".
"The law says absolutely nothing about homosexuality or any sexual
orientation, it is only about equality between men and women, the
lack of which leads to domestic violence in our families and that
violence is what ends up destroying the family," she says.
http://www.armenianow.com/news/49256/armenia_gender_issues_equal_rights_domestic_violen ce
NEWS | 16.10.13 | 15:44
Photolure
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
The bill on equal rights and opportunities for men and women passed
months ago by the parliament of Armenia keeps being a subject of
controversy and discontent among traditionalists as Wednesday a group
of NGOs and clergymen went on a march of protest demanding to annul
the law.
With slogans "the Armenian nation against the law on gender", "Gender
law is a threat to Armenian families, we won't let you ruin Armenian
families", "Let us save children from gender perversion" and the like,
some three hundred protestors marched from Alexander Tamanyan statue,
downtown Yerevan, to the government building, where they handed a
letter to the members of the government with 3,500 signatures in
favor of annulling the law.
The word 'gender' was removed from the law adopted in May of 2013 and
verified by the president under public pressure and was replaced by
'equal rights and opportunities for men and women'. Protest initiators
claim that the law "undermines the foundation of traditional Armenian
families, on which the Armenian nation has been able to survive
thousands of years".
Haykanush Aloyan, member of "No to the Law on Gender Equality "
initiative, says the law has to be declared anti-constitutional
as it contradicts a number of provisions of the family code of the
Constitution of Armenia.
"The negative consequences of the gender policy against which European
peoples are fighting, will shortly reach Armenia, if today that law is
not declared anti-constitutional," he says, adding that their struggle
will be consistent till they achieve what they are fighting for.
Meanwhile, Women's Support Center NGO director Maro Matosyan told
ArmeniaNow that Armenia, on the contrary, is greatly in need of such
law to break "the powerful gender dogmas".
"The law says absolutely nothing about homosexuality or any sexual
orientation, it is only about equality between men and women, the
lack of which leads to domestic violence in our families and that
violence is what ends up destroying the family," she says.