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Armenia: Activists Push For Domestic-Violence Law Amid Official Indi

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  • Armenia: Activists Push For Domestic-Violence Law Amid Official Indi

    ARMENIA: ACTIVISTS PUSH FOR DOMESTIC-VIOLENCE LAW AMID OFFICIAL INDIFFERENCE

    EurasiaNet.org
    March 7 2014

    March 7, 2014 - 1:52pm, by Gayane Abrahamyan

    As elsewhere in the South Caucasus, Armenian women can expect to
    receive an array of toasts, flowers and little gifts on March 8,
    International Women's Day. But there is one thing Armenian women
    won't enjoy, or get anytime soon - a law covering domestic violence.

    Citing alleged shortcomings in its provisions, the Armenian government
    in January rejected a proposed bill on domestic violence, legislation
    that non-governmental organizations, international experts and
    government members had worked to get adopted for seven years.

    The Coalition to Stop Violence against Women, which unites seven
    non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has now re-drafted the bill, but
    hopes for passage are lower today than a few months ago. "If before,
    Social Welfare Ministry workers cooperated with us and believed the
    law would be passed, now we do not have even that assistance," said
    Women's Support Center spokesperson Perchuhi Kazhoian. "They do not
    say they disapprove, but their messages make it clear there is no
    political will for it."

    Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian, who used to frequently raise the
    issue, has fallen silent. Work with the United Nations Population Fund
    ended after 2011 with the conclusion of a project against gender-based
    violence. Lobbying efforts from local NGOs go nowhere.

    The need for such legislation, however, has not vanished, women's
    rights activists say, pointing out that during the first two months of
    2014 five Armenian women between the ages of 28 and 38 were murdered
    by their husbands. While advocates believe that Armenia's long-time
    tradition of keeping silent about domestic violence has been overcome,
    women still usually refrain from going to the police about abuse. A
    domestic-violence law would make it easier for victims to file
    complaints and gain protection, advocates say.

    "Where should they turn if there isn't a designated department
    [for domestic violence], trained police officers, when there isn't a
    law regulating their issues?" asked Women's Support Center Director
    Maro Matosian. "In many cases, they turn to the police then retract
    their complaint because the officer tells the woman she has to pay
    an administrative fine, [or] shames her for complaining about her
    husband."

    Colonel Nelly Durian, a senior official for police investigations,
    concedes that many regional police departments lack professionally
    trained officers to handle domestic violence cases, but stressed that
    progress on addressing domestic violence has been made. The number of
    complaints from alleged domestic-violence victims has increased by
    "about 20 percent" since 2009 "due to [police stations'] increased
    reliability," she said.

    Official police statistics show lower incidences of domestic
    violence in 2013 ("around 500"), than in 2012 (760 cases). Rights
    activists believe only extreme cases of abuse are registered with
    law-enforcement. Even then, an appropriate police response may not
    follow, said Lida Minasian, a project manager for A Society without
    Violence, a women's rights non-governmental organization.

    The parents of one 30-year-old Yerevan resident, Tatevik Nikoghosian,
    went to the police last summer after her husband allegedly stabbed
    their daughter 25 times, damaging her heart, lungs and liver. He
    currently is in jail, awaiting trial. Previous attempts by the parents
    to involve the police after reportedly vicious beatings had failed.

    Minasian and other women's rights activists underline that the
    attack could have been prevented if a law existed that provided for
    training for police officers and social workers, restraining orders
    on abusive husbands, and shelters for abused women. Only one shelter
    for abused women, operated by the Women's Support Center in Yerevan
    exists in Armenia.

    The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is now drafting a
    social-assistance bill, which includes several provisions on domestic
    violence, but does not provide for police training, or measures
    designed to prevent abuse. Deputy Labor and Social Welfare Minister
    Filaret Berikian told EurasiaNet.org that the ministry does not
    oppose a law on domestic violence. The new bill, Berikian continued,
    "certainly does not replace the one on domestic violence, but some
    of its provisions would at least allow assistance to abused women."

    Kazhoian, though, scoffed that the bill "is like saying 'Go get abused,
    then we will help you.'" The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women
    intends to show its reworked version of the domestic-violence bill
    to the labor and justice ministries this spring before resubmitting
    it to parliament.

    "When a law is passed, it sends a message that the state cannot
    tolerate" a given crime, said Matosian. "It is also a message to
    courts that are reluctant to handle such cases."

    Editor's note: Gayane Abrahamyan is a freelance reporter and editor
    in Yerevan.

    http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68115

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