Armenia implements programme to support women-victims of domestic violence

During seven months, the "Paros" (Lighthouse) Charitable Foundation that has been operating in Armenia for 15 years implements a programme to support women-victims of domestic violence. The staff psychologist of the Foundation emphasizes that women-victims of domestic violence were in psychologically dependent from the wills of their husbands; and the lawyer advises not to endure beatings and contact the police.

As part of the programme of the "Paros" (Lighthouse) Foundation, the women seeking help are provided with everything they need; the activists of the Foundation solve their everyday problems and further help "to find themselves in life" they instruct the women in everyday skills: cutting and sewing, cooking, and working on a computer.

Naira Muradyan, Director of the Foundation, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in general, the most vulnerable layers of the society the former pupils of orphanages are subjected to domestic violence. Many of them prefer to get protection in the Foundation and leave their children in a boarding school. However, the feature of the Foundation is to accept only women with children under three years old.

Naira Muradyan says that very often staff members of the "Paros" Foundation have to work with husbands of the women who applied to the Foundation. They talk to the men, try to understand the cause of the problem and find the best option for solving it.

"There were cases when husband claimed that since the woman was his wife, so he can treat her as he wants. However, after much efforts and conversations those men began to realize that they cannot use force in relation to their own wives," Naira Muradyan says.

The head of the Foundation believes that the prototype of the Armenian family is different from the families of other nations.

"Our society treats only murder and rape as violence. No one perceives and treats other types of violence related to the psychological pressure as violence," Naira Muradyan has noted.

According to her, in general, all families in Armenia are traditional ones. However, according to Naira Muradyan, at present women have become much more liberated, and they earn good money, do any work and stand almost on level with their husbands. A family system is changing, and a husband, no longer having the impact on his wife, begins to abuse her, starts fights and quarrels.

Mariam Arutyunyan, one of the inmates of the "Paros" Foundation, says that her husband constantly beat her. She was pregnant with her second child and lost it after the next beating.

"They did not even want to bring me to the hospital, I was kept at home in such a state for a month, and only when I was about to die, I was brought to the hospital. The gynaecologist was struck: the fruit burst from stress and began to decay. If I was kept for another day at home, then I would not have been able to survive," the woman says.

At present, she is pregnant with her third child; however, despite the incident, beatings continued in the family.

Lawyer Alexander Sirunyan states that Armenian women very seldom complain to the court of domestic violence. "I have not seen such cases in my practice. Armenian woman will not run to the police to complain of her husband, since they have a different mentality," the lawyer says.