Armenian authorities offer setting up shelters for family violence victims

On October 9, the "Matenadaran" Yerevan Museum of Ancient Manuscripts hosted a public hearing on the government bill on family violence. Officials of the Armenian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Ombudsperson’s office, as well as activists of public and human rights organizations took part in the debates, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The bill is aimed at preventing family violence and has no punitive nature, David Arutyunyan, the MoJ’s head, has stressed at the hearing.

He noted that the current legislation fails to provide for efficient measures of "proportionate reaction to violence." According to his story, the authors of the bill proceed from the national strategy for human rights protection, as well as from the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, ratified by Armenia.

"According to official data of the republic’s police, in 2012-2016, more than 3500 cases of family (domestic) violence were registered. The aim of the bill is to protect [family members] and set up shelters to ensure family violence victims’ safety," Minister Arutyunyan has stated, stressing that any fears that the governmental initiative provides for deprivation of parental rights are ungrounded: "The bill has no new provisions on deprivation or restriction of any parental rights."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.