CE reports new stage in fight against family violence in Armenia

On July 3, Armenia started to introduce measures under the Istanbul Convention to combat family violence. The programme includes retraining of lawyers, police officers, and social workers, reports the Council of Europe (CE) Office in Yerevan.

According to Zarui Batoyan, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia, in order to effectively combat family violence, it is important to raise people's awareness, including through the active participation of the media and public organizations.

"Three years ago, the results of the survey revealed that women appreciate courage in men, while men appreciate modesty in women. That is, there is a perception in the society that women should tolerate men's actions," noted Arevik Anapiosyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport.

According to Artyom Sedrakyan, an officer from the Ombudsman's office, the problem of attitude to family violence lies not only in the legal plane, but also in the psychological one.

Natalia Vutova, the head of the Council of Europe Office in Armenia, states it is necessary to break the pattern, according to which a woman plays a passive role in society.

According to the Armenian police, after on June 30, 2018, the Law "On the Prevention of Family Violence" entered into force, 1090 cases of domestic violence were registered. Meanwhile, the victims were not only women and children, but men also.