Armenia's rulers justify domestic violence, says European commissioner

/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Violence against women is a serious problem in Armenia and the government should immediately adopt a special law to fight it, a European human rights commissar said.

In a report, analyzing his visit to Armenia, Nils Mužinieks explained that violations against women's rights in the post-Soviet country had led in some instances to fatal results as it claimed the lives of 7 women in 2013 and 12 in 2014.

Referring to the UN Population Fund survey, Muiznieks noted that about 8.9 percent of females in Armenia have been subjected to at least one count of abuse, often by the hands of their partner/spouse.

Psychological and sexual abuses against women by their husbands remain frequent in Armenia.

The economic disenfranchisement of women, the confiscation of their money savings and employment bans have led to a deterioration of quality of their life, putting them in precarious situations.

Muižnieks has warned the Armenian authorities that gender inequality and violence against women are serious human rights concerns in the country.

“More vigorous efforts are needed to address them” Muižnieks said, publishing the report of his visit last October to Armenia.

Commissioner Muižnieks also wants “measures commensurate” with the extent of the problem of violence against women, including domestic violence, in Armenia.

“Thousands of women are victims of violence every year in Armenia,” he states. “The phenomenon remains largely unreported because of a poor response from state institutions and a cultural, societal and family environment which tends to justify and accept violence against women."

Muižnieks noted that a "number of political leaders, as well as legislators in the country deny the presence of domestic violence problems, while in some cases even justify it."

Given the extremely dangerous intolerance existing against women, Muzinieks urged the rulers in Yerevan to instantly adopt a particular law to fight domestic violence.

"Several types of violation against women, for instance, rape by their husbands or compulsory abortion are not criminalized in Armenia's criminal law. The law doesn't consider gender-based violence as a crime along with domestic violence," Muižnieks confirmed.

He called on the Armenian authorities to waste no time and immediately ratify the Council of Europe convention that provides a legal basis for preventing and combating the domestic violence.

Meanwhile, at a meeting with Muzinieks, Armenian officials asked for a delay in order to assess whether or not Armenia's legal system stands in accordance with the convention. Furthermore, they lamented on the lack of necessary fund for creating the legal framework required to deal with domestic violence.

Rather than attempt to build and promote a thriving, tolerant and all-inclusive society, Armenia has allowed domestic violence to spike out of control, putting women under a constant threat.

Last week, on the eve of the International Women's Day, the Yerevan-based Women’s Rights Center disclosed its latest findings. It reported about 486 cases of violence against women in 2014, mostly characterized by psychological, physical and sexual abuses.

Moreover, last December, UNICEF called on the Armenian society to end violence against females in the country.

In view of its gender gap problem, Armenia claimed the 103rd place among 142 countries worldwide in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2014.