In Armenia general awareness on gender based violence and gender issues is quite low. There is no law that addresses gender based violence, including domestic violence issues, due to which such cases are mainly being prosecuted under the Articles of the Criminal Code on assault and hooliganism of criminal nature. Today, Armenia is often characterized as a conservative society with deeply rooted gender stereotypes even though the religious traditions were mainly oppressed during the Soviet times. Aside from these, there also exists a discreet discrimination against women and widespread acceptance of GBV in different forms.

Devastating earthquake in 1988 and the breakdown of the Soviet Union were followed by the collapse of the national economy resulting in the production crisis, skyrocketed inflation, and increased unemployment. Due to the high male unemployment rates many women were forced into the role of their family’s sole earners. However, dominating traditional division of jobs into “male” and “female” categories kept women employed mainly in the low-income sectors of economy. This contributed to the escalating female poverty in the country and worsening socio-economic situation of women. All of the mentioned conditions also increased social vulnerability of women and reflected on the family relations domain contributing to escalation of domestic violence against women.

Since year 2000, a number of surveys conducted by international and local organizations to assess the incidence of domestic violence in Armenia proved that domestic violence is a widely spread form of violence against women in Armenia(e.g. DHS Armenia 2005, Survey on “Family” as an Institution” UNFPA 2006, “No pride in silence” Amnesty International). According to the research conducted in 2000 by Minnesota Advocates, a prominent international organization working in the field of protection of human rights, in Yerevan out of surveyed 100 women 46 had experienced some form of violence in the family, including sexual violence; of these women, only 6 had complained to legal authorities. In Gyumri, the second largest city in Armenia, out of surveyed 100 married women 80 admitted to experiencing domestic violence, and 20 of these stated that it happened “often.

In the year 2007 a research on domestic violence in Armenia was conducted by Turpanjian Center for Policy Analysis American University of Armenia, which indicated that although the figures slightly deviated from the year 2000 data, the situation remained alarming as about 60% of surveyed women admitted that domestic violence is a widespread problem in Armenia. Aside from non-official surveys carried out in the country, there is a general lack of official statistical data on GBV, which would serve as official baseline for the state actions in the field. In view of the above mentioned, in 2008 UNFPA CGBV project supported the RoA NSS to conduct a Nationwide Survey on Domestic Violence against Women in Armenia. >>Read more here

As a member-state of the United Nations, Armenia has ratified a number of important international documents targeting promotion and protection of women’s rights, Thus, the country is bound by the provisions of these instruments, and has therefore committed to comply with the terms spelled out in these treaties, in particular those that guarantee the protection of women’s rights and GBV prevention. In Armenia, nonetheless, the notion of GBV is barely known or acknowledged. There are gaps in the national legislation from the GBV perspective since there are no separate laws on gender equality, GBV, including domestic violence (DV), and DV cases are addressed mainly under the Articles of the Criminal Code.

To address the existing gaps in the national legislation, a number of legal initiatives have been started in Armenia, among these: 

  • Conducting legal assessment of the Republic of Armenia national legislation from GBV perspective. Initiative is headed by UNFPA CGBV project. >>Read more here
  • Supporting the adoption of the Law on the Provision of Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Women and Men drafted within the framework of UNDP project.

Other national initiatives for creation of enabling environment to combat GBV include the establishment of the National Coordination Committee for Combating GBV (underway) as well as drafting of the National Action Plan on Combating GBV for 2011-2015.

What are the present gaps in Armenia to combat GBV?
Problems in the field of combating GBV in Armenia can be classified under the following groups:

  • Lack of accurate data on GBV;
  • Lack of knowledge and awareness on gender equality and GBV;
  • Lack of legislation, policies and plans to combat GBV;
  • Lack of institutional capacity to address GBV;
  • Lack of coordination and cooperation on activities on GBV.

How does “Combating Gender Based Violence in the South Caucasus” (CGBV) project respond to these gaps?
CGBV project in Armenia targets the above mentioned gaps through implementation of the following components:

  • Research and data collection
  • Advocacy and Awareness Raising
  • Enabling Environment
  • Capacity Building
  • Protection and rehabilitation of GBV victims
  • Coordination and Inter-country Collaboration