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Will Armenia Pass A Draft Law On Domestic Violence?

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  • Will Armenia Pass A Draft Law On Domestic Violence?

    WILL ARMENIA PASS A DRAFT LAW ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?

    Posted by Nanore Barsoumian on January 29, 2013 in News

    A draft law on domestic violence that was to specifically deal with
    violence within the home was turned away by the Armenian government
    on Jan. 21. Instead of approving the bill, the government recommended
    that other existing laws be amended to include clauses that would
    help the courts deal with cases of domestic violence. Whether the
    government has outright rejected the bill is unclear.

    Protesters against domestic violence during Mariam gevorgyan trial.

    (Photo: Society Without Violence in Armenia)

    According to the Women's Resource Center, a non-profit organization
    that is closely following the issue, "the government has based
    its rejection of the bill on the fact that the entire Armenian
    legislative framework is undergoing a number of changes. Changes
    being made in the criminal and criminal procedure codes, as well
    as in the code of administrative offenses, would cause a number of
    problems in implementing the overruled bill. For this reason and with
    the agreement of the government, there will be no separate Domestic
    Violence Statute Book."

    The chairperson of the Women's Resource Center in Yerevan (WRCA),
    Lara Aharonian, told the Armenian Weekly that following internal
    deliberations, the bill was rejected-though it has not been made public
    yet. The decision shows that "the government is still not aware that
    domestic violence is a serious issue in Armenia and that we still
    don't have a genuine political will to advance women's rights and
    develop adequate policies to ensure gender equality in the country.

    This is a direct consequence of the lack of women's political
    presence and, in addition, [it shows] that women's realities,
    concerns, and needs are not taken into consideration in policies,"
    she told the Weekly.

    Aharonian believes that amendments to other laws will be less
    effective than a separate law on domestic violence because they will,
    in effect, fail to acknowledge domestic violence as "a real problem,"
    and will fail to invest financial and human resources- to counter it
    on a national level. "Armenia is trying to conform to international
    conventions and declaring in many international reports that they
    support women's rights and gender equality, but they need to put
    their money where their mouth is," said Aharonian. "Domestic violence
    legislation also includes a set of services and resources that need
    to be available for survivors, and money should be allocated for that,
    which is something that this government is not ready to do yet."

    For Aharonian, the bill on domestic violence is crucial as it
    would recognize the existence of the problem in the country, and
    criminalize it unambiguously. The law would bring with it adequate
    protection mechanisms for the victims, including restraining orders;
    reform of the police force and the judicial sector to effectively deal
    with cases of domestic violence; and a change to the "it's a private
    issue" mentality, explained Aharonian. "What the government is now
    suggesting is just a way of watering it down. It's not as efficient
    as a separate legislation."

    The Women's Rights Center of Yerevan drafted the law and in 2009
    submitted it to the Armenian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. In
    2011, the ministry put together an inter-sectorial working group to
    deal with the draft bill. The ministry publicized the bill in November
    2012, and subsequently submitted it to the government for approval. In
    2010, various non-governmental organizations came together to form
    the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women to raise awareness of the
    issue and to pressure authorities to adopt the bill. The coalition is
    comprised of the Women's Resource Center, the Women's Rights Center,
    Society Without Violence, PINK Armenia, the Women's Support Center,
    Zangakatun, and the Sexual Assault Crisis Center. The United Nations
    Population Fund (UNFPA) also supported the initiative.

    No rejection yet, says ombudsman's office

    The Armenian Weekly reached out to the office of Armenia's Ombudsman
    Karen Andreasyan, for clarification on the status of the bill. "The
    draft law on domestic violence has not been rejected. It is still
    being analyzed by the Ministry of Justice, [which] is part of the
    routine," Naira Karmirshalyan, head of public relations department of
    the ombudsman's office, told the Armenian Weekly. "It is difficult
    to give a persuasive answer [as to] why it is taking this long for
    the draft law to pass."

    In November 2012, Andreasyan submitted a list of recommendations
    on the draft law to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The
    proposed amendments dealt with clauses on the interrogation of
    juveniles, requiring them to be questioned in the presence of a legal
    representative and a police officer specializing in juvenile affairs
    or a psychologist. Andreasyan also recommended that victim help
    hotlines operate around-the-clock; and for officials to investigate
    cases immediately following victim complaints.

    According to Karmirshalyan, the recommendations made were all
    "important and necessary," and they would bring the bill closer to
    reflecting "the best international practice."

    Karmirshalyan expressed her reservations about the slow-moving
    process. "It is disturbing that immediate steps are not being taken
    by the government, because prime facie the draft law seems complete,"
    she told the Weekly, but reiterated that "the final decision on its
    acceptance or rejection has not been made."

    "Unfortunately domestic violence is a phenomenon that occurs all
    over the world, in every country and in every society. It is our
    position that the draft law on domestic violence is a necessity
    for our society, the absence of which created a legal gap. In such
    cases, the gap becomes an obstacle for preventing these disturbing
    actions," she said. "The law would also create the needed mechanism
    that would make an attempt in eliminating the latent nature of this
    phenomenon in Armenian society. It is of paramount importance, [as]
    the law would also give the necessary guarantees-most importantly,
    protection and social safeguards to the victims of domestic violence."

    By working towards a domestic violence law in 2012, the government-and
    specifically the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs-has illustrated
    that it is listening and responding to the calls by international
    organizations that have raised the issue of the lack of a domestic
    violence bill in their reports, urging the Armenian government to
    take immediate steps, said Karmirshalyan.

    "However, the timing of actions being taken is becoming an issue,"
    she added, referring to the slow process. If the ombudsman's office
    judges that the delays in passing a bill are unjustified, then
    they are prepared to nudge the appropriate bodies. "We would send
    a letter to the government in order to learn the reasoning and/or
    justifications behind [the delay]... If necessary, we would recommend
    that the government accelerate the process of analyzing and reaching
    a decision regarding the draft law."

    Aharonian, too, will be watching closely. "In the following weeks we
    will have meetings with the Coalition Against Violence and the gender
    theme group that includes different non-governmental organizations,
    ministries, and international organizations to discuss the next steps,"
    she told the Weekly.

    If approved by the government, the draft law would have been submitted
    to the National Assembly to be reviewed and voted on. "It did not pass
    the first step. Now we need to review and strategize what to do next.

    Do we accept what the government is proposing, or do we lobby-all of
    us together-for a separate law?" added Aharonian.

    Currently, the courts deal with domestic violence the same way
    they deal with violence in general, which, according to Aharonian,
    "makes the court cases even more challenging, especially for women and
    children." Recently, attorney Nona Galstyan, representing domestic
    violence victim Mariam Gevorgyan, expressed similar concerns over
    the lack of a domestic violence law. "The absence of a law means that
    female victims of domestic violence are often left defenseless. The
    police will not launch a criminal case unless serious injury or death
    has taken place," she was quoted by the Institute for War and Peace
    Reporting (IWPR) as saying.

    Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is not uncommon for authorities
    to either dismiss cases of domestic violence, considering them private
    matters, or to avoid dealing with them with the required urgency. That
    was the case with 20-year-old Zaruhi Petrosyan, who died after severe
    beatings by her husband and, allegedly, her mother-in-law. According
    to statements made by the victim's sister, Zaruhi had gone to the
    police twice before, which resulted in a warning for the husband,
    Yanis Sarkisov. The proposed domestic violence bill would provide
    victims like Zaruhi with vital resources. For instance, the law would
    require that the abuser be removed from the home; and if the victim
    did not feel safe at home, she would have the option of going to
    a government-funded women's shelter. Currently, there are only two
    shelters operating in Armenia, and they are at times forced to turn
    victims away, for lack of space and resources.

    Zaruhi's death in 2010 led to widespread public outrage, pushing
    that most taboo issue out into the national arena. It left no
    room for denial that domestic violence exists in Armenia, and that
    occasionally it claims lives. Zaruhi's story reverberated throughout
    various Armenian communities worldwide. Activists worked hard to raise
    awareness of the issue and pressed the government for a national law
    against domestic violence; the diaspora echoed those calls, with
    petitions circulating in support of such a law. In the meantime,
    while policy-makers deliberate on whether to pass the draft law,
    other brutal cases of domestic violence continue to take place.

    Unfortunately, Zaruhi was not the last victim whose life was cut
    short due to domestic violence. In July 2012, Anahit Babayan was
    beaten to death with a concrete slab and a wooden bar by her husband
    of 30 years. For activists like Aharonian, the time for real action
    is long overdue.

    http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/01/29/will-armenia-pass-a-draft-law-on-domestic-violence/comment-page-1/

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