ARMENIAN SPECIALISTS CONCERNED OVER INCREASING DIVORCE STATISTICS
11:44 * 17.10.14
The unprecedented divorce rate in Armenia has caused the International
Association of Psychologists and Lawyers to propose legislative
reforms aimed at reducing the statistics.
In a package submitted to the Ministries of Justice, and Labor and
Social Affairs, it has called for considering amendments to the family
and judicial legislations.
“We are hopeful that the legislative amendments will, a little bit,
mitigate the increasing divorces,” the association’s president,
Khachatur Marozyan, told Tert.am, commenting on the justifications
behind the move.
Concerns over the increasing divorce rate were voiced at a recent
cabinet meeting as the executive had to ask for extra budgetary
funds for the Ministry of Justice to facilitate the issuance of extra
divorce certificates.
Responding to Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan’s remark about the
high divorce statistics, Minister of Justice Artem Asatryan proposed
analyzing the problem.
Asked what measures they propose to prevent divorces, Mr Marozyan said
they think that the involvement of independent expert-psychologists
could be of help. “The lawyer, by virtue of his or her monopolistic
rights, is actually the only participant in court today. As a
businessperson, individual or entrepreneur, he or she thinks only
about sending the case to the court. But our specialists – who work
of course on voluntary basis course – will be able to bring to light
corresponding arguments for the spouses to make them step back from
that. And that practice is a success,” he added.
The lawyer cited financial circumstances and emigration as major
causes of divorce, noting that families often split apart unable to
secure the necessary living standards.
Anush Danielyan, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs, had earlier unveiled the available statistics when speaking
to our correspondent. She said particularly that the divorce ratio has
increased from 154 to 258 per 1,000 marriages since 1990. “The growing
trend traces back to the 1980s,” she said, citing socio-economic
factors as major causes.
Speaking to Tert.am, Armine Davtyan, a social psychologist and
pedagogue who offers counseling services to spouses, pointed out to
several other global problems unrelated to socio-economic conditions
and migration.
She dwelled particularly on the interpersonal and psychological aspects
of the problem. “First, the development of a male being implies a
sense of responsibility and duty. Secondly, we have misperceptions as
to the upbringing of boys and girls – especially boys as husbands,”
the specialist said, noting that the wrong approaches often cause
the two genders to be isolated and avoid a direct dialogue.
She added that the influence of other cultures giving women more
freedom could be another serious contributory factor.
Addressing on the problem, sociologist Aharon Adibekyan said he is
more inclined to attribute the increasing rate to family factors. “A
young man leaves perhaps to provide for his family only to find a
new family abroad. But that may be only one of the reasons,” he noted.
He sociologist said thinks that couples marrying without knowing
each other well are more likely to divorce. “Secondly, the living
standards are rather difficult as it is. So they do not understand the
entire burden of family life and they get divorced once it falls on
their shoulders. This is the main problem,” he said, citing schools’
failure to teach courses family culture as another reason.