TILL DEATH DO US PART?: A YOUNG WOMAN’S SUSPICIOUS DEATH HIGHLIGHTS PROBLEMS WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN ARMENIA
By Karine Ionesyan
ArmeniaNow
05.10.10 | 15:41
Social
Susanna Vardanyan and David Amiryan spoke about the issues of domestic
violence in Armenia.
A suspected violent death of a 20-year-old woman in Armenia’s central
Ararat province at the hands of her husband and mother-in-law this
week has caused anger among local civil society organizations dealing
with domestic violence.
According to a police report, Zaruhi Petrosyan had been taken to
hospital in Masis, a major town in the province, with cranial brain
hemorrhages, a broken finger and bruises in different parts of her
body. Despite that, shortly before her death on October 1, Petrosyan
testified that she had received those traumas as a result of fainting
and falling down.
The woman’s friends and neighbors insist, however, that the young
woman was killed in consequence of brutal beatings that she had
suffered at the hands of her husband and mother-in-law since 2008.
Police say investigation in this case is still ongoing. Yanis Sarkisov,
the 30-year-old husband, is detained and being questioned.
Petrosyan was mother of an 18-month child.
“We believe that after such events we should continue to raise problems
in this sphere and raise awareness among people,” says Director of the
Armenia Branch of the Open Society Institute’s Assistance Foundation
David Amiryan.
It is with the Foundation’s support that a study of family violence
was recently completed in Armavir, a province in Armenia’s west,
adjacent to Yerevan. The data of the latest studies in Armavir matched
the results of the research conducted on the national level, according
to which one in three women in Armenia suffer domestic violence.
Representatives of nongovernmental organizations dealing with domestic
violence issues say violence is manifested from regular insults and
being yelled at, to beating and murder.
Studies show that only 17 percent of victims actually seek help
from police.
Representatives of police, meanwhile, think that NGOs inflate the
numbers.
“If it were so, then every third man is also subjected to violence,
because women always pressure them to bring money home,” says deputy
head of the Police’s Public Order Maintenance Department Karen
Mehrabyan, a comment that starkly underscores the national attitude.
The law enforcement official, says that they receive very few
complaints, only about 10 during a year, but they are ready to assist
in drafting new legislation that will address stopping domestic
violence.
Women’s Rights Center NGO Chairman Susanna Vardanyan also believes
that a law specifically on domestic violence is crucial. Under
current legislation, domestic violence is treated as any other crime
of violence, therefore there are no specialists who work such cases.
“Last year our NGO, police and other concerned organizations submitted
a draft law to the Armenian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs but
it has not been put up for discussion yet,” says Vardanyan.
She says that the proposed document presents in detail what domestic
violence is and how citizens – a husband or a wife, children or any
other member of the family – should be protected from it.
Aram Harutyunyan, a leading specialist at the Ministry’s Department
for Family and Women’s Issues, found it difficult to answer an
ArmeniaNow request to explain why the proposed document has not been
given attention till today. The Ministry official promised, however,
that it will be done since “a government commission has already been
set up to deal with domestic violence issues.”
From: A. Papazian