David Harutyunyan: The law against domestic violence in Armenia is an  urgent necessity

ArmInfo. Justice Minister David Harutyunyan does not agree that domestic violence against women and children is an element of Armenian identity. With this in mind, he  said, protection from violence in the Armenian family is an urgent necessity. The Minister of Justice David Harutyunyan stated this in an interview with journalists on October 5 after the meeting of the Government, commenting on the bill on preventing domestic violence and protecting its victims.

Despite the negative public outcry caused by the bill, the head of  the Armenian Ministry of Justice believes that the law is indeed very  important and necessary, since it is aimed at preventing and  protecting victims of domestic violence. "The path that we have  chosen, we consider extremely important for ourselves - more than 120  countries of the world have already managed to pass this way," he  stressed. According to David Harutyunyan, he is seriously concerned  about the official statistics on domestic violence. De facto,  according to the official, statistics do not reflect the real  picture, since only a few victims openly declare violence. "These  facts are confirmed by various studies, but even official statistics  give cause for concern," the minister said. The head of the Ministry  of Justice realizes that the implementation of the provisions of the  legislative act is not an easy process and much remains to be done.  "We are waiting for serious work to create the appropriate Centers,  to ensure the proper literacy of the police, but the main thing is to  pass the law, because - the goal is extremely important," the  minister said. In this case, as David Harutyunyan stated, it is  unnecessary to talk about the contradictions of the proposed law with  traditions in Armenian families. "If you think that it's a national  tradition to beat women, children and old people in the family, I do  not think so." This is a deviation from our traditions, since  violence can not be the basis of the Armenian family, "the official  said. Nevertheless, taking into account the evaluation of the public  reaction and the various comments on the law, which, according to  Harutyunyan, have nothing to do with the document itself, the  Ministry of Justice plans to hold public hearings around the bill,  and is also ready to "listen" to the comments on the e-draft website  .am, where the document is laid out. The fact that Armenia is aimed  at adopting a bill on preventing and combating domestic violence  became known a few years ago. Almost immediately, the public was  divided into two opposing camps. Without going into various  conspiracy theories, we note that those who opposed the bill,  primarily in the "promotion" of the law, blamed the west, claiming  the loosening of the foundations of the Armenian family. Advocating  against the adoption of a law condemning domestic violence, it also  saw a threat of widespread application of the practice of the  withdrawal of children from families. The Armenian Apostolic Church  did not stand aside - without speaking with an official position,  church officials called the bill absurd. According to experts, the  practice of applying a similar law in other countries was condemned  in the Council of Europe resolution of April 24, 2015: the EU  recognized the ineffectiveness of the methods that lead to the  creation of corruption schemes. From the "FOR" position were victims  of domestic violence - mostly women, who periodically acted with the  shares, demanding the adoption of the bill. They in the negative  around the bill saw some artificiality, as well as an attempt to give  this topic a political connotation.

To note, the bill, in particular, offers to help the safety and  protection of victims (who may be intimidated by husbands or parents)  through the work of social shelters. Victims of violence are  encouraged to provide medical and psychological assistance.