Epress.am News from Armenia
The Women’s Resource Center of Armenia (WRCA) says there are shortcomings in the Armenia’s legislation that, once amended, will lead to preventing sexual violence against minors and adults in Armenia.
Representatives of the WRCA discussed their work in amending Armenia’s Criminal Code to deliver harsher sentences for perpetrators of sexual violence during a press conference in Yerevan today.
As told by David Tumasyan, a lawyer with the OSCE-supported Anti-trafficking Support and Resource Unit, first of all, in their proposed bill, they removed the penalties defined in RA Criminal Code Articles 140 (“forced violent sexual acts”), 141 (“sexual acts with a person under 16”) and 142 (“lecherous acts”), “because a fine as a form of punishment in sexual crimes is not appropriate.”
“Since these crimes pertain to assault against children, we made the legislation stricter and set imprisonment as the only form of punishment,” he said. As for the length of the prison term, the authors of the bill provide for the punishment to be determined by whether the crime is grave or especially grave.
“Amendments were also made in terms of content. Quite aggravating circumstances were not envisaged by the current legislation,” he added. Based on international examples, aggravating circumstances were added, which involve those with a high level of responsibility and to whom children’s care is entrusted such as parents, guardians and teachers. If sexual assault is committed by anyone in a position, he must be deprived of his position, they say.
Another amendment being proposed is violence against pregnant women and sexual crimes against two or more people.
“Regretfully, the current Criminal Code, in many cases, provides for equal conditions whether the crime is committed against one, two or five children. If there has been only one case [of sexual violence], then, logically, the punishment applied should be milder,” said Tumasyan.
The human rights lawyer also spoke of the practice of “chemical castration” or sterilization practiced in some countries — “When pedophiles are deprived of their sexual function, through being injected with chemicals.”
The proposed bill in Armenia, however, isn’t planning such “radical” amendments. “Though even MPs who are presenting this bill in parliament say that this could also be tried,” added Tumasyan.
Speaking on the matter of this form of punishment as being more violence against the person who committed the crime, Tumasyan said:
“From the perspective of human rights, it is seen as a violation of human rights, but from the point of view that any form of punishment is a means of constraint which restricts the rights of convicts, it’s logical.”
According to Tumasyan, sexual crimes against children under 14 should be punished more strictly: “the younger, the stronger under protection they are.” In this context, he said, “Our family legislation permits girls to get married from age 17, and if that’s considered the age of marriage, we couldn’t have ignored the possibility of free choice, the possibility of creating a family and living separately.”
Authors of the bill also addressed assault that has taken place in establishments such as educational institutions, military units and medical treatment facilities.
The bill has already been raised in parliament by MP Viktor Dallakyan.
“In the next four-day session, the bill will be placed in circulation, we expect that there will be great interest in the National Assembly and we’re prepared to participate in discussions,” said Tumasyan.