Cases of Domestic Violence has Increased While Preventative Legislation Not Passed

The number of victims of domestic violence has risen threefold this year according to police data, said “Coalition to Stop Violence against Women” member Perchuhy Kazhoyan during a meeting with journalists. While during all of 2013, 580 cases had been registered of domestic violence, in which 7 resulted in death, the number increased from just January to September 2014, where 1501 cases were registered, with 9 resulting in death.

Kazhoyan mentioned that these statistics still do not represent the entire picture, because most physically abused Armenian women do not reach out to the police, and that not all violence is physical, but psychological, economic, and sexual.

Kazhoyan pointed out that police basically do not deal with such issues. She said that women try to avoid reaching out to the police, because they do not have trust regarding the police.

Note, that the “Coalition to Stop Violence against Women” will commemorate October 1st as the national day for the struggle against domestic violence. On October 1st, 2010, Zaruhi Petrosyan died as a victim of domestic violence and as a result many human rights organization joined under the “Coalition to Stop Violence against Women” in order to draft a law to prevent domestic violence, which has still not been accepted.