Epress.am News from Armenia
A large portion of Republican Party parliamentarians do not see domestic violence against women to be a serious issue, as well as the need to pass a law meant to prevent it. Epress.am asked questions in the National Assembly.
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) faction MP, Artashes Geghamyan, specifically noted that he did not wish to talk about the issue. “There are much larger issues in Armenia, if I speak about that, then people will call me crazy” said Geghamyan.
HHK MP Mher Sedrakyan said that he is against violence if the “woman is normal.” “Who would want to hit a woman, and get the children upset? Of course, there are incidents in our neighborhood, where they (men) can’t fight against those stronger, so they release everything on their wives… But if the women are not morally sound and are unfaithful, it’s possible to not only hit but also divorce her,” said Mher Sedrakyan.
National Assembly Vice-Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov stated that violence against women does not exist in his surroundings because “Armenians are a mother worshipping race.”
Majority faction MP, singer Shushan Petrosyan said that personally she had never been a victim of violence; therefore, she does not know what type advice to give to fight against it.
Prosperous Armenia Party MP Elinar Vardanyan noted, that in order to fight against domestic violence, complementary tools would be helpful, and that she is in favor of a law.
More details regarding the questions in the video: