Epress.am News from Armenia
In the past 10 years in Armenia 143 criminal cases have been initiated connected to sexual harassment of minors. Moreover, among the 143 cases, only in 7 cases were both the victim and perpetrator minors. OSCE Yerevan office expert and lawyer Davit Tumanyan spoke to journalists today about the issue.
He noted that underage girls are considered a target and are often subject to violence by their stepfathers or uncles. In addition to their families, registered spots of sexual violence are usually at schools, yards, or other locations.
Sexual Violence Crisis Center program director Tatevik Aghabekyan noted that parents must be careful about their children and that if they don’t wish to go to school or play in the yard then they must understand the reason why.
According to statistics, people in the provinces do not wish to raise the issue of sexual violence, taking into account that girls are expected to get married and boys to serve in the army.