Epress.am News from Armenia
The Armenian Coalition to Stop Violence against Women, which comprises seven organizations fighting for the rights of women, demands that Chief of Armenian Police Vladimir Gasparyan publicly apologize to journalist Siranuysh Papyan for offending her at a public event in Yerevan on Sunday, April 24. Otherwise, they will demand the resignation of the top police official, according to a statement issued by the Coalition Tuesday.
Recall, speaking to reporters after a memorial event in Tsitsernakaberd, Gasparyan claimed that Armenian police have undergone a great deal of reform and made positive progress in dealing with media representatives during street demonstrations. However, when Papyan, a Lragir.am and 1in.am correspondent, countered by saying that she saw no changes in police conduct, Gasparyan responded that he “do not see a woman in you.”
Gasparyan's behaviour, the statement says, was yet another manifestation of sexism and exertion of psychological pressure on women by high-ranking Armenian police officers. “In August, 2013, for instance, during a protest action against the construction works on 5 Komitas street, Arabkir deputy police chief Arayik Petrosyan whispered profanities of a sexual nature in activist Shogher Melkumyan's ear, while another police officer kissed her neck.
“In Summer, 2015, during the Electric Yerevan actions on Baghramyan avenue, Armenian deputy police chief Hunan Poghosyan called protester Yelena Ovsyannikova a 'provocateur' and claimed that she had offered sex to law enforcement officers…
“Gender-based allusions in regard to female activists and reporters are a psychological weapon used by high-ranking police officers for exertion of pressure [on women],” the Coalition notes, reminding that Article 6 of the Armenian Law on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Men and Women prohibits gender-based offensive and derogatory public statements about a person.