The Armenian parliament adopted in the first reading a package of  laws aimed at preventing family violence

ArmInfo.The Armenian parliament at the meeting on December 8 adopted in the first reading a package of laws aimed at preventing family violence.

Introducing the draft law "On preventing family violence and  protecting persons subjected to family violence and reconciliation in  the family," Deputy Minister of Justice Vigen Kocharyan noted that  the law has three goals: to prevent violence, protect persons who  have been subjected to violence and restore harmony in the family. In  general, as the deputy minister explained, the package provides for  the application of three basic mechanisms for the protection of  persons affected by family violence - prevention, urgent intervention  and decision on protection. 

The decision on the application of the second mechanism is made by  the relevant specialist of the Police, and the decision on protection  by the court. "In the case of" urgent intervention, "the will of the  victim is not required, since very often the persons who have been  subjected to violence may become a victim of repeated violence if  this is stated, which limits the will of that person." It will be  sufficient to make a decision by the relevant police officer,  "explained Kocharyan, adding that only in case of making a decision  on protection will be requested the will of the victim. A  corresponding unit will be set up in the RA Police, whose employees  will be trained and retrained. Even the form of the employees of this  unit will differ from the traditional form of policemen. According to  the Deputy Minister of Justice, with regard to the person who  committed violence, it is planned to apply restrictive measures - to  keep distance from the person who has been subjected to violence, not  to come into contact with him, not to store or carry arms, to undergo  treatment, for example, from alcohol dependence . As part of the  protection measures are proposed restrictions. 

Depending on the severity of the violation of the last two mechanisms  of protection, there are measures of administrative or criminal  liability. In order to solve this problem, it is envisaged to create  a telephone hotline. According to Vigen Kocharyan, the bill regulates  the work of two other institutions: social protection centers, which  will be transformed, the second - shelters, where the person who has  been subjected to violence will undergo rehabilitation and will be  able to find shelter for up to 12 months. The Deputy Minister once  again stressed that the law does not have new grounds for depriving  parental rights.  "There are no provisions that destroy the  foundations of the family," he stressed, adding that the document was  repeatedly discussed at various venues. As a result, from the  original version to the present one, it underwent significant  changes, the points of concern were clarified, for example, whether  it is possible to remove an underage child from the family and  transfer it to a shelter. "We strictly fixed that - no, it is  impossible, to stop the unfounded criticism that often sounds to the  initiative," Vigen Kocharyan concluded, adding that the issues of  family violence will be dealt with by a special commission, which, in  addition to representatives of state structures, will include and  representatives of public organizations, as well as the Armenian  Apostolic Church. As the deputy minister assured, more than 120  countries, including European ones, adopted a similar law. Such a law  has already been adopted in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Ukraine.

The fact that Armenia is aimed at adopting a bill on preventing and  combating domestic violence became known a few years ago. Almost  immediately, the public was divided into two opposing camps. Without  going into various conspiracy theories, we note that those who  opposed the bill, primarily in the "promotion" of the law, blamed the  West, claiming the loosening of the foundations of the Armenian  family. Advocating against the adoption of a law condemning domestic  violence, it also saw a threat of widespread application of the  practice of the withdrawal of children from families. 

According to experts, the practice of applying a similar law in other  countries was condemned in the Council of Europe resolution of April  24, 2015: the EU recognized the ineffectiveness of the methods that  lead to the creation of corruption schemes. From a position "for"  victims of domestic violence acted - mostly women, who periodically   acted with shares, demanding the adoption of the bill.  Meanwhile,  according to statistics, violence against women is a serious problem  in Armenia. According to a UN study, 60% of women in Armenia were at  least once subjected to this or that kind of violence. In 2015, 645  cases of domestic violence were recorded in Armenia, compared to 575  in 2014. According to the investigation committee of Armenia, for the  first half of 2017 in Armenia, there were 215 criminal cases for  domestic violence. Of these, 127 were cases of beatings, 5 family  members were killed, 11 cases of sexual violence against children.