#Bavakane  social campaign started at Mother Armenia Monument

The International Day of the Girl Child kicked off on October 11^th  in Yerevan with the #Enough non-commercial social media campaign against gender-based abortions.

The goals of the campaign are to raise awareness of girls’ underestimation and gender-biased abortions in Armenia, raise awareness of the demographic, social and economic impacts of the phenomenon in the future, stimulate public discussion across the country, thereby promote social change and promote normative change by increasing the role of women.

The campaign started on October 11^th near the Mother Armenia monument. The choice of the monument depends on several factors. First of all, it is the tallest statue in the country and is visible from many parts of the city. Mother Armenia is not only a statue of a military council, but also a collective image of an Armenian woman, making it a convenient platform for voicing discrimination against a girl child and women in general.

On the day of the event, the illumination of the statue was switched off. Then, using a special technique, the statue was illuminated by a red light. This color is associated with the color of the alarm or stop sign and immediately attracts the attention of passers-by. The projection of the statue’s pedestal broadcasted the main messages of the campaign.

RA Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan addressed his followers directly from the Mother Armenia monument, talking about the importance of the campaign.

The campaign was initiated by the Doping Creative Company in cooperation with the UN Population Fund Armenia Office and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia. The name and official hashtag of the campaign is #Bavakane. The promotion of the campaign will be carried out with the involvement of celebrities, social networks and various media.

Additional information

According to official statistics, since 1993, the sex ratio of infants in Armenia has fluctuated, ranging from 110 to 120 boys per 100 girls. Whereas, a normal ratio of 102-106 boys to 100 girls is considered a normal.

Although the workload ratio has declined year-on-year from 2010 to 111 boys / 100 girls in 2018, Armenia remains one of the world’s leading sex-aborted countries, along with China and Azerbaijan.

The underlying phenomenon is the underestimation of girl children, but the consequences will be both demographic, social, and economic. “If it goes on like this, by 2060 93,000 girls will not be born, as a result of which the Armenian population will decrease by an additional 80,000. ”.