From slap to murder. What kinds of violence are women subjected to by their partners in Armenia?

The last case of femicide in Armenia was on June 21, in Kharberd community of Ararat marz. The mother intervened in the dispute between her son and her husband, during which the husband deliberately hit the woman on the head. The woman died in the hospital due to her injuries.

On the police website, there were several messages about the murder of a woman during the last month.

On May 22, her husband killed 42-year-old Siranush Manukyan in Gyumri.

On May 5, the husband killed the 35-year-old housewife in one of the apartments of the 6th building of Adontsi Street, Arabkir Administrative District of Yerevan.

On April 22, a man killed a woman’s father and mother in Armavir marz.

Women in Armenia are most often abused by their partners. “Survey of domestic violence against women, 2021.” According to the report, 43.3% of women subjected to physical or sexual violence by their partner keep silent about the violence.

Sexually abused women prefer not to talk about it. 44.7% of women subjected to physical violence did not tell anyone about the violence, 48% of those subjected to sexual violence.

12% of women subjected to physical or sexual violence by their partner turned to any responsible institution for help. They turned to those structures when they could no longer tolerate the violence or were severely injured as a result of the violence.

23.5% of abused women ever left home because of violence. 63% of women who were physically and sexually abused by their partner and left home returned to their husband’s house. 76.5% of women who have been physically or sexually abused by their partner continue to live with the abuser without ever leaving the house.

From a slap to a gun threat. What does the research show?

14.8% of women aged 15-59 who have ever had a partner in Armenia have been subjected to physical violence by their husband or partner. 62.5% of women subjected to sexual violence were also subjected to physical violence, and 27.8% of those subjected to physical violence were also subjected to sexual violence.

20.6% of women subjected to sexual and/or physical violence by their partners received some kind of injury. More than half of the women injured as a result of violence, 50.5%, were injured several times. Such data was published in in the report “Domestic Violence Against Women Survey, 2021”.

The authors elaborate that physical violence against women ranged from the mildest form of violence (eg, slapping) to the threat and/or use of a knife or firearm. As the forms of physical violence become more severe, the number of women subjected to them decreases. Among women who had ever had a partner, the most common type of physical violence was slapping or throwing an object that could hurt the woman. 13.5% of women aged 15-59 were ever subjected to this type of violence.

“Among women with higher/post-secondary education, the prevalence of severe violence is higher, and moderate physical violence is more common among women with secondary vocational education. In other words, the higher the educational level of a woman, the higher the prevalence of moderate and severe physical violence”, the experts came to such a conclusion as a result of the research.

It is noted that rural women are subjected to moderate and severe physical violence more than urban women.

Women are also subjected to physical violence by their partners during pregnancy

In the framework of the research, such women made up 2.6%. According to the survey results, women who were abused during pregnancy were punched or kicked in the stomach. This manifestation of violence is also more common in rural areas. Moreover, the hitmen are the fathers of those children in all cases. Those men, in general, treated women in a similar way before pregnancy, but during pregnancy, the beatings and slaps decreased.

There are two main approaches to reacting to the abuser’s actions: either do nothing and wait until the abuser finishes his physical abuse, or defend yourself and respond to his behavior.

In Armenia, the majority of women, 67%, prefer the first option: to do nothing to defend themselves or respond. Only 33% of women have ever resisted partner violence. Moreover, most of the women who fought back did it once, 13.2%.

Psychological abuse is more common

In contrast to sexual (6.6%) and physical violence (14.8%), 31.8% of women in Armenia were subjected to psychological violence. Moreover, psychological violence is more common in urban areas than in rural areas. The higher the educational level of a person, the higher the rate of exposure to psychological violence. In contrast to physical and sexual violence, psychological violence is more common among women with higher/post-graduate education.

Women living in rural areas, regardless of the circumstances of being subjected to violence, think more about suicide than urban women. Probably, one of the reasons for this is socio-economic problems. Meanwhile, when it comes to suicide attempts, women living in urban areas and not subjected to violence have attempted suicide more than women living in rural areas. Probably, socio-cultural factors are behind it. The phenomenon of suicide in rural areas, which is seen as shameful, has deeper roots.

The research (CIHR) was carried out in the framework of the cooperation of the Statistical Committee (ARMSTAT), “International Center for Human Development” LLC (ICDC) and “AM Partners Consulting Company” LLC. The provision of this service was carried out within the framework of the National Strategic Program for Strengthening the National Statistical System of Armenia financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

It aimed to collect data on violence against women and especially domestic violence. The research made it possible to assess the prevalence of violence against women in their households according to the types, frequency and regularity of the violence, as well as to identify the reasons for the abuser’s use of violence, the physical, emotional and psychological consequences of it on the victims of violence.

The target participants of the survey are women aged 15-59 living in private households. As part of the survey, field staff actually visited 12,636 households, but effective interviews were conducted in 2,872 households.

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