Women in the police. unprecedented appointments

Women have been appointed as Head of police department and head of the division, – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook page, describing these appointments as unprecedented for Armenian history.

“In particular, the Prime Minister said, Police Lieutenant Colonel Meline Yeghshatyan has been appointed Head of Gugark Police Department, Police Captain Janna Shahnazaryan has been appointed Head of Tsakhkadzor Police Division.

“This is in line with our government’s policy of increasing women’s involvement in all areas of public life. I wish Melineh Yeghshatyan and Janna Shahnazaryan good luck. It won’t be easy. But I believe that by their example, many women will be encouraged and men will be more responsible, ”the Prime Minister wrote.

Some details of the biography of Lieutenant Colonel Melineh Yeghshatyan are known. M. Yeghshatyan graduated from the Police Academy of the Republic of Armenia in 2007 and in 2010 graduated from the Law Department of the International Center of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. In 2010 she was appointed as an Investigator at the Gugark Division of the Police, in 2010 as a Senior Investigator, in 2014 was recognized as the Best Investigator of the RA Police, in 2018 she was appointed Deputy Chief of the Police Division,  Head of Investigation. In 2019 – as  Deputy Chief of Staff of the Police Division. On January 21^st, 2020, she was reappointed Chief of Police Investigation Division. She has been awarded the Police Service Excellence badge, a number of diplomas and letters of appreciation, as well as the RA Prosecutor General’s Certificate. During the Service Yeghshatyan held the honor of the police officer, was a decent policewoman, and enjoyed the love and respect of the staff. Details of police captain Zhanna Shahnazaryan’s biography have not yet been released.

Statistical Committee of RA 2018 According to the data, today, 8% of junior police officers are women.

It is also known that there are no women in senior positions in the Armenian police. 2015 According to the data, women in senior positions of the RA Police (Deputy Chief, Chief and Deputy Chief, Senior Investigator, Senior Inspector, Inspector, Investigator, Officer) make  9% . The number of women in senior positions (Head of Department, Head of Yerevan City and Regional Department, Deputy Head of Department, Head of Division) is 4%. The appointment of two women to the position of provincial chiefs was called unprecedented. After this appointment, only two out of 59 heads of RA marz departments and divisions are women.

It should also be noted that according to 2015 data, the number of girls admitted to police educational institutions was unprecedented, making up 58.3% at the Police Academy, 34.3% at the Police College and 19.2% at the Police Training Center. This fact gives hope that there will be no shortage of women in the police system, so new appointments can be expected in the near future … Especially given the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 adopted by the Government of the Republic of Armenia in February last year. The National Action Plan for 2019-2021 envisages increasing the number of women in the RA Police units, including senior management positions, as well as increasing the number of students in the Police Educational Establishment.