Wednesday, December 13 2017 11:59

ArmInfo.On December 13, the Armenian parliament passed a package of laws aimed at preventing family violence in the second and final reading.

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 domestic 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 can become a victim of repeated violence if this is  declared, which limits the will of that person." It will be enough 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.