IWPR Reports on Women in Armenia‏

IWPR Report

LONG WAY TO GO FOR ARMENIA'S WOMEN
Slow progress towards equality in public life.
By Gayane Abrahamyan in Yerevan

Although three-quarters of women in Armenia have been through higher education,

there have only been four female ministers since the country became independent in

1991.

Only one woman - in Shirak in 2007 - has ever been named as a regional governor.

The figures reveal the extent of the gender divide in the former Soviet country where,

despite formal equality of the sexes in law, women still battle to achieve the goals

open to men.

The highest post a woman has ever held in the country is that of deputy speaker.

Arevik Petrosyan, a member of parliament from Prosperous Armenia, part of the

ruling coalition, was elected to the post in September 2007.

She is one of only 12 women in the 131-member assembly. This may look like a

depressing proportion for equality activists, but it is a step forward of sorts, since

only seven women held seats in the previous parliament.

A similar rise - albeit from a low base - is visible at lower levels of the state. In

2005, only 16 of the country's 866 village administrations were headed by women.

Now there are 23.

But activists still point out that women are absent from all the top positions in the

country.

"It's true that they are now more tolerant towards women, but the top positions are

still inaccessible," said Jemma Hasratyan, founder and president of the

Association of Women with a Higher Education.

She has several explanations for why women remain excluded from the elite.

According to a sociological survey conducted in 2006, more than 30 per cent of

people think women miss out on top positions because of male chauvinism in

society. Another 15 per cent blame corruption for their absence.

Curiously, however, the survey also showed that 60 per cent of men and 83 per

cent of women said they supported greater female participation in politics, which

was a significant increase on five years previously.

Lilit Zaqaryan, vice-president of the Association of Women, said the roots of

discrimination went so deep that it was hard to isolate them.

"The problem lies in the depths of the subconscious. In a survey, many people

will support having a woman in the cabinet, then during an election they will

automatically choose a man. This is because at the deepest level of the

subconscious, only a man is thought of as a politician or leader," she said.

This was confirmed by Alvard Petrosyan, a woman who has been elected to

parliament three times. "Women trust men mainly out of habit, which to a

greater or lesser extent affects everyone," she said.

Another explanation put forward for why women miss out on top positions is

that they spend time with their families, thus harming their careers. This is

contradicted, however, by two mothers elected to parliament - one from the

ruling party, one from the opposition.

"Of course it was not easy, but you need resolve and hard work to get ahead,

" said Hermine Naghdalyan, who has five children and represents the

president's party in parliament. Her large family has not stopped her being

elected four times.

The 50-year-old first entered parliament in 1995, seeing off challenges from

19 rivals in the election.

"It was hard. As a rule, the political game is aggressive, and normally it's a

fight without rules. But a woman can dictate her own rules, which are more

humane and more successful," said Naghdalyan, adding that her family's

support had been very important for her to overthrow traditional stereotypes.

Sociologists say women are also excluded from the political arena because

positions are gained through back-room deals - something women are often

excluded from.

Armine Ghazaryan, an expert from the Armenian Centre for Strategic and

National Investigations who has looked into the reasons for the gender divide,

said this "unique culture for resolving matters" blocks women from advancing.

"Various circles, spheres and groups are an inalienable part of a state like

ours - corruption, powerful shadowy figures, the police, the organised

criminals, the oligarchs. It is specifically this way of solving problems that

rules out the possibility of women taking part," he said.

Anait Bakhshyan of the opposition Heritage party picked up on these

allegations.

"Men know well that in most cases, women are not going to take part in dirty

deals and will not take part in business outside the law," he said.

Aharon Adibekyan, a researcher from the think tank Sociometr, said such

explanations were too complicated, and that the real reason for women's

exclusion from public life was the fact that traditional roles persisted in

most families. Women cook and raise families while men go out to earn

money.

"You cannot speak of serious progress when in 67 per cent of cases there

is psychological pressure in families, which normally means that women

are not able to work," he said.

The Heritage party - which counts three women among its seven members

of parliament, compared with just two among the 64 deputies of the ruling

Republican Party - is determined to change this.

"Women are the majority of the population, and they must be given a

chance to be heard," said Raffi Hovhannisyan, leader of the Heritage

party. "Without this, democracy is impossible."

Gayane Abrahamyan is a correspondent for ArmeniaNow.


KARABAKH WOMEN DENY DISCRIMINATION
Rare regional exception where most women believe their rights are

respected.
By Anahit Danielyan in Stepanakert

Women in Nagorny Karabakh, in a rare exception in the South Caucasus,

say they do not suffer discrimination and are happy with their position in life.

Karabakh, which has declared independence from Azerbaijan but not been

recognised internationally, is out of the mainstream of political life in the region,

making it hard to draw any firm conclusions.

There is no law regulating the number of women who should hold particular

jobs, but politicians say female representation is increasing steadily. Some

29 per cent of judges are now women, and four of the 12 ministers are

women, as are four of the 33 members of parliament.

Narine Aghabalyan, minister for culture and youth issues, says the proportion

of women in top jobs is higher in Karabakh than in Armenia.

"I have not come across any cases where the rights of women have been

violated. In our ministry, for example, women are in the majority, and that isn't

good, either. If we need to appoint a man to some post, then it shouldn't be

seen as a violation of women's rights," she told IWPR.

Her words were echoed by Ludmila Barseghyan, one of the four women in

parliament.

"As far as I can see, the public attitude is that women are no worse than men,

and that a woman is no less strong in her sphere than a man. This is confirmed

by the fact that the number of female deputies is increasing, and we are more

concerned with improving the living standards of our citizens," she said.

The words of the likes of Barseghyan and Aghabalyan appear to convince

many women that opportunities are open to them.

"I don't think there are any restrictions on women's participation. The fact that

women have significant roles in government is clear confirmation of this. I don't

hold any official position, but I have to recognise that there are women in

government circles," said Anzhela Gevorgyan, a resident of Stepanakert.

Experts say it is hard to draw clear conclusions since there have been few

studies of the real position of women in society.

They note, however, that women in Karabakh are unlikely to speak out against

domestic violence, since they do not see it as being in any way abnormal.

Karine Grigoryan, 38, was married when she was just 20 to a man ten years

her senior. She said her husband often prevented her leaving the house when

he was in a rage.

"But it never occurred to me that he was violating my rights. That's probably a

result of my upbringing. From childhood on, I was taught that a woman has to

listen to a man, and that he decides everything in the family," she said.

The prosecutor's office in Karabakh says that in 2009, nine sexual crimes were

recorded, or which two were rapes or attempted rapes, and seven related to

immoral behaviour.

Hasmik Khachatryan, a judge in the Karabakh Appeals Court, said the paucity

of domestic violence cases before the courts was not a reason for complacency.

"In my experience, such cases have not been investigated. But judging by what's

reported in the media and police records, women's rights are often violated not

just by men, but by women too," she said.

Karabakh's human rights ombudsman, meanwhile, said women mainly submitted

requests for help with grievances related to labour or living conditions. However,

this could mean that women are keeping quiet about domestic violence.

"I cannot say for sure whether women's human rights are being violated or not,

but I think they are," said Julia Arstamyan, head of Harmonia, a Karabakh

non-governmental organisation. "Nor can I say why girls do well at school and

university, but the jobs mostly go to men. Not only that, but more senior the

position, the more it is to held by a man."

Hasmik Mikaelyan, head of an NGO called Motherhood, said the women who

suffer most are over 30.

"Only women aged from 19 to 30 are accepted for jobs, and anyone over 30 is

left without work," she said. "They also often refuse to give jobs to pregnant

women or those who have recently married."

Anahit Danielyan is a correspondent for the Hetq online newspaper in

Stepanakert.