A disturbing report on domestic violence in Armenia

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Domestic Abuse? What Abuse? ...She Fell and Died!
Armenian Weekly
Sun, Oct 10 2010
By:Nanore Barsoumian

Twenty year old Zaruhi Petrosyan became one of the latest victims of
domestic violence in Armenia, when she was viciously beaten to death
by her husband and mother-in-law, says the victim's sister, Hasmig.

In an interview with News.am, Hasmig recounted a horrific story of
abuse that her late sister, mother to an infant girl, suffered, and
the impotence and unwillingness of the police to act when faced with
cases of domestic violence.

Zaruhi's relatives insist that by the time she was transported to a
hospital, Zaruhi had been severely beaten for days in a row.

`The neighbors have stated [to the Masis Police] that on the day of my
sister's death, they entered the apartment and witnessed how they [the
husband and the mother-in-law]... had broken her knees and fingers,
crushed her skull and stuffed cloth in her mouth, to stop the
bleeding. Then, one of the neighbors told their son to call the cops.
When her mother-in-law and husband realized that the cops would be on
their way, in her beaten state, they threw [Zaruhi] down the stairs,
pulled her body back into the house, so that they could tell the cops
that she fell down the stairs and crushed her bones,' said Hasmig.

The sister believes that Yanis Sarkisov, her sister's husband, broke
Zaruhi's fingers after she tried to dial for help.


Slideshow images are courtesy of Araz Artinian, a documentary
filmmaker, humanitarian worker and activist, who uses various creative
modes to raise awareness about issues of concern, especially
injustices affecting women and children in Armenia.

Hasmig revealed that from the beginning of her sister's marriage to
Yanis, in March 2008, she was constantly subjected to severe beatings,
until blood would pour out her nose and mouth, and she would lose
consciousness.

`They beat my sister even in her pregnant state,' said Hasmig.

On a number of occasions, Zaruhi went to Hasmig's abode, covered in
bruises. She told them that her husband and his mother had repeatedly
beaten her, demanding that she call her relatives and ask for money
for his car payments.

`It so happened, that my sister separated from her husband and lived
with us for about two weeks. Every day her husband would call and
threaten her, that if you don't come back home, I will come over and
kill you and your sister's family, and if you go out of the house, I
will kill you outside,' said Hasmig.

They went to the police twice, said Hasmig, `And it's even in writing
that if he so much as touches her, they would take him in... the Masis[
Police Department].'

`But they all turned a blind eye,' added Hasmig's mother-in-law.

Yanis had bragged about his cousin who held a high ranking position in
the Etchmiadzin police. Adding that since his wife was an orphan girl,
he could do anything he wanted with her; even kill her, if he wished.

Hasmig's mother-in-law, who had witnessed Zaruhi's beatings and the
bruises on her body, confirmed her story.

Gayane Markaryan, Director of Pyureghavan's Care and Protection
Center, the shelter where Hasmig and Zaruhi had stayed at prior to
their marriages, told a similar story. When on a few occasions
Markaryan had contacted Zaruhi to ask about her wellbeing, Zaruhi had
said that she was miserable and was often beaten.

`Six or seven months ago, she was already complaining that my life
isn't good; I'm constantly beaten and tortured; they're keeping
me and my child in terror. And 15 days ago, she called and began to
cry, saying there is always a fight in our house, my mother-in-law
this, my brother-in-law that... and on and on,' said Markaryan.

Now her relatives are afraid the truth is being covered up by the
police, because Zaruhi is an `unprotected child.'

According to Hasmig, when she began telling the Masis police about the
beatings and abuse her sister had suffered, the investigator kept
declaring that her story was unimportant and irrelevant, in an attempt
to smooth over the alleged crime.

Hasmig's mother-in-law said that when she criticized the investigator,
she was escorted outside the police headquarters, and reprimanded by
his officers for being too loud.

Meanwhile, the police and hospital reports contradict one another. The
cause of death and even the time of death do not match.

According to Hasmig, the police investigator claimed he spoke to
Zaruhi at 2:00 am, which is when she allegedly told him that she fell
down the stairs. `My sister died at 1; how could the investigator have
spoken with her at 2?' said Hasmig.

Furthermore, the hospital staff claimed, before her death, Zaruhi's
request was `don't prosecute my husband.'

Yanis, who has since been detained and is under questioning, has
reportedly denied having committed any crime, saying `I am not guilty.
She fell, and died.'

`Typical Mentality'

The News.am story should bring the issue of domestic violence to the
forefront of Armenia's national agenda, at least, that is what many
activists seem to hope for. Some have called for legislative steps to
protect the rights of women in Armenia, many of whom are victims of
abuse.

Despite overwhelming evidence that confirm that domestic abuse is
rampant in Armenia, news reports and personal accounts make the case
that Armenia's authorities choose to ignore, or even worse, deny, the
problem.

One blogger, Artmika, writes: `I remember when relatively recently the
Women's Resource Centre wanted to put posters in Yerevan to highlight
the problem of domestic violence and indicate hotline for those
affected to call, the Yerevan municipality refused to allow it by
claiming there is no such problem in Armenia. Typical mentality. Let's
pretend that we do not have such problem, let's not talk about it,
otherwise it may affect our image... Instead of facing up the problem
and developing effective means to tackle it. In the meantime, cases,
like the one [above], keep happening...'

Studies show that only 17 percent of domestic abuse victims reach out
to the police. However Deputy Head of the Police Order Maintenance
Department Karen Mehrabyan argued that `If it were so, then every
third man is also subjected to violence, because women always pressure
them to bring money home,' reported ArmeniaNow.

In April, Director of the Women's Rights Center Susanna Vardanyan told
ArmeniaNow's Gayane Abrahamyan that her organization had initiated a
draft law on domestic violence, which had been examined by various
ministers and officers of the law. `Five years ago, we could not even
have said that. High-ranking officials would just have laughed and
said such a problem did not exist in Armenia, that these were just
isolated cases but now many are even ready to support the adoption of
the law.'

Zaruhi's death have sparked renewed efforts to protect the rights of
women within the home. Citing her death, a petition has been drafted
by a concerned party, titled `Armenia Must Pass Domestic Violence
Legislation,' on an online petition site, that aims to collect 1,000
signatures.

Because family is a strong unit in Armenia, no one wants to speak
about abuse, while the government claims it is a private matter,
Heather McGill, a researcher with Amnesty International told Inter
Press Service in 2009.

`The Traditional Armenian Image'

Meanwhile, on Sept. 29, only a couple of days before Zaruhi's death,
Armenia's Diaspora Ministry announced it was organizing a `Miss
Armenian' beauty contest.

According to the Minister, Hranush Hakobyan, participants, local or
Diasporan, are expected to have `mastered' the Armenian language, be
good cooks, and `preserve the image of an Armenian woman,' reported
epress.am.

When asked to elaborate on `the image of an Armenian woman,' the
Minister said, `To tell you the truth, I don't accept filthy,
ill-mannered girls.' A woman must be `modest.'

`I also don't accept journalists who raise their pens and attempt to
write filth about the traditional Armenian image in the papers,' added
the Minister.

`Really good things can be portrayed in these processes of
globalization, while the bad is not reproduced. The world is changing
very quickly, it's getting smaller. We can see and comprehend all the
social phenomena of different countries, but the traditional Armenian
woman is a good mother, a good daughter, a good wife. All her actions,
really, are balanced and measured,' she said. The Armenian woman
should `be within [her] limits.'

While it appears the Ministry is encouraging self-censorship in
matters that could `harm' the national image, activists are asking for
a larger and louder chorus.

In an open letter, Armenia's Society Without Violence condemned the
death of Zaruhi, adding that `As women's rights NGO members, we call
Human Rights organizations, activists, interested people, mass-media
and international organizations [need]to be observant, to highlight
this case by every possible way of dissemination, to provide the
publicity and transparency of the case investigation and the trial for
reaching the fair judgment of [the] 20 year-old woman's murderers.

`Otherwise the stereotypes, that such crimes are inter-family issues,
that such cases do not deserve to be in the public's and law
enforcement bodies' attention will have more and profound roots in our
society.

`With our silence we will allow such crimes to be justified and guilty
people to avoid the punishment determined by law. In other words, by
our silence we will have more innocent victims.'