Roundtable Discussion on Sexual Abuse to Be Held in Armenia

YEREVAN— On June 8, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), in collaboration with the Women’s Resource Center in Armenia (WRCA), will hold a roundtable discussion in Yerevan on sexual abuse against women and the measures required to prevent sexual abuse.

IWPR’s Caucasus Reporting Service referred to this issue in a separate story titled “Standing Up for Women’s Rights in Armenia” by Lara Aharonian, a co-founder of the Women’s Resource Center in Armenia.

Recent research conducted by the ProMedia-Gender non-governmental organization shows that from June 2009 to June 2010, articles on sexual abuse and gender discrimination made up only 0.4 percent of Armenian media newsfeed.

Meanwhile, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, 54 cases of sexual violence were reported in the first six months of 2010, compared to 34 cases registered in 2009, meaning that reports of sexual violence in the first six months of 2010 have already far exceeded the total for the whole of 2009.

At the roundtable, Aharonian will give a presentation outlining the significant issues surrounding the rise in sexual violence in Armenia. She will discuss some of the key data that has arisen over the issue of sexual violence from the Women’s Resource Center’s own research.

The roundtable will be attended by police officials, representatives from the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Justice Ministry, as well as members of local and international organizations. Journalists and participants from activist groups will also be present to discuss sexual violence in an Armenian context and to consider and develop some possible ways of preventing sexual abuse against women.

The discussion is organized within the framework of the Building Bridges/Building Capacity in the South Caucasus project, supported by funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For more information, call the IWPR Armenia office at +374 10 53 92 04 or email iwprarmenia@gmail.com.

IWPR strengthens local media at the frontlines of conflict and change, working in two dozen countries and territories around the world. This includes establishing independent local media; training local reporters, editors, and producers; supporting extensive in-depth reporting on human rights, good governance, and related issues; disseminating professional reporting in developing countries and internationally; and strengthening communications capacity of local human rights, international justice, and women’s organizations.

In Armenia, IWPR raises public awareness and helps build significant dialogues by strengthening local media skills and capacities.

The Women’s Resource Center was founded in 2003 and is the first resource center created in the post-soviet Armenia for young women. The center is working in the area of women’s human rights, reproductive and sexual rights, sexual violence, and women’s role in the conflict resolution and peace building in the region of South Caucasus. In 2008, WRCA set up a hotline and a group of mutual assistance to support women who have fallen victim to sexual violence. The center is open for women of all ages, education, sexual orientation, and social backgrounds.