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The U.S. State Department: Domestic violence against women, children was widespread in Armenia

14 March 2019 17:26 (UTC +04:00)

The U.S. State Department releases annual Country Reports on Human Rights, ONA reports citing press service of the State Department.

The annual report reads that domestic violence against women, children was widespread in Armenia: "Domestic violence was prosecuted under general statutes dealing with violence, although authorities did not effectively investigate or prosecute most allegations of domestic violence. Police, especially outside Yerevan, were reluctant to act in such cases and discouraged women from filing complaints,” says the report on human rights situation around the globe in 2018.

According to the US State Department report, there were no official referral procedures for children who were victims of violence, including sexual violence, and referrals were not mandatory for professionals working with children in Yerevan.

Annual report reads that the state of Armenian media, broadcast and larger-circulation print media in the country generally lacked diversity of political opinion and objective reporting.

“Private individuals or groups owned most broadcast media and newspapers, which tended to reflect the political leanings and financial interests of their proprietors,” the annual report says.

The report provided a wide coverage of the death cases that occurred in the army of Armenia in peaceful conditions. It was noted that there are contradictions between official and non-official information in this regard. It was stated that in 2018, non-governmental organizations revealed 24 deaths in the Armenian Armed Forces in the peaceful conditions. However, the Armenian Defense Ministry revealed that 31 death cases were recorded in the army in 2018.