The document summarizes efforts to reform domestic violence laws in Armenia. Nationalist groups opposed reforms based on the Istanbul Convention by claiming they undermine traditional values. Suggested reforms included adopting a victim-centered approach, removing warnings as a protective measure, changing or removing mandatory reconciliation, protecting children's rights, and strengthening criminalization of acts like stalking and psychological violence. Advocates learned they had to strategically frame the debate, protect relevant rights, make evidence-based arguments, and be adaptable in reform efforts facing nationalist opposition.

1. Remaking a
Domestic Violence Law
Weakened by
Nationalist Opposition in
Traditional Armenia
Gabriel Armas-Cardona, Esq.
APHA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, November 3, 2019

2. Presenter Disclosure
The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation
existed during the past 12 months:
No relationships to disclose

3. “
”
Domestic Violence: all acts of physical,
sexual, psychological or economic violence
that occur within the family or domestic unit
or between former or current spouses or
partners.
ARTICLE 3 OF THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION
The Council of Europe passed the Istanbul Convention in 2011.
It is based on and develops from the 1994 Inter-American Convention of Belem Do Para.
The Istanbul Convention is the most well-developed mechanism in the world to combat domestic violence.

4. The Caucasus
 Western Asia: a mix of European
and Asian culture
 Post-Soviet: inherited the USSR’s
legal structure, which had not
addressed DV
 Had a revolution in May 2018
DV in Armenia
 2010: Zaruhi Petrosyan was brutally
beaten to death by her husband,
shocking the nation
 2015: 14% of Armenian women
who have ever been married
report some form of DV
 Dec 2017: Armenia passes an anti-
DV law, and a populist backlash
begins.

5. Say hello to the Armenian Alt-Right

6. Adekvad
“Adequate” NGO
 Claim western-educated people
in government is “the second
stage of the Armenian genocide”
and
 “[George] Soros is provoking a
civil war” in Armenia.

7. Kamk “Will” NGO
 “For the protection of Armenian
values”
 Yes, that is a swastika and an iron
cross on her rings

8. Naturally, Russia is there to “help”
 This is a flyer that was passed out in October 2017, while the law was still
being debated. On the left is “The Situation in Russia” and the right is
“The Situation in the West”
 There’s examples of similar fliers being distributed in Latvia and
Bulgaria.
 Typical populist attacks:
 counter our traditional Armenian values
 destroy the Armenian family
 take children away from families and place them in orphanages
 That children, as a result of family disruption, will become gay
 These attacks are similar to the “gender ideology” arguments
that religious conservatives use in Latin America.

9. Reforming the DV law

10. Highlights of Identified Weaknesses
Not taking a
centered approach
Unreliable State
responses
Police responses Reconciliation
Children not
viewed as their
persons
Insufficient
criminalization

11. Integrate the Principle of a
Victim-Centered Approach
The ultimate goal of any DV law is "the human rights and safety of the victim"
• Istanbul Convention Art. 18
1st principle in DV law provides for “providing safety and protection to victims”
• Neglecting the victim's rights and treating them as a passive object.
2nd principle in DV law provides for “strengthening traditional values and
restoring peace in the family”

12. Removing “Warnings" as a
Police Protective Measure
 The DV law has 3 types of protective measures: official warnings, emergency interventions and
protection orders.
 Official warnings don’t exist in the Istanbul Convention. I couldn't find a single US state or countries,
except for Ukraine, that used these warnings.
 Official warnings are for when the police suspect that there has been violence that doesn't
amount to a crime.
 Imagine: a police officer enters a home due to alleged violence. The officer see’s no evidence of
violence, but the alleged victim is terrified. What happens next?
 What they can do is simply leave after giving a warning, with the victim now being left unprotected.
 What they should do is wait until the victim has calmed down and can explain the situation. Then the
officer should assess if ab emergency intervention order is warranted.

13. Revamping or Removing Reconciliation
 Reconciliation is an alternative dispute mechanism used in family law. But it is only appropriate
when the parties have approximately equal power.
 In DV there is a massive power imbalance. The evidence is overwhelming that victims of DV often feel
shame, helplessness and vulnerability.
 The UN recommends prohibiting reconciliation & the Istanbul Convention prohibits mandatory
reconciliation.
 In the DV law, reconciliation is optional power imbalance isn’t considered.
 Either party can request reconciliation proceedings, and social pressure could coerce the victim into
participating.
 We had two alternative recommendations:
 change each part of reconciliation to be victim-driven, or
 remove it altogether.

14. Protecting Children
The legal norm for engaging with children is “the best interests of the child”, which may result
temporary or permanent removal of custody.
Removing the father’s custody is one of the most vocal talking points that populists make when
saying that this law is secretly designed to break up traditional families.
Our response: Armenia must follow the decisions of the European Court of
Human Rights. We detailed multiple cases showing what a DV law must allow for.

15. Criminalization
 Specific crimes
 Stalking - “the intentional conduct of repeatedly engaging in threatening conduct directed at another
person, causing her or him to fear for her or his safety”
- Istanbul Convention Art. 34
 The DV law excluded this.
 Psychological violence is defined in the law, but it is not criminalized as it should be.
 Admittedly, many countries are still struggling with criminalizing psychological violence. France did it in 2010, and
the UK in 2013. Ireland just did it this year.
 US universally criminalizes stalking, psychological violence is less protected. E.g., except in the form of
harassment, psychological violence isn’t a federal crime.
 Generally
 The police are an essential component of the State’s response. They are needed to intervene and make
arrests when appropriate. But so are non-criminal interventions, e.g. protection measures

16. Strategies Learned
Mindset: this is a battle
with no mercy
These aren’t people you can
convince with evidence or
reason. They are people that
you need to push out of
popular discourse.
Keep control of the
rhetoric
Your framework is the basis
of your argument. If
someone accepts your
frame, half your work of
convincing them is done.
Much of the public was
ignorant of these issues,
making one’s frame even
more important in terms of
convincing people.
Protect all relevant
rights
It’s both principled and
strategic to recognize both
parties have rights: the right
to health and life of the
victim and procedural rights
of the perpetrator.
Recognizing both makes you
seem reasonable.
•But don’t say they’re
"balanced" or pretend that
they’re equal. You lose your
frame.
Be rigorous
Anyone who is sincerely
involved in politics can’t
ignore evidence-based
policy or results. They can
ignore people’s, even
professionals’, opinions.
Be adaptable
Develop multiple approaches
to give yourself negotiating
space: have a best case
scenario and an acceptable
scenario