The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the US Embassy in Yerevan and the Investigative Committee in Armenia held a seminar on domestic and sexual violence within the framework of the 16 Days of Action Against Domestic Violence campaign. During the discussion, INL Senior Law Enforcement Advisor to Armenia Audie Holloway presented the tools that American law enforcement agents use to investigate domestic and sexual abuse cases, as well as mistakes that were made and the path that they went on.
The report made by the head of the Organizational-Analytical and Criminological General Department of Special Tasks of the Investigative Committee, Artur Melikyan, was particularly noteworthy. He presented an analysis of domestic violence cases that took place between 2017 and 2019, as well as the issues that the committee faces in practice.
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It seems that there has been an increase in domestic violence cases between 2017-2018 and the first half of 2019. There were 135 cases in which a man abused a woman during the first half of the year, but during the entirety of last year, there were 143 such cases. There were 8 cases of murder as a result of domestic violence in 2017, 10 cases in 2018, and 9 cases in the first half of 2019. It is not unlikely that this number will double by the end of the year. The leaders of the Investigative Committee believe that the number of murders reflects reality because it is impossible to hide someone’s body. But they cannot say whether other types of domestic violence cases have increased, or if people trust law enforcement now to report it.
In the past, it was shameful to speak about it, but after the law on domestic violence was accepted, people have started to come forward. Investigators spoke about noteworthy cases and what results the reports gave. A noteworthy case was registered in the Armavir region. One woman told investigators that she was raped. The investigator was surprised after listening to the details. He asked who raped her, and she responded, “My husband.” The investigator asked when, and the woman said, “These past 9 years.” So, after 9 years of being raped, the woman is only now coming forward and charging her husband with a crime.
Hripsime Jebejyan
