I Decided to Read the Istanbul Convention: Arsen Torosyan

Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan writes on his Facebook page: "We need to change individually and collectively, and the state has a role to play here. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the "Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence," commonly known as the Istanbul Convention. Therefore, I decided to read it, sometimes comparing the Armenian and English versions.

After reading it, I was left with the impression that most of the people, including political figures, opposing this convention that protects women's rights have not read it. A very small portion, after reading it, quote fragments disconnected from the context, pursuing understandable political interests, as often seen during other fabricated agendas. Only a very few appear to genuinely see dangers in certain formulations, which can, however, be said to be non-existent. It’s not easy to look for a black cat in a dark room where it isn’t present.

I can confidently say that individuals who are deeply familiar with the content of the convention and value women’s rights should support the adoption of the convention, as it establishes an internationally recognized legal framework to prevent and protect against domestic violence against women and girls.

The question is that some people believe that women or girls do not have the right to live in an environment free from violence, that women and men do not have equal rights, that a woman should be a silent housewife and only the mother of children, without any other rights even in cases of domestic violence. And that is our tradition... And if that is our tradition, it needs to be broken, smashed, and efforts must be made for women and men to truly be equal both in the family and in society. And the conventions have nothing to do with this. By the way, I expressed this opinion during an interview on this occasion, and it remains unchanged."