Freedom House's Call to the Armenian Government

Freedom House, a human rights advocacy organization, has published a report titled "Interventions for the 2024 OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference." The report emphasizes that Freedom House seeks to highlight key issues related to human rights at this year's OSCE Human Dimension Conference in Warsaw.

The report includes specific sections regarding Armenia, particularly addressing the necessity for "Additional Efforts Needed to Combat Gender-Based Violence". It states, "Since 2018, the Armenian people and the government have strived to advance democratic reforms despite ongoing internal and external challenges, including continuous threats to national security and the forced displacement of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan in 2023." Freedom House urges the Armenian government to continue close cooperation with civil society and create opportunities to collectively address issues of discrimination, gender equality, and gender-based violence.

The human rights organization outlines significant questions related to gender inequality and traditional gender roles while utilizing the establishment of peace.

“Freedom House welcomes the steps taken by Armenia in the past year towards gender equality and against discrimination, including the introduction of new legislative initiatives focusing on anti-discrimination, known as the "Law on Ensuring Equality and Protection from Discrimination," comprehensive amendments to the law on prevention of family and domestic violence, protection of victims of family and domestic violence, and restoration of family harmony, as well as broad institutional initiatives, such as the implementation of a gender equality seal in the office of Armenia's Human Rights Defender, which will allow for more precise attention to gender equality issues within state institutions.

“Despite this progress, challenges remain. The rights of women and LGBTQI+ individuals have been subject to systematic attacks from both internal and external factors, including conservative, Russian-backed misinformation and protected internal extremist groups. These actors continuously exploit gender issues, undermining support for equal treatment and protection against violence, sowing distrust towards the West, and diminishing support for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention. The Armenian government has made little effort to leverage the lived experiences of women or LGBTQI+ individuals in developing national policies affecting these groups.

The current omission of protected grounds in the proposed equality law, such as gender identity and sexual orientation, raises concerns about the effective legal protection for vulnerable groups.

Furthermore, the lack of participation from vulnerable groups in policymaking to combat misinformation highlights the government's neglect of a whole-of-society approach and failure to create national resilience against misinformation in the country.

In its report, Freedom House calls on the Armenian government to:

1. Implement comprehensive anti-discrimination laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, as well as preventing and eliminating violence against women, LGBTQI+ individuals, and other marginalized populations.
2. Implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which emphasizes the critical role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts, as well as in peacekeeping, peacebuilding, peace negotiations, humanitarian response, and post-conflict reconstruction.
3. Consulting with civil society, implement policy measures that offer services and support to victims of domestic violence and marginalized communities affected by violence in Armenia.
4. Ensure and enhance the participation and leadership of women and representatives of marginalized communities in decision-making processes and policy formulation.
5. Support women’s increased involvement in peace negotiations and peacebuilding efforts.
6. Collaborate with civil society to ensure that gender equality and the exclusion of discrimination remain central priorities on the government’s agenda and reform processes.
7. Continue efforts to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence ("Istanbul Convention") and engage in dialogue with civil society, relevant stakeholders, and the broader public regarding its ratification process.
8. Protect gender-sensitive reporting in the public media and actively encourage other media outlets to adopt similar standards through self-regulation.

This is reported by "Zhoghovurd".