The conference will assess the impact of the Council of Europe campaign within parliaments and discuss the involvement of men in combating violence against women, and ways in which parliamentarians can follow up the campaign, which will draw to a close in June 2008.

The Council of Europe campaign was launched in Madrid in November 2006 with three main themes: strengthening support and protection for victims, encouraging policies and legal measures to combat violence against women, and changing attitudes towards the phenomenon.

For nearly two years now, the Assembly has been doing a great deal to rally parliamentary support for the campaign, in particular by setting up a network of contact parliamentarians to identify and promote initiatives by various national parliaments in the course of the campaign, and thus encourage the sharing of good practice among parliaments and the strengthening of legislation as a means of combating domestic violence against women.

*****

The conference will be held from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Austrian Parliament (Dr Karl Renner-Ring 3, Vienna) and will be open to the press.

Conference programme

Parliamentary dimension of the Council of Europe Campaign to Combat Violence Against Women

Я в Моем Мире - http://my.mail.ru/mail/opendoors75/

Press contact : Nathalie Bargellini, PACE Communication Unit,

mobile: +33 (0)6 65 40 32 82

Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93
Fax : +33 3 90 21 41 34
pace.com@coe.int
www.coe.int/press

Press Release - 297(2008)

Strasbourg, 30.04.2008 – In a declaration adopted today in Vienna at a conference on domestic violence against women held by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Austrian Parliament, the participants underlined the urgent need for action in national parliaments in this field, in terms of passing legislation and monitoring its application. The declaration also recommends that the networking of parliamentarians in the 47 member states should continue and that a Council of Europe framework convention should be drawn up to combat domestic violence.

“In implementing the parliamentary dimension of a Council of Europe campaign, the Assembly initiated a unique form of pan-European co-operation to counter domestic violence,” said PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig. “The Austrian Parliament led the way in Europe by passing exemplary legislation 11 years ago and our parliamentarians must now step up their commitment to give effect in national legislation to the clear political will that has been expressed since the start of the campaign at the end of 2006,” he added.

Nevertheless, “legislative advances are not enough on their own to prevent or curb domestic violence, as demonstrated by the terrifying tragedy which shook Austria recently,” said the Austrian Chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer, in an address to the participants. “We all have a responsibility to break the silence surrounding domestic violence and denounce any offences against human dignity.”

For two years, PACE has been raising awareness among parliamentarians in many different countries and urging parliaments to adopt minimum legislative standards on violence against women at the earliest opportunity.

Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93
Fax : +33 3 90 21 41 34
pace.com@coe.int
www.coe.int/press

Press Release - 316(2008)

As reported by “Novosti Armenii”, with a reference to the Police source, the victim was Ani’s ex-fiancé.

A witness said that cruel act occured in the stairwell of one of the multi-storey buildings of the Arabkir district. The police were informed about the incident and police officers found Ani late at night next to one of Yerevan’s cafes. The ex-fiancée was brought to the police department.

The victim was delivered to the Scientific Center of Radiation Medicine and Burns of the Ministry of Health in the evening of August 23 with severe burns over 90% of his body.

Vahram never regained consciousness and died on August 31st.

Marietta Malumyan

“Novoe Vremya” 07.10.08

 www.nv.am

Unofficial translation from Russian

This couple from Nor Nork got married in 2001; they have a daughter, who has undoubtedly brought happiness to both parents. Since 2003, the family has been living in one of non-residential premises of Nor Nork district buildings. Later the local governance body granted the property certificate for the venue to the wife. The spouses were happy to have a place of their own, but…

The damned “but” slips into this family too; the husband was upset, because the venue was his wife’s property, not his. Vague indications of this could be noticed till 2005, but in the recent 3 years the issue has risen in the family’s agenda in its full gravity. …

The wife, who is the victim of the case, testified that relations with the husband started deteriorating ever since the previously non-residential premises were registered as her property. Every now and then her husband demanded that she transfer the property rights to him...

Apparently, the man had his own ideas of what the family was. His manhood was deeply offended by the fact that his wife was the owner of their house. Their domestic quarrels always evolved around this issue. The man stubbornly forced his wife to do what he said and his wife opposed it. Their life was spiced by fights and arguments for some time, and they did not notice how they became aliens to each other. This situation eventually came to violence, just as it happened in the beginning of 2008. Early in the morning that day, the husband started the old and hackneyed conversation, the woman arrogantly refused, the quarrel started and the man hit his wife in the face, ear, and squeezed her neck. The woman barely escaped from the house with the baby and asked neighbors for help. Further, she reported the occurrence to the police. …

The accused husband did not pledge himself guilty and claimed that the only reason for their fights was his wife’s hot temper. There is not a word about property demands in the man’s written testimony.  As for the bodily injuries, which caused short-term health problems, according to him, everything happened not as his wife described, and he had no intention to cause such problems. He reported that his wife, as usual, lost her temper and ran out of the apartment with shouts. He tried to avoid embarrassment and asked her to come in, but she resisted. So he had to use force and return the woman to the apartment, pushing her back. That’s when, he thinks, those signs of injuries appeared. As for hitting her in the face with a wrist, then nothing of the kind happened. This man with a university education considered such cruelty inappropriate, yet injuries on the woman’s body could hardly have appeared due to a simple push. …           

Certainly, how the woman got the injuries is important. However, the most important thing is that the woman escaped from home with her daughter.  Have they ever thought, so preoccupied with their fights, how deeply they damaged their child’s emotional world with their humiliations, screaming and wrist waving. The consequences were not visible, could not have been ….Only when the girl grows up they will suddenly realize that they do not understand each other, that their child has become a stranger to them.

The question is whether or not they will understand that it is not their child; anyway, they have become strangers to her. Because of quarrels and fights, when they were in between “this is mine” and “this is yours,” they ignored the presence of the child, who saw, heard and remembered everything.    

Rita Nahapetyan

“02” weekly, www.police.am

 30 (879) 01-08-2008 

After the beating, the son grabbed a bottle of bleach and forced his mother to drink the contents. Vardanush was brought to  hospital. Her son is under criminal investigation.

Marietta Malumyan

Novoe Vremya

N1630, 10.07.2008, www.nv.am, unofficial translation from Russian.

At first, he was enjoying his family life, tried to make mutual understanding last forever, but after months, the spouses no longer understood each other. The reason was Arthur’s connection to his ex-wife: they had two children and they needed to be taken care of. Those were his children. It did not matter that they were not living together. His new wife did not want to tolerate the situation; constant quarrels around the issue became a habit. Days passed by, quarrels deteriorated. The woman wanted to have a baby, but her husband objected: he had no job, thus – no stable income, and yet, he had two children to take care of…

In other words, people living under one roof were drifting apart because of these disagreements. The “iron curtain” fell between them. They could no longer speak normally, just argue and yell at each other. During a regular quarrel the husband battered his wife: grabbed her by the hair, pushed her down to the floor and kicked her. Arthur’s brother, who was in the house, calmed them down. The woman immediately announced her verdict: she was returning to her parents. But she had no money. Arthur gave her the necessary sum. The woman packed her belongings and spent the night at Arthur's uncle’s place; in the morning, she headed to her parents. She arrived there, but said nothing about the occurrence to her mother, as if she had just come for a couple of days and would return. She thought that her husband would deplore what he did and come after her, but...   

Days went by, but the husband did not come. Pain of soul added to body pain. He must have decided that they should not be together any more. Thus, since her husband was not coming after her, she told the truth to her mother. Certainly, the woman noticed bruises on her daughter’s body, and even asked where did they come from, but the daughter hid the truth. The truth, which was later disclosed in the Police Department…

The investigation of the case, initiated by the Kotayk Marz Police Department, is over.

Karine Muradyan

”02” police weekly, www.police.am

25 (874) 27-06-2008 

Muradyan was delivered to the local hospital with knife wounds of the neck. The body of his wife, Rose, was delivered to the same hospital. As the police investigation group found out, Muradyan stabbed his wife and then tried to cut his own throat, operating, for some strange reason, with three kitchen knives at the same time. Circumstances are to be clarified.

Novoe Vremya

26.06.2008

Extract

…Often in the world of men such crimes are committed, that one does not even know how to name them, how to believe to the unbelievable, inhumane, immoral … Thus, we still have a lot to think about and our route to becoming Human Beings is long…

On 26^th of May, at 11 o’clock, Artashat police station was informed by an unknown person that in one of the apartments of 6 Marks street there was the bloodstained body of Roza Martirosyan, the owner of the apartment. The operative group went to the crime scene and discovered that the 69-year-old woman died due to head injuries. 

The operative investigation group immediately commenced the investigation.  The apartment had been turned upside-down, which suggested a robbery with violence. Yet, the other suggestion was of a frame-up robbery: in order to cover tracks and to mislead the police, the perpetrator has, so to say, staged a robbery assault. The police investigators started their work in these two directions. It is worth mentioning that the experienced police officers were more inclined towards the second hypothesis: the retired woman lived alone and had no such property and money which could become a reason for robbery assault.  …

The investigation continued and one thing was clear from the very beginning: the only wealth that the late woman had – her apartment, could have become the reason for homicide. Only her relatives could inherit the property. Thus, all relatives of Roza Martirosyan were interrogated, including her sister’s son, 28-year-old resident of Artashat, Artak Manaseryan. That’s when the inhumane occurrence was revealed. Regardless of the fact that the young man, by finding himself in a difficult situation, tried to present it as an act of despair. Artak had murdered his aunt. A woman, who loved him as a son….        

In May 2007 Artak took a 800 000 AMD loan from the bank, and then decided to “start a business”. Presenting a business-plan he received another loan. Yet, as he explained himself, due to bad organization, his plans were ruined and debts were growing. The state of his family had simply deteriorated, domestic quarrels became a usual thing. Thus, he sent his wife and children to her parents.

The social part of the problem was resolved temporarily; however, the major part – debts, remained to be dealt with. The only way out, according to Artak.s opinion,  was his aunt’s one-bedroom apartment: the flat shall be sold, debts shall be paid and with the rest of the money he shall start a new business.

That was the business-plan he went to his aunt with: presenting everything in bright colors he offered her to sell the apartment and move to his place. With that money he shall give a start to a new “royal” life, and they, his mother, his aunt and himself, shall live in happiness and prosperity. Yet, the aunt didn’t share her nephew’s bright ideas. She was still a capable woman and could provide her own living in the own apartment. His aunt’s stubbornness irritated Artak, they argued a bit and then the old woman asks the demanding young man to leave. Artak left with his plans broken.

However, evil thoughts were already in his head. He visited his aunt again at midnight with an intention “to frighten her a little.” It is not clear how he imagined it, but his intention was to make the woman understand how dangerous it is to live all alone. “I wanted to scare her, but she was asleep, so I pitied her. Then I realized that she was awake, so I went to the kitchen in the dark.” –Artak told the details of his actions….The reality is that he has murdered his aunt, someone who was like a second mother for him. …

The woman must have heard the noise or simply had a bad feeling, for she woke up and went to kitchen in the dark. “I saw her entering the kitchen. There was no other way. There was a full bottle of vodka on the table, so I took it and hit her head three times”, - Artak said emotionlessly.

His conscience blacked out, but not his thoughts. He turned the flat upside-down, arranged everything to look like a robbery and left.

Yet, his “robbery” play was not successful; he did not manage to fool the police officers. The grave offence was uncovered hours after the report was received by the police.

Artak Manaseryan is detained, the investigation of the case is in the process.        


Hasmik Podosyan

”02”  weekly, 22 (871) 06-06-2008, www.police.am

Unofficial translation from Armenian 

Extract from “Man and wife are one”

Unfortunately, offenses of a domestic nature currently make a significant number. Particularly in 2007, 406 families were subjected to prophylactic registration in different Police departments. At the same time, numerous cases of deliberate causation of body injuries were registered and in most of them husbands were “key players”.   

In general, such crime as light, medium and severe bodily injuries, including murder, have certain grounds and often the roots of these grounds are to be discovered in the family. Repeated domestic quarrels, bad language, irony, bodily blows, eventually bring people under the jurisdiction of the Law.

Certainly, the atmosphere of intolerance, misunderstanding and intransigence can last for years and it is difficult to foresee when it shall qualitatively change into a criminal act. However, it is evident that one day police interference shall be inevitable; one day the case of the unhappy family shall join the row of legal violations – this is a fact.  …

It is impossible to get the full picture of domestic problems and domestic violence, because people report to the police only when they are brought to the edge of despair, when ugly and unbearable scenes can no longer be tolerated, when the solution can only be found in the Criminal Code.

It is no secret that majority of victims of domestic violence are women and men are the main “authors”. Yet, in my opinion, the major victims of these situations are children. Every day they witness how relations are ruined, values are crashed and such things like love, family, respect and tolerance are violated. Repeated domestic arguments, yelling, bad language, and battering first affect children of the family.  … Thus, before turning one’s family into a battlefield we should think, take parental care about the inner world of our children... Children are extremely attentive and careful creatures. Nothing escapes from their eye, so before turning a disagreement into a quarrel and battering, one has to be brave enough to look into the child’s eyes. This is not just a helpless little baby, who is trying to interfere your fight with his eyes full of pain and tears, this is the most important person in your life and he is to be accountable to when you decide to resolve domestic issues in an aggressive way.     

Hasmik Podosyan

“02” weekly newspaper,

They often argued on trifling and serious matters, and even forgot the pleasant expressions they would say so often before.

The gap between the young couple kept deepening. Months later, on the 28^th of March, the girl told her father about the problem. Her only hope and supporter was her father, in whose presence their future life was to be decided.

When the husband came home and learned that his wife’s father was now aware of their affairs, he lost his temper. He started arguing. Then he started beating with his fists and feet, and after that he started strangling her. The woman was crying for help. Some neighbors came up to their door on hearing her cry. When her screams got louder, they knocked at the door. The husband opened it. It did not take him long to give the answer to the question that could be read in the neighbors’ eyes. “There is no need to worry”, he said. Meanwhile, the wife managed to escape from the apartment and sought help at the neighbors.

According to the forensic expert's conclusion, a light temporary health injury has been caused to her.

In the examination department of Shengavit, the investigation is over and the case has been forwarded to the court.

Karine Muradyan

“02” weekly, www.police.am , unofficial translation from Armenian

18 (867) 09-05-2008

Only hatred has remained after 26 years of living together. The man could no longer stand woman’s voice, step, and breath.  Years spent side by side did not unite them, but in contrary – separated them. Thus, now both aliens were living under same roof with a feeling of doom.

According to the woman’s relatives, they should have divorced 5 years ago. Truly, this would be the best solution in their situation, when intolerance was accumulating. 

In some cases, the disease cannot be treated without a surgery. Also in some cases a surgery is needed to eliminate the unbearability of family life. There are situations when a cracked family cannot be glued with any patience or other efforts. In such families everybody is suffering: both spouses and children; sometimes as far as relatives and neighbors. Yet, due to either habit or fear of divorce, perhaps even because of a feeling of shame, people do not separate; they stay together and become prisoners of hatred, family hatred.

*****

Strangled woman

On 10 March 2007, three days before the crime was committed, they had a serious fight. In his speech at the Appeal Court Hovhannes described it as follows: “It was a storm on a sunny day, a provocation, much ado about nothing.” Perhaps this “storm” enlightened and revealed the old intention, which has nestled in Hovhannes’s soul.   

Three days later, on March 13 in the morning, Hovhannes left home to go to work. However, he stayed at the nearest bus stop and waited until their 14 year-old son, their youngest child, went to school and his wife remained home alone.

Hovhannes went home again, argued with his wife one more time, as if he wanted to make sure that there are no grounds for reconciliation and what he had in his mind was inevitable from that moment on. From words he passed to hits. The woman was fighting back, struggling. Hovhannes was getting more and more angry. At last, he strangled his wife with a curtain. …. Making sure that the woman was not breathing he sat still beside the victim. Actually, he considered HIMSELF a victim. That’s exactly how he presented the situation, when hours later he went to the police with a confession.              

The accuser

Hovhannes H. was both admitting his guilt and denying it at the same time. He was admitting it in theory, consciously, because he knew that remorse is an extenuating circumstance. Yet, he was denying his guilt, because in his entire life he used to blame others; he never noticed his mistakes, furthermore – never admitted them. They were all responsible for his failed life: his wife, her relatives even their children, but not himself. He thought that his wife was inciting their sons against him. …

After each domestic quarrel, he felt more and more hateful towards his wife; their cohabitation seemed more and more unbearable. Maybe his wife promoted their arguments; maybe her character was not gold either. Yet it was she who paid with her life and had no need to look back anymore.  …

One year

Hohvannes demanded another forensic psychiatric and psychological examination, stating that the previous examiners were not good enough and did not manage to delve into his psyche. ….

His appeal was declined and on March 27, 2008, the Criminal Appeal Court of Kotayk marz considered his sentence appropriate and confirmed 9 years of imprisonment.

Thus, Hovhannes hurled blame on the prosecutor…

Gohar Kalashyan

“02” weekly, www.police.am

17 (866), 02.05.2008.

The call from the Burn Medical Center to the Arabkir District Police Department was regarding the fact that one of the inhabitants of Mamikonyants street was transferred to the medical center with thermal burns of different body parts.

The victim’s burns were results of a fire started at the door of her apartment. Severe and deadly damage was caused to her health.   

The investigation was instituted at Arabkir Police Department in accordance with 1 and 2 points of section 2, Article 185 and section 1 of Article 120 of the RA Criminal Code. During the preliminary investigation, Nerses Yapunjyan, the victim’s son-in-law who has a criminal record of 10 imprisonments, was delivered to the police on suspicion of commission of a crime.

Yapunjyan confessed and pleaded guilty.

... He had tense relations with his mother in law due to domestic issues. After a regular quarrel he threatened to burn the woman in her own flat.

And he did:  three days after the quarrel he bought one bottle of gasoline and made his way towards the target. After midnight he poured the gasoline on the door of his mother-in-law's apartment and set it on fire.

According to his words, he didn’t want to harm her, only to scare her.

During the preliminary investigation, a psychiatric examination was made. According to the expert’s statement, Yapunjyan had alcoholic dementia. The decision was made to stop the investigation and restraint, and use compulsory medical measures.

The preliminary investigation is finished.

The case has been sent to the court.

Anna Aslanyan

“02” weekly, www.police.am, unofficial translation from Armenian

 16 (865) 25-04-2008

None of the people involved in this case, who are relatives, regardless of the status – accused, victim or witness, ever asked him/herself:  where is the threshold which cannot be passed, at least by blood kin? Thus, since they’ve never asked themselves and never admitted that such a threshold exists, they cannot explain how it happened that 3 members of one family found themselves on the bench. One was a victim, and the aged parents of the latter and their children became witnesses (including one minor, the presence of which should have at least hampered 30-40-and-more-years-olds).

Yet, they were so violent that even in presence of the child they continued to insult and humiliate the widow of their brother, who appeared in the center of the hatred of the three. They beat her and finally caused body injuries with a sharp cutting instrument. 

Let us not mention the names, because they have already been punished enough by bringing their family quarrels to the center of attention of neighbors and law enforcement, not to mention the inevitable criminal responsibility.  

… On December 15 of 2007, the participants of the future quarrel gathered in their parental home with a narrow circle of relatives with the purpose of visiting the grave of their late relative. The parents of the late man, his widow, his sisters, his brother’s wife and children stayed at home. Everybody said that the quarrel between the two sisters-in-law had a domestic nature.  

Let us not specify the cause and the reason of the quarrel because no matter how true and justified they were or how irritating, the quarrel, as the participants stated, “didn’t go above domestic issues,” thus it shouldn’t have had the development that it had.   

All this happened because relatives, arguing around a domestic issue, crossed a line which they had no right to cross.

The argument of two sisters-in-law started with a women’s squabble, but soon it grew into a scuffle.  Then the accused gave way to her hands and started beating the late brother-in-law’s widow. The widow could have protected herself from hits and kicks on the head and face, from nails, scratching her neck, but the niece of the deceased joined the attacker. Have you ever heard how women are cursing? If an outsider man was there on December 15^th,  he would certainly feel ashamed for the words that were coming out of the womens' lips at every move. All admonitions of mother-in-law and sisters-in-law to calm down sank in the noise of women’s fight.

At last they managed to pull the fighting women apart, and the beaten widow made her way towards the door but there she ran into her brother-in-law (the husband of one of the attackers), who had just returned from the graveyard. Apparently, the cause of the argument had a long history, otherwise the man, who opened the door with a kick and who had a sharp cutting tool in his hand, would not block the woman’s way. He would come into the room, clarify the situation and would give resolution to the quarrel with his authorized word. No, he didn’t do that. On the contrary, he cursed his sister-in-law in the worst way possible and hit her in the neck with what he had in his hand. The cut was luckily not very deep, but the woman’s neck immediately turned red. It is clear that when the irreparable happens, it usually becomes the peak of the fight and both sides immediately calm down. However, the thing is that even if both sides calm down, their burning emotions do not extinguish at once and are ready to erupt at any moment, as the cause of the argument is not eliminated, the question around which the argument occurred is not resolved, and it causes arguments at any opportunity.

The fact that, according to forensic examination, the victim received body injuries resulting in short-term health damage was in the second place for the victim, because, as she testified, she was feeling deeply humiliated: “All three of them insulted and humiliated my dignity with indecent words.” She testified the same during confrontational cross-questioning with the accused.

The conclusion is evident: this woman applied to law enforcement with an internal striving:  first of all, for restoration of her honor and dignity in her own eyes. She might not have even wanted to call her relatives to criminal responsibility. Perhaps, in the course of time, she would even make up with them and try to forget the incident, knowing whatsoever that repetition of such incidents is not excluded. Yet, perhaps the experience of already-repeated violence has filled the cup of her patience and has given her enough determination to apply to law enforcement.      

It is not a secret that the majority of domestic quarrels stay inside the four walls: aggrieved family members avoid calling for justice and live their lives in the status of a victim blaming their fate.   

Luckily, this woman decided not to live her life in the status of a victim and chose the most effective route to protect her rights.      

Rita Nahapetyan

“02” weekly, www.police.am, unofficial translation from Armenian
16 (865) 25-04-2008

“Change of Image”

If 36 year-old Edward were strong enough to throw a glance back to 1991, he'd find himself there. He’d recall how his heart stood still when he met or was to meet his sweetheart. How he was preparing himself, fixing his outfit, brushing his hair, shaving. The twenty-year-old young man gave great importance to every detail. After all, he was going to get married. 

In 1992 he reached his longed-for goal - and got married. Yet, in the course of time, emotions faded. Thus, he was looking at everything more calmly. No longer did he care about his outfit and shaving. After all, his beloved was next to him and he had nothing to worry about. There was only one thing left for complete happiness, but that, too, happened soon. During their family life they had 4 children. However, as years went by, they didn’t notice that love and tenderness gave way to disagreements. Children were growing, but the parents could not find a common language. From time to time quarrels occurred, and grew into brawls. Four minor children were witnessing the meaningless, highly emotional quarrels and fights of their parents.

During a regular fight, the woman would receive severe bodily injuries.

The husband didn’t want his wife to work at the bakery. Several times he insisted on her leaving the job and staying at home, taking care of the children. His demands were ignored.

It was an ordinary day:  the woman, as usual, was at work. Edward woke up and, as usual, went to his neighbor’s. Then, as usual, he drank vodka. When hours later he came home and saw that his wife hadn’t returned yet, he got very angry and send his son after the mother.

… When the woman came home, her husband was already in a fit of anger and a quarrel was inevitable. The influence of alcohol added some temper as well. After words were said, he started to use his hands and feet. He kicked his wife in the face. The woman fell on the floor. That’s when Edward allowed himself to use his feet. He kicked his wife in the abdomen.  After the “torrent” of kicks, the woman somehow went out and went in the direction of her uncle’s house. Bellyaches were intensifying. Her state was deteriorating. It was late at night when she was transferred to the Eghvard city hospital, where she had surgery.  

Information about the incident was forwarded from the hospital to Eghegnadzor District Police department. The operative group, which came to the hospital, clarified the circumstances of the case.  

An investigation was instituted in accordance with part 1 of Article 112 of the RA Criminal Code. The preliminary investigation is finished.

Karine Muradyan

“02” weekly, www.police.am , unofficial translation from Armenian

The roundtable participants will also discuss the Draft Law on domestic violence, elaborated by the Center.

Marietta Malumyan

“Novoe Vremya”, Unofficial translation from Russian

22.04.2008

N 1600

53-year old Levon Grigiryan has spent years of his conscious life in jail. Imprisonment has become his way of life: he has been convicted and imprisoned 7 times. Once for possession of drugs, all other times – for theft. In 2006, he was granted parole. Ever since he has had no regular job, but from time to time he did some construction.   

In autumn of 2006. he met G. and got into a close relationship with her. His girlfriend had neither place to live, nor job. She used to sleep on the street and in underground stations, she was hungry very often. Levon, as a caring boyfriend, tried to ease her burden, however, not by his own work, but at the expense of others'  property.  

In May 2007, he was wandering around the Kanaker hydroelectric power station, planning to steal something. Finally he noticed an electric handsaw on a window sill. He broke the window glass with a stone and snatched it. He sold the handsaw for 2500 drams and enjoyed the “earned” money with his girlfriend.

The next theft was from a summer in the “Korean gorge” – a locksmith’s press.

At the end of 2007, Levon, with his girlfriend, was in the park near Arabkir market. There they met some friends, bought some food and alcohol, and enjoyed all that. After parting with friends around 16:00, they headed for Levon’s place. They chatted while walking, but the chat grew into quarrel, then into a fight. “A caring boyfriend” was beating his girlfriend with his hands and feet. They ceased fighting only with the interference of the police. Both were brought to Arabkir Police station, where the woman filed a complaint, demanding that Levon be brought to justice for causing physical injuries.  

Criminal proceedings were instituted on this case.          

As the investigator of this case, Vagharshak Mkrtchyan stated, other misdeeds of Levon Grigoryan were revealed. He pled guilty of all accusations and wrote a frank confession.  

Charges against Levon Grigoryan were presented by Article 177, part 3, point 3 and Article 177 of RA Criminal Code.

Anna Aslanyan 

A Stool Hit

The young man get married years ago. Life was beautiful, days that passed by – fabulous. Soon his son, the Eighth Wonder, was born. The family became complete and grew stronger. Yet, there were trials as well.   

Several months before, his son received treatment in one of the hospitals. After a week of nightmare the man took his son and his wife home. On that very day he, for some strange reason, also drank a couple of bottles of vodka. The amount of alcohol drove the young man away from reality. In such a condition, he could hardly comprehend anyone. Thus, he didn’t comprehend his wife and had an argument with her. It was all about everyday life. The woman, trying to avoid the quarrel, went to the neighbors’, but she couldn’t stay there for a long time. Her husband followed her there and demanded his wife to return home. Yet, his wife didn’t express any wish to return and preferred to stay for some time with her parents, who lived in the same building.

Stalking his wife, the man followed her there. The argument resumed, and soon his wife’s parents became a part of it.  А scuffle started. The sea, indeed, is knee-deep for a drunken man: he started to swear. Furthermore, the obscene language was addressed not only to his wife, but to mother-in-law as well. That’s when the father-in-law interfered and tried to get his son-in-law in line. All in vain, though: the son-in-law cursed again. At that moment the mother-in-law took a stool and hit her son-in-law, causing bodily injuries.

The son-in-law didn’t bear his mother-in-law a grudge. Yet it didn’t release her from liability….        

The investigation, instituted by Shengavit investigation agency, is over.        

Karine Muradyan

“02” weekly, Unofficial translation

5 (584)

By the same clause

24-year-old Karapet Karapetyan, a resident of Yerevan, is a student. He got married in December 2006, before graduating the University and starting his career.  Two months later he registered his marriage officially, and in a few more months his first child – a daughter, was born. Yet, even the birth of a child couldn’t improve the couple's strained relations. Domestic, everyday problems that occurred were deepening, instead of receiving solutions. Intolerance only made difficult relations worse.

Finally, in August 2007, the woman took her baby and left for her parents’ place, without telling her husband. When she returned, the decision to divorce was made. The decision wasn’t final, though. They could avoid divorce, if the husband agreed to rent an apartment for young family to live separately from his parents.

Stipulating that, woman didn’t take into consideration the fact, that her husband was a student and that she didn’t work either. The question - at whose expense and how was the rent supposed to be paid? – remained unanswered.

Before September 2007,  the spouses met a few times, conversed and tried to resolve the situation, but all in vain. Relations deteriorated.       

The regular rendezvous was set for September 7^th by mutual agreement. On the evening before that, when the woman called to set up a meeting for the next day, Karapet was still thinking that things were not hopeless, that his child and wife shall be with him, at his house.          

At the set time, Karapet with his friend went to his wife’s parent's place. His friend stayed outside, while Karapet went up the stairs. His wife, mother-in-law and their daughter, sleeping in her cradle, were at home. The spouses separated for a talk. A conversation that lasted almost 10 minutes resolved nothing. Again, no agreement was reached. A little later, the mother-in-law joined their conversation. This intervention irritated an already angry Karapet even more, and he started to talk in an arrogant and rude manner. After mutual biting remarks Karapet took his daughter and said that he is taking his baby with him, even if his wife is not coming. The situation burst into a scuffle, argument and fight. Karapet pushed his mother-in-law and then kicked her leg, causing light body injuries.

The mother-in-law, in her turn, scratched Karapet’s neck, and furthermore, thinking that it wasn’t enough, bit the little finger of his left hand….    

Yet, this was not the end. Karapet started swearing, grabbed the baby and ran out, demanding his wife to follow him. The woman, though, managed to convince him again and he gave back the baby. After that Karapet and his friend took off. Of course, at home he told nobody about the occurrence of the day, but…   

On the same day, his mother-in-law reported the incident to Arabkir district Police station. A criminal investigation was instituted.

During the investigation charges were brought not only against Karapet, but also against his mother-in-law – by the same 117 clause of RA Criminal Code.

The investigation is over; the case was forwarded to the court.

Anna Aslanyan

“02” weekly, 3 (852)

Unofficial translation.

Another “strong” husband from Kapan battered his wife on 31st of December, when everybody else was busy with preparations for the New Year. The woman didn’t forgive her husband and on the 7^th of January went to the police.

“02” weekly, 11.01.2008, 1 /850/.

 23.11.2007, 45 /844/

23.11.2007, 45 /844/

            In certain cases the beaten lady, driven to despair, resolved her problems under the lynch law. A couple of such avengers are serving their sentence in Abovyan female correction facility. Its warden, Arsen Afrikyan, in his interview with the correspondent of “NV” said that, as the experience shows, women’s vengeance is more terrifying then men’s, and is remarkable for its cruelty. According to Ani Dallakyan, representative of Turpanjian Center for Policy Analysis of American University of Armenia, 1006 women took part in the survey. 281 of them (25%) were subjected to beating not only by husband, but also by mother-in-law. Survey was conducted among 18-75 years old married women and women who had partners. 3% of respondents refused to give any information at all, fearing that the compromising information will reach the husband’s ears and he won’t like it. Let us remind, though – the survey was anonymous.

            Besides, not only experienced husbands prefer to raise their hand on their wives. For example, of the young men told the following to the “NV” correspondent: “Yes, I shall hit my future wife. Not all the time though. Only when it is needed”. That is to say, that being unmarried he is already programmed to violence. Specialists say that in these cases boys take over the model of their father’s behavior.

            61% of interviewed think, that wife should obey to her husband even if she disagrees with him. Only 39% of interviewed women concurred that a woman can choose her friends by herself. 22% respondents consider it right that their husband forbids them to work. Thus, says A.Dallakyan, it is possible to conclude that Armenian women’s conception of domestic violence mostly doesn’t concur with that of women of the world.

Her husband started to unmercifully beat Lusine P. when a couple of months after their marriage, she discovered that he suffered from enuresis. As a rule, the majority of men vent on their closest ones their weakness in certain circumstances. Mostly these circumstances are of social character. Domestic violence evokes anger of 80% of interviewed women, 48% experience self-underestimation, 47% women notice indications of depression, 46% feel ashamed, 42% - scared. Furthermore, for 40% the display of aggression in the family causes chronic insomnia, 33% fear for their children. On a common level a victim of violence evokes the feelings of compassion and sorrow, but when it comes to public censure, the truth turns always to be on the man’s side. Thus the victim appears one to one with her troubles. In civilized countries there are special shelters for these women. Here they will be provided with rehabilitation assistance of a social and psychological character. In Armenia not many people have enough courage to go counter to the circumstances, and the concept of “namus” (honor), which is elevated to the level of national “idee fixe,” takes over. As A.Dallakyan noted, the main aim of the survey was to gather reliable data on the situation in Armenia. It is necessary, in particular, to elaborate the draft law on the protection of women’s rights.

Marietta Malumyan

 “Novoje Vremya”, 13/11/2007, 1541

The extent of usage of bad language in Armenian families was not the only goal of the survey, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, National Statistics Agency and UN. It became clear that the most prevalent form of violence in the country is beating. Women are the main object for beating, then – children, and in the third place – mothers of husband or wife. 16% of interviewed women consider themselves ignored in the family. 16.1% of mothers-in-law also consider themselves ignored. Children deprived of attention amounted to 13.6%. Among men, only 11.9% think that their household doesn’t consider their opinion.

Compiled from:  “Novoe Vremya” newspaper 08/11/2007, N 1539,

Unofficial translation from Russian.         

            The tranquility of a once peaceful family has been disturbed. By mutual consent and the will of both husband and wife - each of them followed their own way. So one family is less in the world now. However, the happiness didn’t vanish at once, but over the years. They couldn’t even remember how it all happened. After all, they had been living together for years, without complaining. But the moment for complaining, intolerance and incomprehension has come. Maybe it was inevitability of the moment, that they couldn’t overcome?

            True, they were divorced, but they would still meet from time to time. Those ‘meetings’ were usually accompanied with mutual insults and discrediting. They couldn’t avoid it. That day was no exclusion; as usual ex-husband visited his ex-wife. As soon as he opened the door and entered the room, the atmosphere in the flat immediately changed. The tension rose, but the “exes” didn’t expect that the day would finish by committing a penal action, for which not only the former husband and wife, but their daughter also would be charged with a proper article of the RA Criminal Code.       

            So, as soon as the former husband entered, he started quarrelling with his ex-wife about some domestic issue. Then he struck her first with his hands and then with a wooden stick; furthermore, when their daughter interfered, he hit her too.

           The quarrel became so intense that words were useless. The girl took a vacuum cleaner tube and struck her father. While the man was under the shower of strikes, the woman managed to grab the stick out of his hands and then started to beat him mercilessly.  

            In Nor Nork investigation department the preliminary investigation of the case against members of the former family has been finished.

            The bill of particulars has been forwarded to the Court of  first Instance.

     By Karine Muradyan

           A newly created family has just unexpectedly collapsed. Also unexpectedly, a husband and a wife discovered that the love and respect that they had for each other was shallow and insincere.

            That unexpectedness made them say ‘goodbye’ to each other. Two years of coexistence showed that they have nothing in common. From now on the only common thing they had was dispute. Yes, the ex-spouses had a  dispute related to their property to be settled only with mediation of the court.   

            When the court hearing was over, 34-year old Armen approached his ex-wife to say a couple of words and to unburden his heart. The woman was not alone, but with her representative and neighbor. The “heart-unburdening” process took place in their presence. He started to insult the woman, told her indecent things and spat in her face.  

            For that behavior Armen S. was charged by 136/1 article of RA Criminal Code.

            However, he didn’t admit his guilt. According to him, he had neither approached his wife, nor insulted her. Yet, the facts, elicited during the preliminary investigation showed the opposite.

            The preliminary investigation of the case at Kanaker-Zejtun investigation department is over.

  By Karine Muradyan

Published in “02” weekly, 21.09.2007, 36 (835)

11 cases of domestic quarrels, which frequently resulted in the deliberate cause of physical injuries, were registered. For instance, Vardenis Police Department registered a case: 35 years old son, Vardan Vatyan - resident of Kakhakn village, beat and caused body injuries to his 72 years old mother. The woman was taken to the hospital, her son escaped.   

            At midnight the Erebuni police department received information from the hospital about Arshalujs Stepanjan (born in 1927), who arrived with second and third-degree burns on 10% of her body. The 80-year-old lady told the operative group that she was set on the fire by her nephew Benik Stepanyan.

8 July 2007
The Police Department of Nor Nork was informed by the hospital at 1 o'clock in the morning that a female resident of Jrvezh Majak district was delivered to the hospital with abdominal injuries. As it turned out, the victim's husband beat her in a domestic quarrel.

Summer heat is at its peak. Laziness and idleness are in the air. Meanwhile, a police summary report shows that between the 1st and 5th of July, 60 cases of deliberate physical cruelty were registered in different police departments.

Relaxing and calming heat, in fact, has had no such effect on one particular group of people. To the contrary, it seems that dulling heat irritated scrappers, those who prefer to use fists, those who tend to turn a simple domestic misunderstanding into a fight. “Authors” of such cases have turned their families’ internal issues into a subject of police interference.

Meanwhile, the amount of deliberate physical cruelty cases in domestic quarrels continues to grow, regardless of the season of heat that makes one lazy, and irregardless of appeals of the police to be tolerant.

Unfortunately injuries become statistics. Intolerance and unfriendliness stay dominant in relationships, sadly – between the dear ones, between relatives. “Love your neighbor like yourself” – this principle still remains ignored.

Published in: “02” RA Police Weekly , 06.07.2007

 26 (825) (Unofficial translation)

Extracts from the article “Women love to be beaten? Some Armenian women consider it normal when their husbands beat them”

“22% of the respondent women think that a husband has the right to beat his wife. Women are mostly beaten for the following reasons: forgetting about the food in the oven, failing to pay proper attention to children, contradicting their husbands or rejecting intimacy.” This was said yesterday during the presentation of “2005 Demographic and Health Survey” (DHS) project. The survey was conducted among 6566 women and 1447 men, aged 15-49.

Compiled from: “Aravot” Daily (http://www.aravot.am), 107/2973, 8 June 2007 (Unofficial translation)

Extracts from “Criminal mosaic” article

27 May

A domestic quarrel in one of the families of the capital ended up in a knifing – Manvel Mouradyan hit his wife with a kitchen knife and caused an injury on her leg.

30 May

Kanaker-Zeitoun police department was informed by the hospital that Tamara Arakelyan, born in 1932, has applied to them with injuries on different parts of her body. It became known that the elderly woman was battered by Arsen Galstyan, her 17-year-old grandson.

An extract from “Criminal mosaic” article

April 30

Hospital staff informed Arabkir police department that Haykanoush A., a resident of Kasyan Street, has been brought to the hospital with burns on her hand and shoulder. The operative group found out that Gagik Badeyan, her husband, had poured gas on her and lit it in a domestic quarrel at home.

The investigation is being held by the Prosecutor’s Office of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeitoun communities.

H.I.

An executor from Nor-Kharberd

Recently a sadist that has beaten 1.5-year-old baby nearly to death has been arrested. The doctors hardly managed to save the baby.

58-year-old Gor Karapetyan left school after 8 grades, has been twice convicted and is unemployed. He tried sadistic propensities on little Aramais and the latter’s mother Narine Atoyan, with whom he lived in the country district of Nor-Kharberd. It was not the first time he had beaten the baby; the execution took place periodically - every time Narine was disobedient. Gor would beat the baby and with pleasure watch the mother’s reaction. One might say he had double pleasure of the baby’s cry and the mother’s pain. Last time drunk Karapetyan surpassed himself – out of strong hits on the head the baby lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital in grave condition. Fortunately it was saved. The sadist-torturer was arrested.

Margarita Aroutyunyan

Altruist-murderer

The profession of goddesses of love is both dangerous and difficult. The same was true about 36-year-old Arpine Margaryan, who was murdered by her client Vahram Zakaryan.

According to the materials of the inquest, the relations of the murderer and the victim began in January of 2005. At that time Yerevan resident Vahram met Arpine and evidently having strong feelings for her, suggested that she move to his flat on Khristophor Street. The prostitute that was renting poor flats agreed with pleasure. Vahram accepted her two underage daughters with her. It could become an example of altruism if not for the subsequent events. Arpine and Vagram lived peacefully for five months; Arpine left her profession and became an exemplary housewife, but the idyll did not last long. Aprine again returned to her profession, which extremely dissatisfied her civil husband and he started battering his mistress. Soon Vahram found himself in prison – he had beaten one Hamazasp. The First Instance Court of Center and Nork-Marash community  sentenced him to imprisonment for almost half a year. All this time Aprine continued living in his house with her daughters.

After being set free Vahram found out that Arpine used to take clients to his house. On that ground the cheated partner started battering his mistress every day to teach her a lesson. Nevertheless, he did not turn her out of home. The woman did not apply to the police either. At the end of the last year Vahram came home violently drunk and beat the woman to death. The jealous altruist pleaded guilty. The materials of the case are passed from the Prosecutor’s Office of Erebouni and Noubarashen to the Firsts Instance Court…

Margarita Haroutyunyan

Former family

The joint life of young spouses has been interrupted as suddenly as they fell in love and decided to get married.

Years have passed from that day, the years of common joy and sorrow. To make it short, a life where they were the main heroes. Then their two children were born and so the family had obtained its final shape and strength. But the achievement of the years disappeared just in a couple of days. They divorced. Yes, there were children, but that fact did not prevent them from their decision...
The reason was the husband’s two convictions. There were disagreements on that issue among the spouses; as a result they divorced. By the way, husband was in prison that time. When he got back, they continued living by the same address, but nothing stayed the same. And it could not have stayed intact.

However, they could not avoid seeing each other every day, and that caused permanent reciprocal tension. And that was the environment in which their children were growing, but this did not relax the tension. They quarreled often and it seemed there would be no end to that. The ex-husband was unable to find himself due to imaginary jealousy.  He could not tolerate that his former wife spoke with strangers, even when she held business conversations. But how could she avoid communicating with people, even though her ex-husband did not like it?  Work required such contacts, but the former husband…

He got angry each time, making scenes. As a result of the last scene, the ex-wife was injured and her health was damaged for quite a long time. That day ex-husband noticed that his ex-wife was speaking with some stranger. Immediately he entered into his ex-wife’s rented studio and demanded her interlocutor to get out.  Then he started to hit his ex-wife with fists and feet, forced her into his car and took her home. The beating was about to be continued at home, but he could not wait and started to beat her right in the car, and then in the lift. So such unruly behavior finally got an appropriate reaction, envisaged by the Armenian Criminal Code…

The Nor Nork Investigation Department has already finished the inquest under the first part of Article 113 of the Armenian Criminal Code.

An extract from the article “Criminal mosaic”

April 30

The Arabkir police department has been informed by a hospital that Haykanoush A., living on the Kasyan Street, was brought there with burns on her hand and shoulder. The operative group found out that it was Gagik Badeyan, her husband, who had poured gas on his wife Haykanoush A. and lit it in the process of a domestic quarrel.

The case is being investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeitoun communities.

H.I.

H.V., 27 years old

The woman is subjected to psychological violence by her mother and father-in-law. When she visited the Women’s Support and Drop-in Center, she was very anxious, helpless and nervous, as the day before her mother- and father-in-law let their son and grandson in, but closed the door in front of her. The reason was that the woman decided to have the second child, while her mother- and father-in-law tried to force her to terminate the second pregnancy, but the woman would not agree. The husband wants to have the second child as well, but he cannot prevent his parent’s violent actions and tells the wife to give up to the pressure.

They constantly insult the woman, do not allow her to heat the room in the winter, use hot water, took her jewelry. She does not want to apply to the police as her father-in-law has friends there. Her husband takes no steps. He was forced to take her back to her parent’s. Now the woman does not know how to restore her rights.

The Women’s Rights Center lawyer has prepared a letter to be submitted together with the woman’s application to the police.

Together with the family

The young man was “strongly in love” with his female co-villager. He loved her with such “strength” that could not even sleep. But he lacked the appropriate imagination to fascinate her. If he did he would cover her path with flowers, sing serenades for her at midnight or would write poems. No, he was not that romantic, he chose a short way of “winning her heart.” He did not have enough time to write poems, he just wanted to get married at once, and that’s all. Understanding that he would not be able to convince her parents, he decided to kidnap her. By the way the place of the incident was not one of the streets of the village, but the very house his beloved lived in.

So, one day he took a car and drove towards the house of his beloved. He was not alone. One might think he was accompanied by his friends, but not at all – his mother and sister were with him. They entered the yard over the wall, then opened the door and entered the house. The girl and her mother were astonished and they started quarreling with the uninvited guests, who said they would leave the house only if they took the girl with them. So the boy’s mother tied the girl’s mother’s hands, while the boy took his beloved girl out of the house. The mother’s cries would not stop them. They left and the mother continued crying out for help…

The Baghramyan police department was informed about the incident. Days later, thanks to the measures taken, the bride was found in one of the villages. Now she is in her father’s house, and the experts found the bridegroom irresponsible.

The inquest of the criminal case, instituted by the above-mentioned fact, is now over.

Criminal mosaic

11 April 2007

Svetlana Rosova, a resident of the Gyulbekyan Street in the capital city, called the police at 22:40 and informed that Samvel Hakobyan, her husband, had beaten her on the Khachatryan Street and run over her by the car.

The operative group found out that at 22:00 Samvel Hakobyan, with the aim of murder, opened the door of the car, which he was driving, pulled his wife out of it, then tried to run over her by the car, as a result of which the woman got bodily injuries.

Samvel Hakobyan has been brought to the Police department of Arabkir.

H.I.

Extracts from “Alarming statistics” article

Cases of infliction of willful damage to health mainly happen among spouses, relatives, close persons as  a result of quarrels on domestic matters. Those cases are very illogical and alarming; domestic dramas are small tragedies that unfortunately have taken and will always take place every day as long as homo sapiens has not understood the advice ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’

The case registered in the Police department of Vardenis on 9 March had the most tragic end. The quarrel of the spouses on domestic matters became so heated that those people had estranged themselves from everything – children, each other. The people, who shared joy and sorrow for many decades, have lost the sense of reality, and Mikhail Ghoukasyan, husband, bitterly beat up his wife with a wooden stick and other things. The woman writhed with pain for a week at home, and husband, wishing to save his skin, did not take her to a doctor thinking that his wife’s injuries and pain would pass with time. He knew that they would ask at the hospital what and how happened, then they would inform the police. But the pain did not pass; and a week later the woman died of injuries.

Cases of bodily injuries registered at Police departments of Vanadzor and Stepanavan on 29 March were domestic dramas. In both cases sons beat… their mothers. Eduard Sargsyan, resident of Stepanavan, hit his 78-year-old mother so strongly that she was taken to the hospital with a broken nose. As for Shavarsh Torosyan, a Vanadzor town resident, he beat his 72-year-old mother with a wooden stick.

Hasmik Ispiryan

Secrets of family life

Violence against women in Armenian families, a theme that has an outstanding significance in the social context, has been revealed in The Hidden Pages of Family Life, a book (in Armenian) written by PhD of Psychology Karine NALCHAJYAN. A unique study follows up catastrophic cataclysms, grasping Armenian families, as a mirror of society, on the whole. What distinguishes modern Armenian families from traditional ones? How have the basic roles of man and woman been changed? How differently are the ideas about violence considered among males and females? What does the paradox and peculiarity of each form of violence consist of (the author singled 16 types)? The answers to these and many other questions were given based on a sociological survey which the author carried out among 1626 individuals in 58 inhabited areas of Armenia.
By the way, violence in the family according to consideration of women, affected 6.3 per cent of families, and by consideration of men, only 1.5 per cent of families.

The heavy frustration suffered by husbands due to the loss of the traditional image of a father, as an embodiment of strength, stability (including material) and defender of the family from social instability, has resulted in the growth of aggressiveness (implicit and explicit) of both - the wife and the husband, according to the author. The author sees a great threat of the collapse of family in father’s departure abroad in search for a job. In such situation the social role of the woman, who is far from arousing any envy of others, sharply increases. She is either “forgotten” or explicitly “aggressive,” or acquires a manlike image, being deprived of the opportunity to lean on the strong shoulder of man, according to the author of the book.

The composition of the Armenian family has changed as well. The intention of the young to live separately in their own house has become more and more approved both by the parents and the newly-wed. In the meantime, there are many cases when such reparation, as in the patriarchal model, continues to be perceived by parents as a personal injury and expression of ingratitude. In some situations children are doomed to remain in the status of children forever and are treated by parents as their property.

The author comes to a conclusion that in the Armenian society family violence is perceived as something extremely negative and is not regarded as an ordinary phenomenon. For women the most severe form of aggression is violence, adultery is in the second place, and sexual assault is in the third. For men the most severe forms of violence against a woman are adultery and physical violence, as well as pasing the physical responsibility for the family on the woman’s shoulders.
In a special section Karine Nalchajyan presents real cases of difficult family situations (following ethic norms and changing names and certain circumstances), told by the personages. Armenians are not used to applying to a psychologist; they think that they can tackle everything themselves. But when a person is in a state of hard frustration, as in the cases, presented below, and does not see any way out, Nalchajyan’s qualified assistance was very important for them. Below, extracts of the appendix of the book are presented for the attention of the reader.

***
Karine is 47 and has two daughters: the elder is a student, the younger is finishing school. Arshak, her husband, is extremely aggressive towards her and the daughters. He is educated and is a leading specialist in his sphere. Karine distinguishes his intellectual and human virtues. They used to be a loving couple, he used to be a wonderful father. But husband started showing uncontrollable jealousy from the very first day of their family life. Years later jealousy became stronger and took unhealthy forms. It has reached the peak now and the husband claims to do the analysis of the DNA to make sure he is the father of the daughters. The wife is ready for that, but she considers the procedure humiliating for herself and daughters. Besides, the analysis is expensive enough, and the family, which is not very rich, is now looking for money.

The husband’s jealousy takes unpredictable forms. He looses control, batters his wife, and even tried to strangle her at night. Karine says that it is already for a long time she cannot sleep, all night through she is waiting for the mortal hit. It had happened once, and she hardly saved herself scratching his face to blood. When the girls try to interfere, that makes him furious. Everybody is in fear. His relatives show no interest to the family.

***
28-year-old Gohar is married. She thinks that her mother-in-law is to blame for the failed happiness. Her husband is the only son. The father-in-law is a weak, weak-willed person, and the mother-in-law is the “boss” of the house. She is stubborn and consistent in her wish to be aware of all details of the young couple’s life; she follows every step of her daughter-in-law. She can appear on the threshold of their bedroom every moment. She claims not to lock the bathroom door when her son or daughter-in-law are taking shower. She opens the door and stares straight even at her son without a sign of embarrassment.
At the end of the second year of their marriage the wife’s life became unbearable – she could not get pregnant. Doctors found out that the woman is healthy and it is husband who can be the cause of barrenness. But the mother-in-law categorically rejected such a possibility, thinking that the daughter-in-law, whose presence in the house was unnecessary, and blamed her for that. The mother-in-law was choking with anger when the spouses showed tenderness and care towards each other. There were even cases when she would forbid them to eat, and the husband used to secretly bring food into the bedroom.

For some time the couple moved to the wife’s house and they could live peacefully. But the mother-in-law managed to win and make the couple divorce. However, their marriage has not been officially divorced yet; the wife still loves her husband, who already shows no interest towards her.

***
Anahit is 35 and she used to live in the capital before getting married. She got her higher education there. When she was 16 she lost her parents in two months and had suffered the whole bitterness of the orphan life. After the death of parents her brothers sold the house, offering her to stay in turn at her brother’s. They thought “she is a girl and will get married some day.” One day her relatives find her a fiancé – a country boy. But when the girl shyly tried to contradict, her family made a decision: “he is a good guy, don’t loose your chance”.

All hardships of family life were imposed on the girl who did not know the village life. She was responsible for the most difficult work – carrying heavy water buckets, watering the garden, looking after the stock. Black nails and cracked hands that are shrunken tell a lot about that woman who seems to be much older. The mother-in-law is particularly cruel to her daughter-in-law, and the husband, who comes home from work very late, does not care about anything – he does not dare to object the parents. That’s why she stopped telling her husband about anything, stopped complaining. She has already four times lost her baby in late terms of pregnancy – and it is another reason for his parents to mock her. Now she is waiting for a baby again, humiliated, burdened with family problems.

***
A story by 39-year-old Aida. After finishing the school, she applied to a University. “I met my future husband right during the entrance exams. He was conducting an examination and noticed  me from far away. He was a pleasant, educated young man. I was truly surprised when some time later he proposed to marry him, as I was a common village girl. He was much older than me and I liked it, although I was a little embarrassed. We got married. Everything had happened so quickly that my parents were shocked. I became the third member of the family, as the husband lived with his mother. Everything seemed to be fine at first. We had a house; soon I noticed that the neighbors started strangely whispering to one another, when they saw me. I was embarrassed and told my husband about that, but he told me not to pay attention at them. I thought it was all about my country origin. My husband and mother-in-law advised me not to deal with the neighbors. Then they insisted on quitting the study; I tried to persuade them, but in vain. They made a decision for me that I did not need higher education, I hardly managed to the housework, and the mother-in-law was working.

At first the mother-in-law, a well-groomed, nice woman, was very kind to me. Although, I could not understand why she singled out for  me and my husband a half-ruined balcony as a bedroom, while she herself slept in a cozy bedroom. But I did not pay attention to that, as my husband loved me and I felt myself a happy woman. My husband was very cold with me in the presence of his mother and did not like that, but then I thought it was normal. If we sat together with my husband, she would come, sit between as, hug his son and change the conversation to attract attention. It became common enough.

She would not do any work at home. I did everything, and she would only put forward requirements and reproach me. When we used to go to bed my mother-in-law would constantly enter our room, as if she controlled us. Several times I woke up in the night and saw that my husband was not there. I could not explain that, but I felt that something was wrong. I started having insomnia. And once, on that faithful day I followed his night adventures. He carefully got off the bed (I pretended to be sleeping) and went to his mother’s room. At first I seemed to turn into stone, then when I came to my senses, I was shaking. I was afraid, but I second later I stood up, and I can’t remember how I appeared there and saw them together in the bed. I returned to the balcony and fell down to the bed, shivering with cry; that is all I remember.

When I woke up, my husband was at my side. It was almost morning. He tried to justify himself, but I was quickly getting dressed not seeing anything around myself. There was only one thought in my head – I had to get out of there as soon as possible.”

***

Alina is 40, she is mother of two children. Her husband used to be tender and careful with her until the birth of the second child. After the second child he suddenly changed. He did not want to have a daughter at all, he was dreaming of a son, and they had already the second daughter. He took it as a hard blow of the fate, started hating both his wife and children. Alina is a nice, pretty educated woman. She says she still loves her spouse very much, but she is afraid she won’t be able to stand that for a long time, as now he started to beat her. Her husband has a very high position at work, he is educated, and the family has no financial difficulties, but there is no happiness.

Recently he has strongly demanded that his wife and children not be seen by him too often. They were also ordered not to ask him for anything and keep silence. Every day mother goes with her children to another room and plays there carefully, so that their voices do not bother the father, watching TV. The children absolutely do not communicate with their father, not seeing any care from him. They started being afraid of the father, growing up unconfident and vulnerable.

***

Lousine is 33 years old, has five children. She lives at her husband’s parents’ – 9 people in a two-room flat. It has already been for five years that her father-in-law pays special attention to her, wishing to have intimate relations. For some time Lousine tried to hide that being in constant fear and nervousness. Then, when she could not stand that any more, she told her husband about everything. The husband told his brothers about that and when they asked their father whether it was true, he said yes. And that was all:  her husband does nothing to protect his wife from sexual harassment of his father. When Lousine cries and protests, he keeps silence. Lousine says that her husband is a respected man, has a responsible job, his word is like a law for his subordinates, but at home he is voiceless.

Lousine is completely alone in her grief. Her mother-in-law knows about everything and mocks her daughter-in-law, giving her bad names, although the whole family knows what kind of a man the father is. Now Lousine is bothered by another thing – her elder daughter is already a teenager and her femininity attracts obscene glances of the father-in-law.

***

Anoush is about 40, she has three children. The elder daughter is married, the younger daughter goes to school, the son is a student. The family had been living peacefully and prosperously for long years. The husband is from a very famous family, and the wife, being from a lower social layer, has always been proud of being a daughter-in-law of such a well-known family.

When the economic situation worsened in Armenia, Arthur, her husband, sold the flat and used the money to establish his own business. But his business went wrong and he went bankrupt. Now they are renting a flat. The husband does not have a job, and the wife works all day and night through to earn money for the family and study of her son. So, they managed to get used to such conditions, but the situation changed when Anoush heard rumors that her husband had an affair abroad, and her husband’s girl-friend was guilty in  his bankruptcy. As soon as all the money had been spent, she left Arthur, so he returned home with nothing.
Moreov