The main goals of the center are:

• to prevent violence against women and children,
• to protect women and children from the violation of their right to be free from violence,
• to take steps leading to criminal prosecution for violent acts committed against women.

The Women’s Rights Center works in the sphere of violence against women in three main directions: prevention, protection and prosecution.  The center carries out activities such as the following:

• conducting of the researches, surveys, TV and radio programs, seminars, multidisciplinary trainings (in particular with the law officers), TOT, round tables, traings with doctors and midwives,
• “Crisis Center” work including 24-hour Hot line, Temporary shelter, including also Transitional Rooming with psychological, legal, medical and social assistance and protection in the court
• Women Support Group work
• training of women to new professions
• own publications and translations of other publications
• video film shooting on the theme
• work with Mass Media
• outreach and educational programs
• advocacy and lobbying in the framework of legislation and infrastructure
• creation of informational and training center on trafficking in human beings
• training with doctors (obstetricians and midwives) on domestic violence and reproductive health.

For more information about Women's Rights Center, please see the organizational profile attached below and the center's website here.

Susanna Vardanyan and Natalya Saghiyan of the Women's Rights Center will take the leading role in managing the STOPVAW country page for Armenia. Susanna has 17 years of experience working in the organization. She was the founder and the director of the Women's Club, which in 1997 was renamed the Women's Rights Center. In 2002, she received the Human Rights Award from the The Advocates for Human Rights.

The Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation–Armenia (OSIAF–Armenia) provides funding to the Women's Rights Center to carry out work on the National VAW Monitor Program. Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation-Armenia pursues a range of projects including penitentiary reform, media and broadcast legislation, information activities, women’s rights, emigration, and election monitoring. The Foundation has also supported efforts to promote public debate on policy issues such as religious tolerance, emigration, and trafficking.

More specifically, OSIAF—Armenia has established legal programs that train lawyers in international law, examine the courts’ handling of corruption allegations, and address other policy issues. The Foundation has also helped facilitate education reforms, provided computers and Internet access, developed schools as local telecommunications centers, and increased access to information on education, human rights, and media issues--especially for students and citizens in rural areas.

NATIONAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN MONITORS

ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Information on Organization:

On the basis of Women’s Club, existing since 1987, “Hayouhi” Women’s Association was established in November 1990 and registered in the Ministry of Justice in January 1991. This was the first non-governmental organization, registered in Armenia. In 1997 “Hayouhi” reconsidered its goals, the name was changed into Women’s Rights Center and the organization was registered in the Ministry of Justice in November 1997.

Women's Rights Center (WRC) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization in Armenia which mission is to promote and support the democratic changes in Armenia enhancing women's role in public, social, cultural and political life, to change the treatment and the attitude of the society towards women's problems, to protect women's rights and gender equality, to reduce the extent of violence against women.

Women’s Rights Center is the first organization in Armenia that has been addressing its efforts to advocacy and protection of women rights to be from any kind of violence. The main goals of WRC are to prevent violence against women and children, to protect women and children from violation of their right to be free from violence, to support the mechanisms directed to prosecute violence against women and children. Since 1997 WRC has been involved in the problem of violence against women acting in 3 directions: domestic violence, trafficking in women, and reproductive and sexual health and rights. We have started step-by-step implementation of the long-term strategic program “Break the silence about violence against women in Armenia.”

We have passed hard and long way from the first leaflet on violence against women to the first Shelter on Domestic Violence.

WRC is an Armenian multiregional organization with the central office in Yerevan. The organization has branches and representatives located in the central cities of 9 regions of the country.

Qualifications of Organization

An organizational mandate of Women’s Rights Center on violence against women, which includes:

-         the monitoring of  violence against women:

-    participation in preparation of the second CEDAW shadow report conducted by ABA/CEELI Yerevan office

-    maintenance of the Information and Training Center on trafficking in women in partnership with Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan under coordination of Independent Charitable Center for Sexual Assault Recovery “Syostri" (Moscow)

-         researches on violence against women:

-         the first survey  ”Do you know your rights?” was initiated and conducted by own efforts and means of Women’s Rights Center in 1997 among 100 randomly chosen women and was aimed to identify the forms and scales of violence, the factors generating violence, women’s knowledge on their rights, the effectiveness of the measures taken to prevent violence against women.

-        social survey on gender discrimination in labor among 128 women, based on the results of which has been produced a proposal on the amendment in the Labor code of the RA.

-         social survey on domestic violence among 1200 women conducted in 8 cities and nearby villages of Armenia, the aim of  which  was to reveal existence of the problem of violence against women in Armenia, identify the prevailing forms of violence against women and find out its reasons and physical and psychological consequences, 2000

-         research on domestic violence conducted by Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights jointly with organizational support of WRC in Yerevan and Gyumri , USA, 2000

-         provision of services to survivors of violence:

-    operation of Hot Line Service to provide women subjected to violence initially with peer counseling and in case of necessity with psychological and juridical assistance free of charge, to reveal the types, scales, and geography of violence cases.

-         operation of Crisis Center for the victims of violence where they are provided with free legal and psychological advice both by phone and by  face-to-face consulting in the Center;

-         operation of Emergency Shelter for strengthening women and their children - victims of domestic violence - by providing assistance to make them feel more safe, independent, self-sufficient and free from violence. Four women victims of trafficking  from Uzbekistan  were also provided  with shelter.

-         job skills trainings for victims of violence: English course, Computer skills, Accounting, Cooking;

-         provision of attorney’s services in the Court for the victims of violence to protect their rights and legitimate interests;

-         operation of Women’s Support Groups  involving women subjected to violence. The aim of WSG is to unite women who suffered from abuse and to conduct psychotherapy group;

-         humanitarian aid for victims of violence, supported by Counterpart International US Humanitarian organization and United Methodist  Committee on Relief  (UMCOR).

-         other efforts to combat violence:

-         Training of Trainers for trainers of WRC, its branches and representatives of other NGOs. The subjects of the trainings are women’s human rights, violence against women and reproductive/sexual rights and health

-         multidisciplinary trainings with the students of the Academy of Foreign Affairs, representatives of Law Enforcement Agencies (Districts’ police officers), Mass Media, Women and Human Rights NGOs, health care providers, psychologists, lawyers in Yerevan and 8 regions of Armenia and close collaboration with them

-         participation as an observer in the activities of the Interagency Commission on Trafficking in Human Beings of Republic of  Armenia

-         operation of Advisory Board for dealing with the issues on violence against women

-         participation as a host organization in the project “The Prime II Gender Initiative” funded by USAID, focused on raising awareness among health-sector professionals on violence against women issue, changing the attitude of medicals towards this problem,

-         participation in the TOT, conferences, working groups and seminars organized by local and international organizations both  in Armenia and abroad;

-         conducting of the Action “16 days Activities Against Gender-Based Violence”

-         creation of  Sevan Trans Caucasian Network Against Violence Against Women  during the Regional Conference (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan)  on domestic violence and trafficking in women

-         consulting on the problem of trafficking in human beings for women who apply to WRC and are intended to leave abroad to work,  and distribution of the materials and booklets among them;  

-         public hearings conducting on the problem of trafficking in women

Publications and films: since 1998 we have published 24 books, brochures, textbooks, manuals, 11 newsletters and 5 films were produced on the issue of violence against women addressed to women and professionals. Women’s Rights Center maintains a library of 580 books and film collection comprising 46 videos on women’s rights.

Human resources and technical facilities

Along with the development of Women’s Rights Center we have fostered a team of professionals who have been constantly working on violence against women.

As far as our major work is connected with the international organizations, donors, we maintain correspondence in English language; compile information from the international documents, treaties, search the Internet, prepare reports in English language an appropriate staff is a necessity for our day-to-day activity.

Our today’s activity is impossible to imagine without access to the Internet, which allows us to keep updated on the issues we are addressing, changes and upcoming events. Internet is one of the most important sources of information for our organization. Our specialist staff has access to the Internet.

As far as our lawyers work on the issue of violence against women and ensure provision of legal services, including attorney’s services in the court they are familiar with the international treaties and conventions, especially those related to women’s issues and VAW.  The nature of our work requires constant contact and cooperation with the consultants who are the officials working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Public Prosecutor’s Office, National Assembly of the RA, International Union of Advocates, etc. Most of them are the members of our Advisory Board.         

The Internet allows us to have free access to the web-based libraries, such as UN library, the laws of the RA on the web-page of the National Assembly, etc. Besides, we make use of the software IRTEK, comprising the local laws and regulations, which is updated on monthly basis.  

The work of a National Violence Against Women Monitor will greatly contribute to the development of the capacity of the organization in enhancing the ability to combat violence against women in terms of expanded information and data base on VAW, strengthened human resource pool, wider contacts and links. Since today in Armenia the information on VAW and on women’s rights generally is not systemized, this effort will give us an opportunity to create and constantly update this information, to have a full and fair picture of the state of women’s rights in Armenia. This will become a principal source of information for interested parties, which eventually will positively affect the image of our organization.  

Since 2007 WRC has been working on elaboration of the Draft Law on Domestic violence. Within the framework of the project a working group of professionals from state and public structures (The Police, Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, Ministry of Justice, etc) was created to work out a sustainable draft law. Several events, such as 2 roundtables and a training on advocacy and lobbying of the draft law have been held in the course of the project. The named project is in its last phase already and currently WRC is implementing extensive work on meeting representatives of key player institutions (the Government, Parliamentary fractions and standing committees, etc) to promote the draft and present it to the Parliament along with necessary documentation pack for adoption.

 


 Women's Rights Center Organizational Profile  
(Word)