Domestic Violence in Moldova - The Advocates for Human Rights

punishment for murder replaced the “family vendetta,” a traditional form of vigilantejustice. Rape was also criminalized. In the family, the state outlawed dowry or brideprice, required the mutual consent of both spouses for marriage and granted women legalrights to inheritance and land. 36While the policy toward women in Armenia, as in the rest of the Soviet Unionduring this period, was one of formal equality, 37 in reality, women were never truly equal.The Soviet approach to equality was not only paternalistic but also involved “a shift offunctions from the private domain to the public rather than, as in contemporary feministstrategy . . . a redefinition of male and female roles.” 38 Thus, special provisions(including paid maternity leave and various other benefits) helped women combine paidemployment with motherhood. The system also included quotas for women holdingpolitical office. Because of these quotas, women made up 30% of members of theArmenian parliament in 1990. 39 Women comprised a high percentage of both studentsand the labor force, 40 but they continued to shoulder most of the burden of householdlabor and childrearing. In addition, they were excluded from “male” jobs, especiallythose requiring night work or heavy lifting.Armenia became independent in 1991, and since then many of the political,economic and social advances Armenian women made under Soviet rule have been lost.Throughout the former Soviet region, women’s representation in government hasdeclined, unemployment has soared and patriarchal attitudes toward women havereemerged. 41 The post-Soviet Armenian government “has done nothing to overcome thestereotypical understanding of women’s role and place in society. In fact, governmentofficials continue to refer to the ‘natural’ roles of women.” 42 By 1999, the percentage ofwomen in the Armenian parliament had fallen to 3%, and only 2% of ministers and36 Id. at 64.37 The Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Article 35 (1) provided “women andmen have equal rights in the USSR.”38 Gail Warshofsky Lapidus, Gender and Restructuring: The Impact of Perestroika and its Aftermathon Soviet Women, in DEMOCRATIC REFORM AND THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES138 (V. Moghadam ed., 1993).39 Mapping Progress-Assessing Implementation of the Beijing Platform 1998 at 24.40 Status of Women in Armenia, 2000, United Nations Development Program Draft Report(unpublished) at 46.41 Valentine Moghadam, Gender Dynamics of Economics and Political Change: Efficiency, Equality,and Women, in DEMOCRATIC REFORM AND THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES 138(V. Moghadam ed., 1993).42 International Women’s Rights Action Watch (“IWRAW”) to the Committee on the Elimination ofDiscrimination Against Women (“CEDAW”), Country Report on Armenia at 3 (1997).Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Domestic Violence in Armenia, December 2000 10