Domestic Violence in Moldova - The Advocates for Human Rights
Domestic Violence in Moldova - The Advocates for Human Rights
Domestic Violence in Moldova - The Advocates for Human Rights
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punishment <strong>for</strong> murder replaced the “family vendetta,” a traditional <strong>for</strong>m of vigilantejustice. Rape was also crim<strong>in</strong>alized. In the family, the state outlawed dowry or brideprice, required the mutual consent of both spouses <strong>for</strong> marriage and granted women legalrights to <strong>in</strong>heritance and land. 36While the policy toward women <strong>in</strong> Armenia, as <strong>in</strong> the rest of the Soviet Uniondur<strong>in</strong>g this period, was one of <strong>for</strong>mal equality, 37 <strong>in</strong> reality, women were never truly equal.<strong>The</strong> Soviet approach to equality was not only paternalistic but also <strong>in</strong>volved “a shift offunctions from the private doma<strong>in</strong> to the public rather than, as <strong>in</strong> contemporary fem<strong>in</strong>iststrategy . . . a redef<strong>in</strong>ition of male and female roles.” 38 Thus, special provisions(<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g paid maternity leave and various other benefits) helped women comb<strong>in</strong>e paidemployment with motherhood. <strong>The</strong> system also <strong>in</strong>cluded quotas <strong>for</strong> women hold<strong>in</strong>gpolitical office. Because of these quotas, women made up 30% of members of theArmenian parliament <strong>in</strong> 1990. 39 Women comprised a high percentage of both studentsand the labor <strong>for</strong>ce, 40 but they cont<strong>in</strong>ued to shoulder most of the burden of householdlabor and childrear<strong>in</strong>g. In addition, they were excluded from “male” jobs, especiallythose requir<strong>in</strong>g night work or heavy lift<strong>in</strong>g.Armenia became <strong>in</strong>dependent <strong>in</strong> 1991, and s<strong>in</strong>ce then many of the political,economic and social advances Armenian women made under Soviet rule have been lost.Throughout the <strong>for</strong>mer Soviet region, women’s representation <strong>in</strong> government hasdecl<strong>in</strong>ed, unemployment has soared and patriarchal attitudes toward women havereemerged. 41 <strong>The</strong> post-Soviet Armenian government “has done noth<strong>in</strong>g to overcome thestereotypical understand<strong>in</strong>g of women’s role and place <strong>in</strong> society. In fact, governmentofficials cont<strong>in</strong>ue to refer to the ‘natural’ roles of women.” 42 By 1999, the percentage ofwomen <strong>in</strong> the Armenian parliament had fallen to 3%, and only 2% of m<strong>in</strong>isters and36 Id. at 64.37 <strong>The</strong> Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Article 35 (1) provided “women andmen have equal rights <strong>in</strong> the USSR.”38 Gail Warshofsky Lapidus, Gender and Restructur<strong>in</strong>g: <strong>The</strong> Impact of Perestroika and its Aftermathon Soviet Women, <strong>in</strong> DEMOCRATIC REFORM AND THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES138 (V. Moghadam ed., 1993).39 Mapp<strong>in</strong>g Progress-Assess<strong>in</strong>g Implementation of the Beij<strong>in</strong>g Plat<strong>for</strong>m 1998 at 24.40 Status of Women <strong>in</strong> Armenia, 2000, United Nations Development Program Draft Report(unpublished) at 46.41 Valent<strong>in</strong>e Moghadam, Gender Dynamics of Economics and Political Change: Efficiency, Equality,and Women, <strong>in</strong> DEMOCRATIC REFORM AND THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES 138(V. Moghadam ed., 1993).42 International Women’s <strong>Rights</strong> Action Watch (“IWRAW”) to the Committee on the Elim<strong>in</strong>ation ofDiscrim<strong>in</strong>ation Aga<strong>in</strong>st Women (“CEDAW”), Country Report on Armenia at 3 (1997).M<strong>in</strong>nesota <strong>Advocates</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong>, <strong>Domestic</strong> <strong>Violence</strong> <strong>in</strong> Armenia, December 2000 10