Domestic Violence in Moldova - The Advocates for Human Rights

demanding” and should “remember that [she was] a woman and her husband needed loveand warmth.” The same doctor stated that he advises other female patients to “acceptmen as they are and “change [their own] attitude.” 153Women face many pressures not to leave family relationships, even when they areabusive. Men and women identified a woman’s concern for the well-being of herchildren and a desire to keep the family intact as an explanation for women staying withabusive husbands. 154 Women may also continue to endure abuse for fear of harming theirchildren by depriving them of fathers. 155 In fact, research suggests that “children whowitness violence between parents often develop many of the same behavioral andpsychological problems as children who are themselves abused.” 156Most of the people Minnesota Advocates interviewed also attributed high levelsof domestic violence to the devastating economic conditions in Armenia. Internationalresearch indicates that women who live in poverty are more likely to experience violencethan women of higher socio-economic status. 157 Armenia’s poor economy and theresulting emigration have had significant social consequences for families and women. 158Although the men who have left frequently send money back to their families, manycouples have divorced as a result of the separation. Even when couples do not divorce,women often take a more central role in the family, and may become its sole economicsupport. In families where husbands are present, women may be the sole wage earnersbecause of their willingness to take on jobs, such as selling goods, that men would notconsider. Although Armenian women worked outside the home during the Soviet era,they were not commonly the family’s main breadwinners. 159 In a patriarchal society inwhich men are accustomed to supporting families, ceding this role to women has provendifficult and conflict-ridden. Some people cited this shift as a factor contributing toincreased rates of domestic violence in Armenia.At the same time, women’s formal unemployment exceeds the rate ofunemployment for men. 160 According to an Armenian ethnographer, “women without153 Interview, May 6, 2000 (doctor, outside Yerevan).154 Interviews, May 9, 2000 (victim, Gyumri); May 3, 2000 (judicial clerk, Yerevan).155 Interview, February 19, 2000 (sociologists, Yerevan).156 L. Heise, M. Ellsberg and M. Gottemoeller, Ending Violence Against Women. Population Reports,Series L, No. 11. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Population andInformation Program (December 1999) at 20.157 Id. at 8.158 Status of Women in Armenia United Nations Development Program Draft Report (2000)(unpublished).159 Interview, February 19, 2000 (sociologist, Yerevan).160 Women are 70% of the officially registered unemployed, Status of Women in Armenia at 59.Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Domestic Violence in Armenia, December 2000 27