prosecuted and women are not provided adequate protection from further acts ofviolence. <strong>The</strong>re are no government-supported domestic abuse advocacy programs <strong>in</strong>Armenia to assist victims <strong>in</strong> fil<strong>in</strong>g compla<strong>in</strong>ts or <strong>in</strong> maneuver<strong>in</strong>g through any part of thelegal process. In addition, M<strong>in</strong>nesota <strong>Advocates</strong> found little evidence of any ef<strong>for</strong>t toensure that law en<strong>for</strong>cement officers and public officials responsible <strong>for</strong> <strong>in</strong>vestigat<strong>in</strong>g andpunish<strong>in</strong>g violence aga<strong>in</strong>st women are receiv<strong>in</strong>g tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g to understand the unique andcomplicated issues <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> domestic assault.<strong>The</strong>re are no government-sponsored prevention programs or programs to providecounsel<strong>in</strong>g or specialized mental health care to victims of domestic violence. <strong>The</strong>re areno shelters or safe houses and no social programs to deal with the problems created bydomestic violence. <strong>The</strong>re are no government services available to victims of violence, asoutl<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> the Declaration on the Elim<strong>in</strong>ation of <strong>Violence</strong> Aga<strong>in</strong>st Women and CEDAWGeneral Recommendation 19, and there is no support of the NGOs that are attempt<strong>in</strong>g toprovide such services.B. <strong>The</strong> Council of EuropeS<strong>in</strong>ce 1996, Armenia has had special guest status with the Council of Europe andhas participated <strong>in</strong> various Council activities. Armenia <strong>for</strong>mally applied <strong>for</strong> membership<strong>in</strong> March 1999, and <strong>in</strong> November 2000 the Committee of M<strong>in</strong>isters resolved to <strong>in</strong>viteArmenia to become a full member and accede to the Statute of the Council of Europe. 244In order to con<strong>for</strong>m to European practice, Armenia is <strong>in</strong> the process of chang<strong>in</strong>g variousaspects of its government and legal structure.Membership <strong>in</strong> the Council of Europe means that Armenia undertakes acommitment to become a party to the organization’s conventions, which <strong>in</strong>cludesratification of the European Convention <strong>for</strong> the Protection of <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> andFundamental Freedoms. 245 <strong>The</strong> fundamental rights set <strong>for</strong>th <strong>in</strong> the European Convention<strong>in</strong>clude the right to life (Article 2), the right to liberty and security of the person (Article5) and the right to an effective remedy <strong>for</strong> human rights violations (Article 13), all ofwhich are violated when a woman is a victim of domestic violence and the governmentdoes not effectively address the problem.V. CONCLUSIONWomen <strong>in</strong> Armenia are rout<strong>in</strong>ely denied their fundamental right to be free fromviolence. Legal, economic and social structures prevent women from obta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gappropriate redress <strong>for</strong> domestic violence crimes. <strong>The</strong>re is a lack of understand<strong>in</strong>g of the244 See Committee of M<strong>in</strong>isters’ Resolution, Res(2000)13, Invitation to Armenia to become a memberof the Council of Europe, adopted November 9, 2000. For further <strong>in</strong><strong>for</strong>mation, see also Armenia’sapplication <strong>for</strong> membership of the Council of Europe, Op<strong>in</strong>ion No. 221, Parliamentary Assembly, availableat.245 213 U.N.T.S. 222, entered <strong>in</strong>to <strong>for</strong>ce September 3, 1953.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 45
phenomenon of domestic violence on the part of the Armenian legal system and thus afailure of the system to respond appropriately. By <strong>in</strong>adequately prosecut<strong>in</strong>g domesticviolence and fail<strong>in</strong>g to provide state support <strong>for</strong> organizations that offer aid to victims,the Armenian Government has not upheld its obligations as a member of the UnitedNations and is not <strong>in</strong> full compliance with <strong>in</strong>ternational human rights law.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 46
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