The study highlights the rise of digitally facilitated violence against women in Armenia, including cyberstalking, online harassment, and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and reveals the gaps in Armenia’s legal and support systems for addressing digital violence. It also provides a set of recommendations to address these gaps in line with the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence known as the Istanbul Convention.
Despite recent legislative changes, such as the criminalisation of cyberstalking, 78% of legal professionals surveyed in the report acknowledge that current laws do not sufficiently address emerging forms of digital violence. Zaruhi Batoyan, a member of Armenia’s National Assembly, emphasised in an interview for the report the need for further legislative improvements specifically targeting digital violence. This concern was echoed by Tatevik Stepanyan, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, who stated: “It is important to examine and highlight these challenges through such research as Armenia continues to become increasingly digitised. The Ministry plans to launch a digital platform to track domestic violence cases, and the findings of this research will support better data collection and transparent prosecution mechanisms.”
The study calls for stronger laws, improved collaboration between government agencies, enhanced victim support, and increased public awareness. Its findings will help shape Armenia’s future policies, including the development of the digital platform for tracking domestic violence cases.
The study was produced with the support of the Council of Europe project Ending violence against women and promoting gender equality in Armenia”.