Anush Petrosyan | 29 Aug 2022

“Domestic violence” is acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence committed within a family or family unit or between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the perpetrator lives or has lived in the same apartment as the victim.

Domestic violence in Armenia is an extremely widespread phenomenon and the most painful is the attitude of the Armenian population towards domestic violence.

Only 36.8% of the population of Armenia consider that domestic violence is a crime.

People are used to living in domestic violence and consider it as a normal phenomenon and even consider it as a manifestation of love․

Women are most often subjected to domestic violence, the role of women in society is not appreciated, they are subjected to inequality and gender discrimination.

In June 2020, the number of domestic violence increased by 50% compared to the previous year, the main reason for this was the pandemic, but the picture worsened when the Armenian-Azerbaijani war started in September 2020.

Any war becomes a basis for stress and anxiety, tension and intolerance. The participants  in the war become more irritable and nervous, which also affects the family atmosphere. Because of the war, many men became disabled and were also deprived of the opportunity to work, which further contributed to the increase in cases of domestic violence.

We talk about wars more at the macro level and therefore consider their macro effects in the economic, social, political and other relations of countries, and family relations are often left out of this context.

Indeed, the men who returned from the front are more inclined to commit violence, this is evidenced by the cases recorded in the organizations dealing with the prevention of domestic violence. In this case, it is difficult to define and accuse the abuser, because he is actually in an unbalanced mental state and needs professional support.

In fact, after leaving the battlefield, wars invade families and settle there for the long term․

The devastating effects of war are more than one can imagine, if war also nests in the family, then the results are more than terrible. The family is the smallest component of the country, whose harmony and stability are vital for any country.

War and domestic violence are the coexistence of two horrors that will not bring any good results to mankind, instead they will do more harm at the same time.

It is difficult to understand whether war affects the spread of violence or whether violence creates war. Perhaps, both options fit into a certain logic. That war affects violence, including domestic violence, is obvious, but how can domestic violence cause war? The answer is more than simple. a tense environment affects the mental state of family members, who are usually more prone to violence. All this definitely does not remain without consequences, becoming the basis of larger and larger-scale violence later on.

Now it is more difficult to find the “culprit”, one thing is certain: both are evil and it doesn’t matter which one “gives life” to whom.

The blog entry is part of the “Youth Advisory Boards for Peace” project, financed by the European Commission. More info: http://culturalrelations.org/portfolio/youth-advisory-boards-for-peace