April 26, 2016

PINK Armenia Joins the Community, Rights, Gender (CRG) Working Group


Adjacent to the Country Coordination Mechanism for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (CCM) of the Republic of Armenia, a new working group has been formed—“Community, Rights, Gender” (CRG). PINK Armenia was invited to be a part of the working group.

The group aims to ensure community involvement in decision-making processes and to ensure the inclusion of human rights protection and gender equality within CCM. One of its main objectives is the monitoring and analysis of human rights violation cases among people who use drugs, sex workers, men who have sex with men and people living with certain infections, as well as ensuring the accessibility of medical assistance within the spheres of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

April 25, 2016

Lips of Pride

HAYP Pop Up Gallery, a moving art collective that curates and sets up art exhibitions across Armenia, dedicated its most recent gallery, “Lips of Pride,” to women artists, women’s bodies and sexualities, and societal perceptions of shame in Armenia, from April 8-18, 2015. “Lips of Pride” aimed to begin a conversation on a taboo topic, and to give a voice to those who are often silenced by shame.

For 10 days the gallery hosted several events that facilitated that conversation, including a panel discussion on “Shame & Sexuality” with Ani Jilozyan from Women's Support Center, sexologist Dr. Narine Nersisyan, and PINK Armenia psychologist Lilit Avetisyan, who talked about how speech affects our perspectives on sexuality, the role that shame plays in our lives and the affects of shame on LGBT people. Lilit’s final message for participants of the discussion was that we should never be ashamed of our sexualities, which is an indivisible part of who we are. PINK’s engagement in the exhibit events continued with the workshop “Understanding Human Sexuality,” which covered personal experiences and a general understanding of the different dimensions of sexuality.