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.

PINK Armenia and staff members continue receiving threats

PINK continues documenting the hate speech and messages calling for hate to PINK’s president Nvard Margaryan, NGO members, and to the PINK Armenia Facebook page. The frequency of such messages has increased especially after Nvard Margaryan’s participation in a TV show, “Kisabac Lusamutner (Half-open Windows)”, where a psychologist announced that she cures homosexuality and a lawyer threatened to burn gay people. Although a complaint was submitted to the Ethics Committee of the Chamber of Advocates in Armenia, and the Chamber of Advocates applied a disciplinary proceeding against the lawyer, in the letter The Chamber of Advocates mentioned how the natural family can only be a union between a man and a women according Armenia’s “amended” Constitution. PINK is now documenting all the messages containing hate speech, as all the previous complaints to the General Prosecutor’s Office on hate speech messages and comments were largely ignored or found not to have a basis for criminal proceedings.

Armenia’s stance towards recommendations of Universal Periodic Review

During the 29th Regular Session of Human Rights Council, June 25, the state of Armenia presented its official stance towards the recommendations made during the review of the human rights record of Armenia earlier this year.

Large number of recommendations included, among others, adopting and effectively implementing legislation to ensure prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, combating hate propaganda and ensuring that appropriate training is provided to officials, and that law enforcement authorities carry out thorough and prompt investigations regarding attacks on LGBTI persons.

Gladly, most of these recommendations have been supported by the Republic of Armenia, including those related to prohibition of discrimination and discriminatory based activities against LGBT people which were carefully formulated. However, the Republic of Armenia noted one recommendation in which juridical adjustments were requested.

Even so, this small achievement is very important to our work, as it means the acknowledgement by the state of existence of various human rights issues of LGBT people that need to be addressed. The results of this report should be a starting point by the state to undertake necessary measures to improve the lives of LGBT people in Armenia.

To remind, that PINK Armenia, together with partner organizations, had submitted an alternative report for the 21st session of the Universal Periodic Review, where recommendations on prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity had been highly emphasized.

Research: The impact of LGBT emigration on economic indicators of Armenia

“Public information and Need of Knowledge” and “Socioscope” Societal Research and Consultancy Center NGOs prepared a report about the LGBT emigration impact on economic indicators of Armenia. The purpose of the project was to study the impact of LGBT emigration on economic indicators of Armenia during 2011-2013 as a result of discrimination against the LGBT community and to reflect those changes in a long-term perspective.

The calculations made by this study demonstrate that, for a citizen of Armenia of average demographics who emigrated during the years 2011-2013, a minimum of the equivalent of $3,545 was spent on education. According to approximate estimates, 5,891 citizens of Armenia emigrated due to discrimination during the years 2011-2013, which implies that society has lost around $21 million in one go only in terms of educational investment toward LGBT emigrants.As for income not received, the calculations reveal that, in the year following emigration during 2011-2013, Armenia did not receive $88,365,000 across three years and for all LGBT emigrants. This is the loss following only one year after emigration, but that loss is prevalent in reality in all the years until the emigrant reaches retirement age.

Budget revenues for all three years taken together – 2011-2013 – could have been more by $20 million had the LGBT individuals who left due to discrimination remained. As a result of the emigration of 5,891 LGBT individuals, the state budget will lose around $2 billion in revenue, at purchasing power as of January 1, 2014, over the course of more than the following 36 years (until retirement).And as a result of LGBT emigration in the following twelve years, from 2014 to 2025, Gross domestic product (GDP) will have a loss of $3 billion at purchasing power as of January 1, 2014, adjusted for Purchasing power parity (PPP), while the budget will lose $370 million at purchasing power as of January 1, 2014.

The full report consists of sociological study and economic assessment. Read the full report with all its findings here.

PINK wishes for New Year

ՓԻՆՔ Արմենիան շնորհավորում է Ձեզ Ամանորի և Սուրբ ծննդյան կապակցությամբ և մաղթում բեղմնավոր ու ծաղկուն տարի: Թո՛ղ Նոր տարին նոր հնարավորություններ բերի խնդիրների ջատագովության, մարդու իրավունքների և հավասարությանն ուղղված պայքարի համար:

PINK Armenia wishes you merry Christmas, and a fruitful and prosperous year. May New Year bring new opportunities to advocate on issues, fight for equality and human rights.

Armenian LGBT news website launched

For the first time in Armenia a website has launched specifically for LGBT news. The website is a project financed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway. The main purpose of the website is the dissemination of local and international news and information concerning LGBT community.

The website has “legal” and “psychological” sections, in terms of which the website cooperates with PINK Armenia. It gives LGBT people an opportunity to anonymously write about legal or psychological issues they face, and receive responses from well-trained specialists.

With informative current articles, interviews and researches, LGBTnews.am provides an alternative online platform in Armenia targeted directly to the LGBT community, to raise awareness on LGBT issues, tell stories, and make the LGBT voices heard.

We are convinced that LGBT news Armenia will bring its contribution to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender liberation movement in Armenia.

20th International AIDS Conference

The 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) will take place in Melbourne, Australia. It is the premier gathering for those working in the field of HIV, including scientists, medical practitioners, activists, policymakers, people living with HIV and others committed to ending the epidemic. It will be a tremendous opportunity for researchers from around the world to share the latest scientific advances in the field, learn from one another’s expertise, and develop strategies for advancing all facets of our collective efforts to treat and prevent HIV. AIDS 2014 is expected to convene over 12,000 participants from nearly 200 countries, including over 800 journalists. The conference will be held from 20–25 July 2014 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Armenian Delegation is already on the way to Australia. Representatives of Armenian civil society, International organizations and Ministry of Health are among them. This year PINK Armenia will be represented at the conference by our social worker.

Organizers of the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) announced that Bill Clinton, founder of the Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and artist and activist Sir Bob Geldof will be among the high-level speakers at AIDS 2014.

The International AIDS Conference Programme seeks to promote scientific excellence and inquiry, encourage individual and collective action, foster multi-sectoral dialogue and constructive debate, and reinforce accountability amongst all stakeholders.

Sessions will focus on the latest issues in HIV science, policy and practice and will also seek to share key research findings, lessons learned, best practices, as well as identify gaps in knowledge.

The conference will feature abstract-driven sessions, a daily plenary session, a variety of symposia sessions, professional development workshops, and independently organized satellite meetings. In addition, the conference programme will include a number of programme activities, such as the Global Village and the Youth Programme, which are an integral aspect of the International AIDS Conference.

Follow AIDS 2014 per-conferences and the plenary sessions of the Conference at www.AIDS2014.org.

The 5th anniversary and the new era

On December the 21^st we celebrated our 5^th anniversary which headline was “The beginning of new era”. Achievements and success of the organization during five years are not only the result of the efforts of the staff and volunteers, but also our partners and supporters have their unique place in it.

In five years inserting our roots in the basis of democracy-building, we have concluded a period in the history of civil society, and now we are entering a new era and begin it with a new breath.

We celebrated our 5th anniversary, but the founders of the organizations have been involved in civic activism for 10 years.

2007 became the year when founders decided to create an organization which was supposed to go through a difficult way, and a work should have been done, that had not been implemented in this scope yet. Due to our efforts on December 14, 2007 we received registration certificate and understood, that there is no way back, PINK should have its big input for development of civil society and establishment of democracy.

The path of the organization during its 5 years of activities hasn’t always been smooth. Many challenges that we faced during these years constantly brought with them new questions and concerns. But the answer is obvious: “that which does not kill us makes us stronger”, – as Friedrich Nietzsche would say.

Happy New Year dear friends, may this year bring you luck and great achievements, and feel you hearts with warmth, peace and joy!

A bridge between East and West, between old and new era of Armenian history

Mamikon Hovsepyan's gratitude to Hrant Dink Foundation:

“Hrant Dink Foundation’s work is very important for Armenians in Armenia and in diaspora. It builds a bridge between East and West, between old and new era of Armenian history. The Foundation is very supportive and encourages our work in Armenia. They inspire all Armenians with their work, and this year they including PINK Armenia among their Inspirations in 2012 which was very exciting for us. 

I read the email that I received from thee Foundation on September 14, the day when I was celebrating my 30th birthday. That was the best news that I could receive on that day.

My colleagues and I want to thank Hrant Dink Foundation for being with us, for supporting our work and inspiring us.”

Together for better

I am in Zagreb this week with one of our active volunteer, participating in International Conference. Different organization from Balkans, Arab World and Caucasus are here, sharing their experience, success stories, difficulties and developments.

Another team of 4 people are in Greece now; they are involved in environmental project there, presented environmental issues of Armenia, mainly the problems of Teghut Forest.

And the editor of “As you” e-mag is in the USA, participating in the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

The rest of our team with the help of international and local volunteers are conducted seminars and meetings, preparing new activities, getting ready for historical upcoming events.

What gives us power and makes our work more effective is positive attitude of our supporters. When I look around to see international experience and also developments in my country, I understand that this young organization with a pink heart gained a lot in its 5 years.

This year is so important for us, this year we celebrate the 5^th year of our activism as an organization. This is not only our anniversary but also for those who believe that one day the world will become a safer place for all of us to live in.

And this is really exciting to see the link that our friend and famous blogger Mika shared on his Facebook wall that via socialbakers.com PINK is among the top 5 Armenian brands in Facebook. Based on the same source PINK is also among the top 5 Armenian brands in Youtube and its “As You” e-magazine is in the top list of the media in Facebook.

Mamikon Hovsepyan

proud to work with the team of professionals at PINK

Day of silence

On April 20 we keep silent to be heard, what do you do to break the silence?

The main purpose of this day is to get the public’s attention, by raising awareness on the issues of violence, intolerance, harassment, and discrimination and by developing relevant and effective solutions in an effort to eliminate them. The International Day of Silence is directed to the world wide public and aims to capture people’s attention on the spread of hate crimes against LGBT communities, homophobia, bullying, physical and psychological abuse, discrimination and intolerance. Every year, thousands of people take part in the events dedicated to the Day of Silence in an effort to increase participation and activism for the reduction of homophobia in educational institutions. This is an opportunity to show the public that this problem concerns not only the LGBT people, but also us, our family members, relatives, friends and all layers of the society.

Day by day, thousands of people keep silent. They keep silent because they are afraid. They keep silent because they are what they are. Our brothers, our sisters, our parents, our friends and coworkers are among them, homosexuals and heterosexuals keep silent, you keep silent and I also keep silent. This is the silence of the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people about discrimination, violence, harassment, which they permanently face. On this day, their silence will be heard all over the world. Millions of people will keep silent in different parts of the world, regardless of their nationality, religion, sex, age, profession, sexual orientation and other personal qualities. They will keep silent because they believe that harassment and discrimination must end. In countries where LGBT rights are better respected, they will keep silent for the educational institutions on its mission to become safer for everyone, regardless of nationality, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics. Finally, in countries where LGBT rights are not protected, the Day of Silence is dedicated to the elimination of homophobia and prevention of hate crimes. People are taking part in the Day of Silence to elucidate this issue and let LGBT people feel that they are not alone.

Report: LGBT rights situation in Armenia 2011

LGBT rights violation can be witnessed in various spheres of social life. LGBT people state that there is discrimination toward them in educational institutions and there were cases when a person was bullied by a teacher because of being feminine (in case of a male person) or masculine (in case of a female person), forced to drop out from the university because of his/her sexual orientation. Scientific papers and work on this issue is not welcomed, because the stance of the lecturers is that it is a perversion and the person is perverted if he/she wants to work on this topic. A gay student was not allowed to write a paper about homosexuality as the lecturer stated that he can’t be objective taking into account his sexual orientation.

Employment remains one of the most problematic aspects of life for LGBT people as employers refuse to hire someone who is open about his/her sexual orientation or his either feminine (gay) or masculine (lesbian). Transgender people have no opportunity to be open about their gender identity and there is no relevant legislation which will allow transsexual persons to change sex. Quite often LGBT people refuse to visit healthcare institutions in case of a necessity being not sure about the confidentiality there. If they contact civil society organizations they are being referred to LGBT friendly doctors, otherwise there is a high risk that person will be discriminated and will receive degrading attitude.

Army remains one of the most challenging institutions due to its closed nature and non-written rules which exist there and lead to discriminative and violent approach toward this group of people. In most of the cases media approach toward LGBT people is biased and based on stereotypes, prejudice and has no scientific and contemporary approach. There is no political willingness from the side of government institutions to protect LGBT rights and quite often they appear in the position of violators.

The stance of civil society toward LGBT rights is not united as well. Despite the fact that civil society organizations are able to work in the sphere of LGBT rights protection and take actions for changes, there is no support from the government and public and some part of civil society.

Although there are no radical changes in the above mentioned aspects, in this report we will focus on several aspects of social life and will present most common issues and problems of LGBT community in the Republic of Armenia which were registered in the past 2011.

Read more about the attitude of society, media, church, police and achievments in 2011 in our official website

Interview with the president of PINK Armenia

Original post at the Neutral Zone

- Dear Mamikon, what is the overall situation with the LGBT community in Armenia today? What are the key challenges of the community?

People in Armenia still live with taboos and stereotypes and in many cases they mix tradition, religion, customs, habits and reality. In the past LGBT people were hiding because of intolerance, hate and ignorance, and the society thinks that we didn’t have gays at all and that this is something modern and European. In general, today people call whatever they don’t like ‘a European value’, for example gender equality, women’s role in the government and so on, but let me bring an example. What was Europe doing when at the beginning of the 20th century Armenia had women in the parliament and women diplomats? So human rights protection is a universal value and it belongs to Armenia as well.

LGBT still live with a fear and most of them are in closets. The majority doesn’t know anything about sexual orientation and gender identity, even they think that “having a different sexual orientation is immoral,” Neo-Nazi groups even say that heterosexuality is also immoral. These things show that the lack of education and knowledge makes people aggressive and they start to oppose anything they do not understand.

- What are the attitudes: in the society, families, workplace, media toward LGBT? Any changes in this respect in the last 5-10 years?

Our research on LGBT rights and violations in 2010 says that discrimination mainly starts in families and goes wider to schools, workplace, healthcare services, actually everywhere. The media usually promotes hate toward the LGBT community and we don’t have any laws to stop hate speech. Nowadays it is possible to find a few tolerant electronic media or newspapers, but the majority is homophobe, especially TV.

For example “Iravunk” daily often promotes hate crime and they present it as freedom of speech but actually freedom of speech and human rights violation are two different things and in civil and developed counties hate promoters are punished by law. On TV they use the theme of homosexuality for jokes, teasing it as an abnormal and immoral behavior. During the last 5-10 years LGBT people became more or less visible and LGBT issues are on the top of the discussion list. Whether the reaction of the society is positive or negative, the visibility of LGBT issues brings small changes.

-What is the relationship between the law and the LGBT community? Is the law discriminatory or does it protect the LGBT rights?

Homosexuality was decriminalized in 2003 but we don’t have any laws to protect LGBT people, to prevent violence, discrimination or hate speech. There aren’t any anti-discrimination laws in Armenia.

-Are there cases of violence against the LGBT community?

There are many cases of violence against the LGBT community, but mainly they are not registered as violence against LGBT or those cases are not registered at all. Cases of violence can be found everywhere, but for the most part they take place in schools, healthcare sector, police stations and army.

-Are there any positive developments?

The latest positive development was the Ombudsman’s cooperation with PINK, when we signed the Memorandum of Understanding and he announced that he and his team are ready to protect the rights of all people in Armenia and cooperate with human rights organizations. Another positive development is the existence of tolerant journalists and a few newspapers that cover LGBT issues.

The existence of networks and coalitions that support human rights brings positive changes into the society. One drop in the lake is not a big deal but later those drops will make a river and it will run to the lake.

- Is there anything else that you would like to add?

The Armenian Church, as they say, should be tolerant, spread peace and respect, but they are one of the main institutions that spread hate and intolerance against LGBT people. The topics they touch or present always come back to homosexuality and start to blame. In a recent case we had in Armenia, when the representatives of religious minorities and the Armenian Church had a conflict, during the press conference the priest talked about that conflict and religious minorities for a couple of minutes and then the whole press conference was related to homosexuality. On the other hand, it was the journalists who provoked the priest asking irrelevant questions, but the priest replied to their questions with pleasure blaming gays.

In Armenia, people still don’t know all the terms regarding LGBT issues. Many Armenians even think that gays are those who wear dresses, have make-up and behave like girls. As I mentioned, the lack of knowledge and information doesn’t let them to recognize the difference between gay/lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

By Phil Gamaghelyan

Human Rights. Defender’s platform. Civil Society

On 3-4 June 2011 Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia (HRDO) convened already third forum in series of forums entitled “Human Rights. Defender’s Platform”. This time forum entitled “Civil Society” was dedicated to the partnership with civil society organizations and brought together 130 participants from more than 85 human rights NGOs, international organizations, attorneys and media. Forum was supported by the European Union, World Vision Armenia and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The aim of the “Civil Society” Forum was to strengthen cooperation and promote active dialogue between the Office of the Human Rights Defender and leading human rights NGOs specialized in the issues of minorities, refugees, children, disabled people, women, military servicemen, rights of persons in detentions and penitentiaries, environmental rights, rights of the persons suffered from violence and torture as well as NGOs promoting the right to a fair trial and the right to freedom of expression.

Followers of @pinkarmenia twitter had possibility to read live tweets of our representative, Mamikon Hovsepyan, who used #CSforum and #HRArmenia as hashtag for those tweets. Below you can read the most important ones.

Day one, July 3

starting the "Civil Society" forum in Tsaghkadzor, organized by Armenian Ombudsman

the Ombudsman takes the floor, presenting his welcome speech

Karen Andreasyan, Ombudsman, mentioned that they specifies 11 spheres to work with

Karen Andreasyan finalized his speech, asking for civil society's support for Ombudsman further work

Raul de Luccenberger, EU representative told that we should be proud to have such an important institution as Ombudsman office in Armenia

once students asked to EU representative, What is the way for Armenia to become an EU member, he answered "To believe"

OSCE will support Ombudsman office for its strengthening and cooperation with human rights defender organizations

representative of National Security Council presenting their strategic plan to protect human rights in Armenia

during the private conversation with Mamikon Hovsepyan, the National Security Council representative denied that Baghdasaryan is homophobe

now Civil Society representatives are presenting human rights violations in 11 spheres mentioned by Ombudsman

FYI: LGBT situation won't be presented, PINK was informed few days ago when the agenda was ready and no changes where available

changes: Ombudsman will sign a separate memorandum with PINK, before it was decided to have with national minorities

organizational side of the forum is a bit weak, but to compare with previous, this ombudsman is better

court, judges, police, juridical institutes... we need changes in this sphere, we need to monitor their work and demand JUSTICE

gender roles: women's participation in decision making, in parliament, in government and high levels is weak

Susanna Vardanyan from Women's Rights Center presenting 3 main types of violence against women: physical, psychological, sexual

S. Vardanyan also talks about the case of Zaruhi Petrosyan, CSVW coalition's work and CS initiatives about the changes of law

mass media representative where beaten, are being beaten and will be beaten until we dont have strong law for freedom of speech

A. Musheghyan: After car accident I couldn't walk anymore, i sent back home from hospital and couldn't reach the 5th floor

Musheghyan: If I become a parliamentarian how can I go to work, they have no conditions for handicapped people

there are 183000 handicapped people in Armenia and 100.000 of them are able to work but they don't work

Ombudsman left the room after the official part of the meeting, some participants call it lack of respect toward civil society

PINK: everybody at this forum talks about respect, tolerance and cooperation but do they all respect others and their rights? Not sure

Most of the speakers didn't understand that it is not an NGO presentation but situation presentation of their sphere

Artak Kirakosyan, CSI, asked the vise-president of Collaboration for Democracy, Mikayel Baghdasaryan to leave the forum as he violated women

As A.Kirakosyan mentioned, Mikayel Baghdasaryan, has beaten his female colleague & more

the last speaker, the main hate speech promoter Karine Danielyan

homophobe Karine Danielyan about human rights. Funny

Karine Danielyan is talking about her sphere, ecology. In other meetings she forgets about her responsibilities, promoting hate

 Day two, July 4

starting discussions with the working groups, felt ignorance & dislike from the side of national minorities toward LGBT issues

human rights defenders of national minorities do not want to see Muslim women with covered head in Armenia

they said national minorities should leave accepting Armenian rules but the still speak about xenophobia

national minorities put their problems next to general problems in Armenia and do not talk about nazism and racism

representative of Jewish minorities said that National Security Council should take care of LGBT issues in Armenia

national minorities want to raise the law of hate speech which was suggested Mamikon Hovsepyan

hardly but finally representatives of national minorities see their problems & in some cases put LGBT rights next to it

Yezidi representative demands places at national assembly, other national minority representative don't care about it

Mamikon asked the representatives of national minorities to accept diversity and respect all kind of human rights

working groups finalized discussions, presentation will be prepared and introduced to the Ombudsman and participants

K. Andreasyan: "There are many other human rights organizations in Armenia but we trust those who are here now"

1. human rights protection in armed forces

2. judicial rights: including issues of fair trials and justice

3. women's rights: women's involvement in politics, women's role in social advertisements, violence against women

4. freedom of speech: including involvement of NGOs in the work regarding freedom of speech

5. rights of handicapped people (people with fewer opportunities)

6. rights of people faced violence and torture: specified mainly in police stations, it was suggested to mention that National Security office is also violating people as in police stations

7. rights of people in prisons

8. children's rights: among other problems was mentioned violence, especially sexual abuse against children

9. Minorities: national, religious, sexual, though there was no representative from religious minorities

10. refugees

11. Environment

first time ever in official document Armenia will use Armenian word to refer LGBT issues

Environment group boycotts and will not sign memorandum, Hope it is not K. Danielyan's idea against LGBT rights protection

June 4, the first ever Armenian document with Armenian terms to protect the rights of LGBT people in Armenia

Historic memorandum between Armenia human rights Ombudsman and PINK Armenia on protection of LGBT rights

via Unzipped: Gay Armenia

Remember this date: 4 June 2011. On that very date, during Civil Society Forum in Tsaghkadzor, for the first time ever, Armenia human rights Ombudsman and PINK Armenia signed historic memorandum on collaboration in protection of LGBT rights. Another important milestone has been passed which could lead to the development of practical mechanisms and legal basis for human rights protection of LGBT people in Armenia. What is also extremely important, perhaps for the first time, acceptable Armenian terms to refer to gay/lesbian, bisexual and transgender people were used in the official document [նույնասեռական, երկսեռական, գենդերափոխ].

PINK Armenia (@pinkarmenia)
SIGNED!!! memorandum between PINK and Ombudsman to protect the rights of #LGBT people, historical moments of Armenia! #CSforum #HRArmenia

PINK Armenia (@pinkarmenia)
June 4, the first ever Armenian document with Armenian terms to protect the rights of #LGBT people in Armenia #CSforum #HRArmenia

Memorandum is signed for 6 years: 4 June 2011 till 1 February 2017.

read the full post here

We keep silence

The Day of Silence is an event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take some form of a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior. The event is designed to illustrate the silencing effect of this bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT.

As a way of supporting the idea and those that are harassed in Armenia, we will undertake certain actions:

We apologize, but we won’t be available for the world on April 15: we will not respond to emails, phone calls, we will not have any activities and will not provide any direct service. on April 15, we will keep silence for…

Next day silence will be broken by launching our new e-mag “As you”!

***

History: In 1996, students at the University of Virginia, USA organized the first Day of Silence in response to a class assignment on non-violent protests. Over 150 students participated in this inaugural Day of Silence. In 2001, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educational Network (GLSEN) became the official organizational sponsor for the event. GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

End of the year, beginning of new era

This is the time when we finalized this year and now we are getting ready for new challenges. During these 3 years we managed to break silence and organized groundbreaking events regarding sexual health and human rights, we promoted peace and tolerance, and this is still beginning.

We want to thank all our members, volunteers and friends for support and for being with us.

Happy New Year and PINKest wishes to us all

Silence is not a solution

World AIDS day – this is the day when the world wears red ribbon and takes actions to stop AIDS.

World AIDS Day in Armenia – this is the day when not all Armenians but at least several NGOs are raising the worldwide issue in the country. Since 2008 those NGOs work together, organize joint events and build stronger capacity for HIV awareness, prevention, treatment, care and human rights protection. Public Information and Need of Knowledge NGO (PINK Armenia) is one of them.

This year UNAIDS, UNDP and Mission East Armenian Branch supported local organizations to conduct joint event dedicated to the World AIDS Day. Event was prepared due to the World AIDS Campaign’s slogan “Universal Access and Human Rights”. PINK Armenia together with Real World Real People, Women Resource Center, Positive People Armenian Network, National Center for AIDS Prevention, Education in the Name of Health, Armenian Red Cross Society and Public Health Information Statistics created booklets with stories, telling the cases of human rights violations addressed to the people living with HIV, men having sex with men, sex workers, migrants, injecting drug users, women, the problems that they face in families, at workplace and in general in the society. The booklet was available during the UNAIDS press conference on December 1st for journalists, parliamentarians, civil society representatives and other guests.

That day, from early morning we gathered in front of the building housing many of the country’s Ministries, and set up special windows that carried the message “Open and see who can be affected by AIDS.” When people opened the window they saw themselves in the mirror, the meaning was that anybody can be infected with HIV. Usually people think that AIDS is not their problem, only drug users, “bad” women or gays can be affected by AIDS. We wanted to show that there are no risky people, but there is risky behavior that any of us can have. Mostly governmental employees didn’t pay attention, either they were late or they thought it was some action against them.

Later that day, we marched in the central streets of Yerevan, distributing info materials and spreading the message “Silence is not a solution”. During the march we had flashmobs with panels, when we put those panels together we had the slogan of the event and on the other side red ribbon. In front of the march participants were holding big red ribbon made of balloons. In the end of march, near the Opera House, we had the last flashmob there and blew up the balloons to break the silence.

To compare, if last year young people were passing by and asking: “Why are you having this event? We don’t have AIDS in Armenia,” this year people were more aware.

For HIV prevention there are 3 main steps: awareness, advocacy and behavior. Now we know about HIV, also awareness raising actions are widely spread in the country to inform about the ways of transmission and how to prevent it, but do we behave safer? That is the reason that we have a lot to do in order to prevent the practicing of risky behavior. And which is the most important – never keep silence, talk about it, ask if you don’t know and inform others when you are aware, protect your rights and help to advocate for others’ rights as well.

Round table, sharp corners

LGBT rights in Armenia

Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) Armenia Branch organized a round table discussion on Armenia’s LGBT community (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders) problems and possible ways of their solution which took place at their office on 24 September, 2010.

Representatives of Armenia’s Ombudsman office, police, ministries of justice and labor and social affairs, government officials, as well as representatives of local and international human rights organizations, media and LGBT community were invited to take part in the round table discussion.

Three ministries promised to send representatives but their promises never came true. It is not the first time in our experience that Ministry of Health refused to take part in the discussion with regard to this issue; both MOH and Ombudsman office reaction was: “What does this have to do with us?” Anyway we were informed that Edurd Pilatov from the Human Rights Defender office arrived, registered, then left for smoking and disappeared as a phantom.

The discussion has opened Sara Khojoyan, the author of the article “Armenian Gays Face Intolerance, Discrimination” published in July, 2010. Then Mamikon Hovsepyan, president of Public Information and Need of Knowledge NGO (PINK Armenia) introduced the outcomes of organization’s sociological research and legal analysis implemented and presented in May this year.

In his speech M. Hovsepyan mentioned that homosexuality exists in the whole period of the history, and each society in the world accepts it in a unique way. Intolerance is based on the traditions, norms and social memory. He also presented the ways of discrimination in the country and those fields where LGBT rights are being violated.

The next speaker, Lusine Vayachyan, writer, human rights activist, presented the situation of transsexual people in Armenia and problems of sex reassignment surgery (SRS).

She recalled a friend of hers, Norayr, a citizen of Armenia who wants to change his sex from female to male, who went to see an endocrinologist who, after running chromosomal tests determind Norayr as having female chromosomes, advised him to go see a psychiatrist for “treatment.” When Norayr mentioned that being transsexual is no longer considered a mental disorder and he does not need to be “treated,” the endocrinologist advised him to go to Russia. Norayr has “never met a doctor in Armenia who knows what it is to be transsexual.”

Vayachyan further added that doctors in Armenia either don’t know or don’t want to know the difference between transsexuals and hermaphrodites.

The representative of PINK Armenia mentioned that discrimination against LGBT people occurs in all facets of life: at school and at work, in military service, while seeking healthcare services, and so on.

Despite the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homsexuality from their list of mental disorders in 1990, according to Hovespyan, Armenia does not prescribe to the WHO criteria and still labels homosexuality as a mental disorder. Thus, gay men in Armenia can be exempt from military service if they state their sexual orientation.

Hovsepyan recalled an occasion when a group of officers had called out derogatory terms referring to gays to a man on the street who had then actually filed a complaint with the Ombdusman on July 1, 2009 (complaint no. 1–0508). However, the RA Police replied to the letter of Ombudsman in which they described the incident much more mildly saying the man was simply brought in for questioning for 5 minutes and had his identity checked by checking his passport. According to Hovsepyan, the Ombudsman believed the police’s word over the victim’s even though the man didn’t even have his passport on him that day.

“Why do they trust the letter by the police and not by the citizen?” Hovsepyan asked.

Furthermore, he said that when IWPR representative Sara Khojoyan asked the Ombudsman if there were any complaints by LGBT people registered with their office, the Human Rights Defender had said no. Drawing on the incident he mentioned, Hovsepyan said, “Let them not say there were no complaints.”

Mamikon Hovsepyan added that discrimination also occurs in the media — through news stories that ridicule, criticize and demean the lives and experiences of LGBT people in Armenia. In many cases media gives wrong information to their auditorium about sexual orientation and gender identity, journalists promote hate in their speeches.

He mentioned the example of A1+ that it was one of the most tolerant and highly appreciated media in Armenia though it became an ordinary one nowadays which is providing information that is discriminatory or making fun of LGBT people.

Sevak Kirakosyan, one of the participants, recalled the journalists to use proper terms which do not harm or violate LGBT rights and human dignity, and Lusine Vayachyan asked to invite representatives from the Language Inspector next time, because we still do not have translation of words and phrases regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, and each of us are using different terms.

in this article is included information from Independent Journalists’ Network aritcles:
“Why Does Ombudsman Trust Police and Not Appeal by Citizen?” Asks Hovsepyan
Transsexual Men, Women in Armenia Advised to Go Abroad
I Would Rather be Labelled Crazy Than be Raped in the Army’: Gay Men in Armenia

Support women living with HIV

Each culture during different periods of its history perceived gender and sexuality in a unique way. In fact our understanding about gender norms and sexuality is formed under the influence of various factors, such as traditions, policy, and religion. This gender roles and stereotypes have their influence on the circumstance how man and women behave during sexual relations.

Today in Republic of Armenia girls and women face gender discrimination, including gender violence, they are forced to implement traditional roles, have limitations in family planning possibilities.

Each of us has sexual rights, which includes sexual education, right to get information about infections and healthcare. Existing traditions and stereotypes about gender roles do not give an opportunity to women and girls to ensure the realization of their sexual and reproductive rights. The society expects woman to have passive role in issues regarding sexuality. As a rule women are criticized, stigmatized and discriminated if they try to make decisions with regard to their sexual life. The society does not accept when woman tries to take care of her health, have safe sexual behavior, make decisions about family planning due to the prejudiced attitude toward women’s active role in sexual life.

In case if we talk about gender equality and that each member of the society has to have equal opportunities, this kind of attitudes must be changed. When we talk about gender equality we can’t miss the fact that equality must be in all spheres of life including sexual life. There is a need to eliminate discrimination and break stereotypes by ensuring woman’s sexual and reproductive rights. Women have right to get appropriate, comprehensive information and education about sexual and reproductive health, which will give them an opportunity to make balanced decisions about their sexual life, protect their and their future children’s health.

The gaps in sexual and reproductive health education and vulnerable state of rights lead to the situation where many people in Armenian society do not consider themselves vulnerable in terms of HIV. Due to stereotypes and prejudice woman does not have a right to make decisions about her sexual and reproductive health, which makes her double vulnerable.

So we can conclude that societal stereotypes about the role of woman in sexual life put her and her future baby’s health under a threat and under the risk to be infected by HIV.

When we talk about woman vulnerability in terms of HIV there is a need to talk about female sex worker’s vulnerable and endangered situation as well. Sex workers face stereotyped and discriminative public attitude, which leads to their marginalization in the society. That brings to the vulnerable state of sex workers with regard to HIV infection.

Sew workers are not protected by law. They are not protected from violent actions of the ones who use their services. Those sex workers who undergo violence have few chances to be protected by the state. The lack of protection put sex workers under the risk of violence and in such environment HIV can easily spread.

It is also important to mention that due to stereotypes sex workers are deprived from healthcare, legal and social services. Due to discrimination and stereotypes they can have fear of applying to appropriate services. In this case they are more possessed to be infected by HIV and transmit it to the ones who use their services.

Marine Margaryan