The Law on Domestic Violence has No Connection to Same-Sex Marriages

Alongside discussions about the necessity of Law on Domestic Violence, a number of new groups have been spreading misinformation, aiming to distort perceptions about the object and purpose of the law. Let us dwell on the spread misinformation on the draft Law on Domestic Violence.

Thus, the spread opinion is that the Law on Domestic Violence in Armenia would create a legal basis for same-sex families.

This has nothing to do with the object and purposes of the law. The law protects any individual of the family subjected to violence, regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation and other characteristics. The Law on Domestic Violence does not regulate the issue of same-sex marriages in any country and in general, by law, it is not required to have a marital relationship registered in the registry office to be protected from domestic violence.

In other words, the law does not regulate any matter concerning family formation, but protects people from violence. Family formation matters are regulated by the Family Code of the Republic of Armenia.

This kind of false information on the draft law is aimed at artificially linking it to a phenomenon and an issue, which has no direct connection with the issue of domestic violence.

The origin and development of legislation on domestic violence in other countries and international institutions has also had nothing to do with the defense of rights of homosexuals. It was and remains within the context of the protection of women’s rights.

Adoption of a separate Law on Domestic Violence will aid in violence prevention, which is a positive obligation of the state. The initial draft proposal of the law expects to create a set of institutions that until now have not existed in Armenia’s legal system. They are the types of protective measures: the institutes expected to be created are the formal warning, emergency intervention and protective decision-making institutions. Due to that, the police will have powers to more effectively protect individuals from domestic violence and prevent crimes… While now the police has only the function of identifying cases of domestic violence.

P.S. We will cover other misinformation about the Law on Domestic Violence as well in the nearest future.

Arman Gharibyan