Disinformation about the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence: Children will not be Sold.

On the website of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia a public discussion and voting on the draft RA Law “On the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the protection of victims of domestic violence”, which has also raised a new wave of disinformation and anti-propagation.

In view of the anti-propagation on the draft law it can be concluded that it completely refers to alienation of children from their families and deprivation of parental rights.

It should be noted, however, that Article 59 of the Family Code of the Republic of Armenia already stipulated the cases when parents shall be deprived of their parental rights. Particularly, parents may be deprived of their parental rights if they treat the children cruelly, in particular, exercise physical or mental violence towards them, or sexual harassment, and so on.

Parents or one of them can be deprived of parental rights if they:

• violate the realization of their parental obligations, particularly, paying alimony;
• without justifiable reason refuse to take the child from the maternity house or other medical institutions, as well as from rearing, population social protection and other organizations;
• abuse their parental rights, in particular, make negative impact on the children by their immoral behavior;
• treat the children cruelly, in particular, exercise physical or mental violence towards them, infringe their sexual inviolability;
• suffer from chronic drug, alcohol or toxic addiction;
• committed intended crime against their children.

And this is not the only law that limits parental rights if there is violence in the family. The guardianship and curatorship authorities also have the authority to alienate a child from the family or initiate a process of depriving the parent exercising violence of parental rights by court order in accordance with RA Government decree 631. Thus, it can be clearly stated that the legislative framework in Armenia is sufficient for alienatin the child from the family and there is no provision in the RA draft law ” On the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the protection of victims of domestic violence” which in some way relates to alienating children from their families or deprivation of their parents of parental rights.

Furthermore, the RA Law “On the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the protection of victims of domestic violence” is aimed at addressing the recovery of unhealthy families and overcoming the atmosphere of violence.

Zarhui Hovhannisyan