Painter and mother of two, 43-year-old Narine Ghukasyan recalls how, ten years ago, when she tried to access state reproductive programs, doctors responded arrogantly: “Are you going to have a child just to make them suffer?”
Ghukasyan, who has cerebral palsy (CP), has personally faced discrimination due to deeply entrenched stereotypes about women with disabilities. Among the most common is the belief that a disabled woman cannot be a capable parent and that her child will inevitably inherit a disability.
The Ministry of Health does not have data on how many women with disabilities have accessed state reproductive programs, which have expanded significantly in recent years.According to the ministry’s press secretary, no such distinction is made among patients, as the program is available to all women within certain age groups without discrimination. However, many services remain inaccessible or difficult for people with disabilities to use, making equal opportunities unrealistic.
Currently, Narine is also the president of the “Disability and Inclusive Development” NGO, advocating for the rights of people with disabilities.
Thirty-seven-year-old Arev Melkonyan, president of the “Path to Equality” NGO, acquired her disability at a young age and uses a wheelchair. Due to societal prejudices, she lost her newly formed family when her husband’s parents refused to accept her disability.
Melkonyan, now a single mother raising her six-year-old son, recalls encountering discriminatory attitudes from healthcare workers during her pregnancy.The doctor performing her ultrasound questioned how a woman in a wheelchair could be married and pregnant, even indicating that the pregnancy might be the result of violence.
Despite these experiences, Arev Melkonyan considers herself a happy person—she has a fulfilling career, a healthy son, and sports achievements as Armenia’s para-powerlifting champion. However, she believes many girls with disabilities hesitate to express their desire to have a family and children, fearing they will lose the limited support they currently have.
The Armenian government passed the “Law on Disability” in 2021, ensuring not only physical accessibility, such as ramps but also access to essential services, including medical care. Nevertheless, barriers persist.
Rosa Avagyan, a specialist at the “Agat” Center for the Protection of Rights of Women with Disabilities in Gyumri, notes that many women with disabilities lack awareness about different forms of violence, including financial, physical, and psychological abuse.
“For instance, we had a young woman with intellectual developmental issues who wanted to get married. Whenever she met someone, her family discovered it and responded with violence. Our organization interfered, but her family believed that due to her disability, she should not marry, as it would create ‘unnecessary problems,'” says Avagyan.
Women and girls with disabilities often become victims of gender-based disinformation due to their gender and identity.
OxYGen Foundation’s 2024 report,Gender Disinformation in Armenian Media, highlights one such case. The Armlur.am news portal, reporting on the rape of a schoolgirl in Vardenis town by two older men, quoted local residents implying that the 13-year-old victim was “not known for good behavior.”
Although the perpetrators were arrested and the case went to trial, some accusations were made against the girl on social networks and even in the press.
Lina Antonyan, a social worker at the “Sexual Assault Crisis Center,” condemns this tendency to blame victims.
Research from the U.S. National Library of Medicine indicates that women and girls with disabilities are approximately 2.3 times more likely to experience sexual violence than others.
According to Antonyan, many cases of violence against disabled women occur within their own homes, often at the hands of caregivers or family members. Armenia lacks trained psychologists who can properly conduct interrogations with disabled girls, and investigators handling such cases are not equipped to interview children with special needs. As a result, many cases are dismissed due to lack of evidence, as disabled children are often considered as unreliable witnesses.
Public scrutiny on social media further discourages women from seeking justice
Although Armenian media frequently covers issues affecting women and girls with disabilities, stereotypes, gender disinformation, and harmful narratives continue to spread online, especially on social media. In cases of sexual violence, victims are often unjustly blamed and portrayed as responsible for their own abuse.
Zaruhi Hovhannisyan, a human rights defender from the Women’s Support Center, says that women with disabilities are particularly targeted on social networks during court proceedings.
“We have had many cases where women with mental or psychological issues have experienced violence, most commonly sexual violence, and society has labeled them, questioning how there can be violence against someone who doesn’t understand what happened to them. And they start to manipulate and spread this on social networks, which creates a humiliating situation, the woman with disability is designated by society as guilty for the violence committed against her and stops fighting for her rights,”- says Hovhannisyan.
According to the human rights defender, the press should be very careful about spreading such information, taking into account human vulnerability.
“If a woman tries to fight for her rights and faces public condemnation due to the fact of disability or any issue, she becomes isolated, doesn’t continue her fight for rights, and our experience shows that they simply try to forget that part of their life and not restore violated rights, even leave the country,” says the human rights defender.
Ani Kojoyan, a communication and gender studies specialist, based on the results of gender disinformation monitoring from last year, notes that the role of media and journalists in creating and spreading gender disinformation is significant.
According to the expert, there is no control over this in online media and social platforms, television is more controllable. “Any media outlet should respect the ‘Do No Harm’ principle. Even if it’s spreading someone else’s words, they should think whether it harms the person to whom that word or narrative is directed.
Media can help these women instead of spreading gender narratives,” she notes.
The expert believes that although there are various guidelines for journalists and politicians, and training courses are organized, a systematic approach is also needed.
“We need changes in ethics committees and regulatory bodies. Often, women refrain from seeking help not only due to lack of awareness but also because they do not believe in the system’s ability to protect them,” Kojoyan says.
Therefore, the expert suggests that supervisory bodies and committees should not wait for applications and move to proactive operations.
According to the Statistical Committee, as of July 1, 2024, there are 83,396 women and girls with disabilities in Armenia. The Investigative Committee of Armenia does not maintain statistics on how many cases have been and are being investigated in the Committee regarding violence against women and girls with disabilities in at least the last 5 years and what dynamics of cases are observed.
Marine Kharatyan
