Armenia

Armenia Country Gender Assessment1. Gender Issues in the Transition Period5. In addition to its ancient traditions of equal opportunities for men and women,as a Soviet republic, Armenia benefited from an official policy of gender equality thatencouraged women’s active participation in the labor market and resulted in significantimprovements in their legal and social status. Affirmative action in the public andemployment spheres yielded positive results such as legal protection of women’s rights.Yet gender norms in the household remained largely unchanged, and women in Armeniastill experienced the multiple burdens of formal employment; housework; and caring forchildren, the elderly, and the sick. 36. The strong equal rights laws of the Soviet period largely explain why women didnot build feminist movements as in the West. In addition, the Soviet republics emphasizedquantitative aspects of gender equality (e.g., the number of women in the Supreme Soviet)and did not monitor whether gender equality had been achieved in everyday life. The resultof this policy can still be seen in Armenia today, where most people state that men andwomen are equal despite evidence of considerable disparities.7. The breakup of the Soviet Union was followed by a period in which Armeniansociety rejected much of what was considered “Soviet” in nature, regardless of whether ithad a positive social impact. Thus, when Soviet rule ended, notions of gender equality wereabandoned, and “traditional views” and customs resurfaced.8. Armenia remains a conservative, and, in many ways, closed country. In the yearsbuilding up to the dismantling of the Soviet Union and the first years of independence,Armenia experienced several devastating events: an earthquake in 1988; armed conflictwith Azerbaijan; and the imposition of an economic blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey,which is still in place. The collective memory of the events of 1915 and the unresolvedtensions with Turkey and Azerbaijan, still threaten the Armenian identity. The country’sstability, in terms of conflict, governance, and the economy, are considered by many to begreater priorities than addressing gender inequalities.9. Armenia’s Christian heritage is also an important part of its national identity and asource of pride. Armenia became the first nation to declare Christianity as its state religionin 301 A.D. Today, some 95% of Armenians consider themselves to be Christians, mostfollowing Armenia’s Apostolic Church. With independence, the influence of the churchincreased, and this, too, has led to support for patriarchal values.10. Before independence, Armenia’s economy was based on industry, and the countrywas dependent on external trade. With borders open to only two neighboring countries(i.e., Georgia and Iran) and lack of investment in industrial enterprises, Armenia’s economyhas clearly suffered. While many women lost jobs, they are also seen to have become moreresilient and adaptable to the changing circumstances. By contrast, men, faced with theloss of jobs in traditional sectors, have left Armenia in large numbers, migrating mainly to3 It is important to note that during the Communist period, the Communist Party identified the traditional family in Armenia asa “backward institution,” and therefore it took measures to dismantle family loyalties and to disrupt family patterns. The effect,according to some scholars, was to produce resentment and resistance that, in turn, had “the paradoxical effect of strengtheningfamily and kinship networks.” See A. Ishkanian. 2003. Gendered Transitions: The Impact of the Post-Soviet Transition on Women inCentral Asia and the Caucasus. Perspectives on Global Development and Technology. 2 (3–4). pp. 479–480.2