The everyday struggle

Equipped with a sword for everyday battle: Statue of Mother Armenia in Yerevan

Here in Armenia, women's issues are usually discussed from the perspective of victimization. Most of the time it is non-governmental organizations that take up the issue and point out the alarming figures when it comes to domestic violence. Between 2022 and 2024, 39 femicides were recorded, in almost all cases the women were killed by their partners. Other organizations are campaigning for more quotas, which would, for example, bring more women into parliament.

However, other aspects – sexual freedom, reproductive work, the economic living conditions of women – are rarely discussed. They are often just as taboo among liberal urban hipsters as they are in the more openly patriarchal parts of society. As a result of the economic boom in the IT industry and the rise of reactionary, macho tendencies in politics, the objectification of women sometimes seems to be more open and blatant today than it was 20 years ago.

As a journalist who has been working on women's issues for the Armenian news portal Epress.am for years, I would like to tell you about three women I have met over the past three years.

I remember in the noughties hearing a very backward man say that he married a cute girl because he wanted to have cute children. He became the laughing stock of the year in the village where I grew up. A few days ago I heard almost the same sentence uttered by an IT manager at a dinner party. No one seemed particularly bothered by it except me.

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