A group of 30 Armenian law enforcement professionals ( 21 women and 9 men), including police officers and investigators, took part in the launch of a new Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) online course on "Violence against women and domestic violence for law enforcement” on 20 October 2023 in Yerevan.  This course has been translated into Armenian and adapted to the national context.

Law enforcement professionals will learn both the theory and practical skills needed to address violence against women. They will explore the many forms of violence and its impacts on victims and society. Additionally, participants will be equipped with guidelines on how to respond quickly and effectively to cases of violence against women and domestic violence, techniques for interviewing victims and perpetrators, etc.

Edgar Petrosyan, Head of Department on protection of juveniles' rights and combating domestic violence, General Department of criminal intelligence, Armenian Police, underlined the great opportunity this online course provides to participating police officers and investigators. In particular, they are able to obtain knowledge related to combating violence against women and domestic violence and to build a platform and a network of professionals who can share their knowledge and learn about international practices and standards at times and at a pace that are convenient for them.

The event was organised in the framework of the Council of Europe project “Ending violence against women and promoting gender equality in Armenia” in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and the Investigative Committee of Armenia.