Committed to enhance the abilities of law enforcement professionals in addressing domestic violence and violence against women, the Council of Europe held a two-day intensive training for 19 investigators and police officers, 13 of which are women.
The training specifically targeted inter-agency cooperation and collaborative approaches, fostering a more coordinated response to cases of domestic violence.
Participants engaged in understanding gender equality principles, reviewed international legal frameworks, including the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), and analysed cases from the European Court of Human Rights.
The program highlighted best practices, focusing on strengthening criminal proceedings and adopting a victim-centred approach. The group also analysed recent national law amendments.
Arsen Ayvasyan, the Deputy Chairperson of the Investigative Committee emphasised: “Such training and discussion opportunities are vital for bringing together professionals to exchange experiences, address challenges and foster a collaborative approach. The international standards and understanding of legislative amendments that were discussed aim to strengthen the knowledge and skills of law enforcement officials, ensuring more effective cooperation and improving our ability to address more efficiently domestic violence cases’’.
The training marks a significant step forward in Armenia’s efforts to better deal with domestic violence cases. Training law enforcement officials on domestic violence and exploring ways for them to work with other relevant actors such as judges and prosecutors, shelters, etc. is key to ensure that victims can count on support services to be safe and overcome the violence. Combatting violence against women and domestic violence is one of the priorities of the co-operation between the Council of Europe and Armenia.
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 Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia.
