The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women has repeatedly mentioned gender discrimination and violence in the media. And yet, violence against women has recently become one of the most discussed issues in the public sphere.
Another example is the picture from the TV show “Born without an Address” on the “Armenia” channel, which recently flooded the Internet, where a man tried to cut off a woman’s nose with scissors. The network removed the video from its YouTube channel after the scandal, but the problem is not over. Many soap operas continue to reproduce dangerous stereotypes of violence, thereby suggesting patterns of behavior to the public.
There are numerous studies that show that discrimination and violence against women in the media, especially in soap operas, have a direct impact on the number of violent outbursts in public life, their quantity, as well as the degree of violence. In particular, in European countries where there is control over violent scenes portrayed in the media, the amount of public violence has decreased. Conversely, as the amount of violence in soap operas has increased, the amount of real violence has also increased. We see this in the Armenian reality, where the amount of femicide is increasing.
Combating domestic violence is an essential part of international human rights documents. The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, ratified by Armenia in the first years of independence in 1993, draws serious attention to the sphere of media, emphasizing that it has a profound effect on public consciousness.
In the RA Law “On Ensuring Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Women and Men,” one way to expose indirect gender discrimination is to reproduce gender stereotypes through media, education, and culture. And Article 8 of the same law clearly defines the main directions of state policy on gender equality, according to which it is the duty of the state to protect society from information and propaganda aimed at violating gender equality.
Moreover, Article 22 of the RA Law “On Television and Radio” explicitly prohibits the use of television and radio programs to broadcast programs that contain violence or propaganda of violence. Taking into consideration the importance of the mentioned problem, we demand.
– The Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth, and Sports of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, whose direct function is radio and television, to discuss and take necessary measures to prevent violence in soap operas,
– From the Commission on Television and Radio to monitor TV programs and soap operas, for which the Commission has a special department, and to present a public report on gender-based violence in soap operas, as well as to take effective steps to eliminate gender-based violence in the media.