Prosecutors

Prosecutors

A prosecutor in Armenia must defend the rights of the victim and act on behalf of the victim. In practice we see the opposite to be the case. Because prosecutors, by and large, do not have knowledge ofDV—andwedo not knowif they received any training—they cannot defend the rights of the victim. For example, we never witnessed a prosecutor present to the judge a case that is specified as domestic abuse. Therefore, the questions and statements that ensue are not relevant to the situation and display ignorance of the dynamics of controlling behavior. This is also the case with judges.

Prosecutors must coordinate their action with that of the victim’s lawyer, but they almost never do and, if they do, it is done superficially. The most they do is to ask the victim’s lawyer to bring journalists to the court so pressure can be put on the judge. That is the only action they opt to do.

Recommendation:

1. Organize on-going, comprehensive specialized trainings which will guarantee the raising of gender sensitivity of the