Infringement procedure

LGBT people: ∎

do not trust law enforcement agencies, particularly police officers, think that their cases are not investigated objectively, do not consider legal protection mechanisms effective, think that the protection of rights lasts a long time, can be delayed for years, are afraid that the information on the crime committed against them, their SOGI will be made public by the law enforcement bodies, do not feel protected from criminals, they are afraid of being avenged by them, There are also cases when the victims try to restore their violated rights on their own, for example, to agree with the offender so that the violence does not happen again.

Infringement procedure

Of the 40 offenses reported in 2020, only 20 cases were reported to the police. This number of reports includes both domestic violence cases and criminal offenses. It is noteworthy that the provisions of domestic law in cases of domestic violence have specific provision52, that is, if the applicant wants the offender to bear the punishment provided by the criminal legislation, then they should report to the police with two separate reports: one as domestic violence complaint and another report as a separate crime. In case of non-submission of a separate crime report, only the restrictions provided for in the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence shall apply to the perpetrator. Exceptions are cases of domestic violence when the victim is unable to defend his or her rights on his or her own due to his or her helplessness or dependence on the perpetrator53. And in cases of public accusation, for example, in cases of illegal deprivation of liberty, the law enforcement bodies are obliged to investigate, regardless of the victim’s complaint. Only 6 of the victims of domestic violence reported to law enforcement. A warning or urgent intervention orders were issued against the perpetrators. Most of the domestic violence victims did not report to law enforcement because they did not want to file a complaint against their family members, did not consider their actions to be real violence, or did not trust law enforcement, believing that their rights would not be protected by police. Moreover, they feared that law enforcement officers will also use violence against them, or ridicule them, as well as spread information about their sexual orientation and gender identity. Only 2 cases of domestic violence were reported in addition to one crime report. One of the victims later took back the reported complaint.

In one of the reported cases of domestic violence, when the victim turned to the police, the applicant had to take back the report after talking to the head of the police department in that area, as the head verbally promised that the perpetrator

52 The RA Criminal Procedure Code, article 183, part 1. http://parliament.am/law_docs/010998HO248eng. pdf?lang=eng. 53 The RA Criminal Procedure Code, article 183, part 4. http://parliament.am/law_docs/010998HO248eng. pdf?lang=eng.