On the threshold of the May 2007 parliamentary elections, gender issues may become a matter of debate. Women say they are ready to take a place in politics, even against the long odds. The dispute does not concern whether women are ready to compete, but whether they’ll be accepted in the fight.

A major question, is whether women might wish to engage in the “dirty games” of politics. So far, the answer has been “no”. But with next spring’s election seen as a referendum on whether Armenia can finally produce a fair electoral process (and in doing so earn the right to collect $235.65 million in Millennium Challenge money to improve Armenia’s human rights and democracy records), the coming campaign is crucial for many reasons – including whether the door is opened for women . . .

Thirteen years later, there has been no significant progress in this area. Activism by Armenian women, then, finds its voice through Non Governmental Organizations, which, by their very status are outside the scope of direct impact in politics.

Women make up 52 percent of Armenia’s population; and, a high percent have advanced education. Women and men in Armenia enjoy the same political, social and civil rights, according to the Armenian Constitution. But the statistics show that those rights are not exercised.

Even though woman are represented in all ministries and governmental bodies, the executive power, public administration and legislative body is a pyramid of gender inequality – the higher the position, the less likely to find a woman there.

• Only seven women have seats in Armenian Parliament out of 131 deputies – fewer than any European country. (In Azerbaijan women have 12 percent of seats in Parliament, in Georgia 9 percent, Armenia 5 percent)
• Only one woman, the Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs holds a ministerial post, out of 16
• Out of 926 heads of villages or towns, only 15 are women
• The republic’s 52 percent majority is represented by less than 6 percent in decision making, and only half of the scores of political parties have women on their lists.

Hasratyan says politics in Armenia is a “men’s club”.

Gender expert Jemma Hasratyan, says politics in Armenia is a “men’s club”, from which women are alienated from the decision-making processes. And the few women politicians cannot effectively represent even women’s issue – to say nothing of the public at large. “Dirty elections and smear campaigning has become a political culture in Armenia rather than image making and a well prepared election platform,” says Hasratyan, founder of the Association of Women with University Education. “It’s not a secret that in Armenia some political issues are being debated and solved in saunas and restaurants. For women, these are not the proper ways to negotiate. And of course men would not wish to give membership to women to their ‘club’.” Armenian women who may not wish to be part of the “club” nonetheless wish to have a voice.

In September an initiative group represented by 22 political parties and 40 NGOs sent a package of suggestions to the National Assembly. The draft envisages at least 25 percent of candidates on party election lists presented for proportional vote should be women, instead of the current 5 percent. (If the draft is accepted, the number of women in Parliament would reach 30-32.)

“The country’s leadership hampers the development of the country because it ignores the potential, efforts and education of over half of its population,” says Anahit Aghoyan of the National Democratic Union party, who supports the initiative.

Ruzan Khachatryan, member of the governing council of the People’s Party hopes that the draft will be accepted. However since the powerful Republican Party which makes a majority in Parliament did not join the initiative, the draft’s chances are remote.

Khachatryan, an active participant of opposition campaigning, was herself a candidate in the 2005 Yerevan elections, running for head of the Kentron district. Khachatryan received 12 percent of the votes and lost the race to Gagik Beglaryan, who gained 86 percent out of 91,000 votes.

She is convinced, though, that her example will encourage women to become candidates.

“My experience showed that society is ready to vote for a woman,” she says. “People are tired of the corrupt elections, far from democracy and transparency. But the authorities seem to be ardent opponents of women.”

Khachatryan recalls how her opponent commented on his victory saying: “It would have been a disgrace if I had lost to a woman.”

Beglaryan’s position is typical among Armenian men. Patriarchal stereotypes largely dominate society where many consider that a woman’s purpose is to produce children then care for them and keep a proper house for her man. Despite changing demographics to the contrary, the label of woman as tolerant housewife and man as breadwinner define gender issues in today’s Armenia.

Traditionalists believe that an Armenian woman’s engagement in politics would distract her from family, historically considered a stronghold of the nation. They also say that in much of the world women have less access to employment, decision-making or property ownership.

But experts in gender issues argue that the tendencies have been changing each year in favor of women. Armenian gender experts say that, in developed countries, women enjoy 30-to-40 percent representation in power structures. The highest percentage of women MPs is in the Parliaments of Sweden (45 percent), Norway (38 percent) and Finland (37 percent). Also, in 1999, Sweden became the first country to have more female ministers than male.

Armenia need look only as far as its own borders to see more gender-balanced governments.

In Georgia, Nino Burjanadze, is Speaker of Parliament (according to Georgian constitution the number two position in the government). In Georgia’s 235-membered parliament 22 women make 9 percent. Azerbaijan has 15 women parliamentarians out of 125 (12 percent) – including one who is the country’s first lady, Mehriban Alieva.

Kharatyan’s survey found that mothers prefer their daughters marry into money rather than have a career.

Armenian experts say that generally there is no discrimination against women; its not a phenomena embedded in the national mentality. The ideological gap reflected in politics is a result of the present social-economic situation. A gender analysis of officially-reported unemployment illustrates that the majority of the unemployed in Armenia are women and that the level of unemployment of women has grown. A survey by ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan among Armenian women engaged in public or political sectors showed that most women would prefer for their daughters a marriage for money instead of a well paid job. Women explained that a job can be lost while the prosperous husband is a guarantor of independence and security. That psyche, experts conclude, shows that subconsciously women count on men, without concern for their personal success. Sociologists say that after the 1990s the tendencies could have been deflected. When in the ‘90s the country was hit by hardships of energy crisis, devastation of economy and unemployment, many women became the breadwinners of the family, or became the head of the family while their husbands have been earning money abroad. However the shift of the social roles has not yet found an informed response from society.

“In all times, in all countries women head countries or take part in governance through monarchy or by having a privileged title,” says Bozoyan, the director of Herankar” (Perspective) Non Governmental Organization. “Armenian queens also made great contributions for the country. But when Armenia lost statehood (in the 14th century) the Church became the stronghold for Armenian people, and as we know there is no place for women in the priesthood.”

Armenia lost statehood before the appearance of women who could be at the same level with Georgian Queen Tamar or Russian empress Katherine the Great.

(For example during the 12th Century rule of Queen Tamar, Georgia not only flourished but sustained its statehood and even strengthened political independence at times when feudal clashes ravaged surrounding territory.)

“Tamar is a cult personality in Georgia and is known as a strong historical figure in memory of the Georgians. Probably that is the reason women are more independent, self-assured and often have dominant positions in neighboring Georgia,” Bozoyan says.

Armenian history has almost no examples of women who made any epoch-making decisions for the country. But it bears many examples of women who contributed to national identity. Armenians for a long time have been forced to survive as a nation only by mean of language and culture. And historians are unanimous in their opinion that Armenian women largely contributed in upholding both.

By the 20th century Armenian women emerged into roles as social leaders – founding schools, cultural centers, etc. And when, in 1920, when the Bolsheviks took over, women’s issues took another turn.

The ideology of communism, “equality for all”, touched also the gender issue. The Decree on Equality of Rights assured non-traditional jobs for women in all sectors of economy, education, agriculture. The image of the energetic “soviet woman” as the opponent of Western-style living was advocated by hundreds of trade unions – representing the one-fourth of the 16-million Communist party.

In Armenia, as in all Soviet republics, women made from 30-40 percent of the Supreme Council (equivalent to today’s Parliament, though its powers were mostly formal).

In the first convocation of the Supreme Council of Soviet Armenia there were only three women out of 256 deputies. In the second convocation there were 75 women out of 203 deputies. In the eighth convocation in 1971, there were 101 women out of 310 deputies.

Historians and sociologists are ambiguous concerning the impact of 70 years of the Soviet Union on Armenian women in government. Some say that the soviet regime gave the Armenian women the freedom they never had and in fact promoted the political activity of women. Others argue that the communists’ era aggravated the gender issues, as equality was nothing but artificial propaganda while in neither men nor women, were not elected, but were appointed by Moscow.

Ohanyan says the political gap reflects cultural tendencies.

Sociologist Marina Ohanyan sees both sides. “Many European women could have been envious of the equality of rights in Armenia. In the beginning of the century when Armenian women could be elected as deputies (no matter that the policy was dictated from the Kremlin) in some European countries women did not have rights to participate in elections,” says Ohanyan, the founder of Liza a women’s NGO. “But decades later European women have succeeded in gender issues, because the women there were fighting for their rights, step by step, year by year.” Ohanyan, who has published books and produced documentaries on such issues, says the Soviet era proposed gender equality system did not establish political traditions. The gap in the Armenian political arena between women and men simply reflects the cultural tendencies of the Armenian mentality.

“In Armenia, women are too feminine and the men are too manly. I am not for unisex in all, but as long as men and women in Armenia don’t understand each other’s social psychology the situation will remain unchanged,” she says.

Manvel Sargsyan of the Caucasus Analytical Center says that Armenian women can greatly contribute to the building of democratic society but he is skeptical whether it will happen soon. He says the current political structure attracts criminals, more than civic servants.

“People go into politics not to become political figures or from any desire to make a contribution to their country,” Sargsyan says. “It’s their business that pushes them. They become politicians not to protect the country, but to protect their own business interests.”

But the political expert adds that neither does he see women who are ready to lead the country.

“We should put the question (about equal representation) this way: What do women expect from their husbands? What do wives or daughters of deputies or high ranking officials demand from them?

“Do they want fair elections, a democratic society? I don’t think so. They (women) demand more comfort, more means for traveling, expensive cars . . . When the day comes when a mother demands that her son driving his Jeep follows traffic rules, that day we will have hope for a civil, lawful country.”

The government’s plan for fair gender balance is dictated by Council of Europe requirements for achieving at least a 40% representation of women on decision-making bodies by 2020. Since 2004 the UNDP Gender and Politics in Southern Caucuses Program supports the national action plan. The three year program envisages $1.83 million developing gender policy and initiating regional gender dialogue.

The national action plan is also backed by a large number of women’s organizations, including Association of Women With University Education (AWUE).

The association, founded in 1995, offers a program to identify, train and educate women leaders. The 30 branches of AWUE are spread throughout Armenia’s 12 provinces. More than 600 women have been trained by the association and many work in different governmental bodies. Armenian politicians are often guests of the Association and conduct seminars on political science.

The program provides training at the beginning and advanced levels for women activists and enrolls women from both governmental and oppositional camps.

“Although in the political field these two camps are irreconcilable, during the training they go well with each other,” says chairwoman Jemma Hasratyan. “It is very important as women have to understand that the women’s movement has to be supported by women; they must be united to achieve their goals.”

Trainings range from primers on political science to the skill of polemics,” Hasratyan says. A good politician “is first of all a good orator and (good public speaking) comprises many elements which unfortunately are unknown to most of our politicians.”

Another expert in gender issues, Nora Hakobyan, president of Women’s Republican Council, is aware of the passivity of women. Last year the Council conducted a survey among 1,200 women, and found that women’s equality issues may not be as urgent to the general public, as to those who might wish to be leaders. It found:

• 30 percent of women do not want equal rights with men
• 47 percent are satisfied with the current gender balance
• 50 percent want the situation to be changed

“Women are unclaimed as a political force, which is partly because they underestimate their social role,” Hakobyan says. “Armenian women by nature are very patient and tolerant; they want to please their fathers, brothers, and later husbands, in some cases to the detriment of themselves.”

In 2002 the Women’s Republican Council and 25 NGOs founded Armenian Peace Coalition, for the better realization gender relations improvement. By the support of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, the coalition publishes a journal, “Peace for Everyone”, covering the public and political activity of women in Yerevan and the provinces. It also reports results of round-table discussions and announces seminars and training opportunities.

“The Armenian mass media is inert to gender issues even though most of the journalists in Armenia are women,” says Hakobyan, who has been a well known public figure in Armenia since Soviet times when she was the chairwoman of the Armenian Society for Cultural Links.

“The formula for gender success is very simple: the political will, representation of women in political parties and fair elections and the support of mass media,” Hakobyan says.

“Give us fair elections and if women lose only then one can say they are not competitive.”

On the male-dominated political landscape are many Armenian politicians supportive of gender equality.

Grigor Harutyunyan, MP, and secretary of the Justice faction says he would support any initiative that would increase the number of women in Parliament.

“I’ve always had a positive attitude toward women in the public or political sphere and when I was the head of the Executive Committee of the Meghri Regional Council there were many women in the council,” he says.

“The approach to women as housewives, is outdated, as Armenian women along with men are breadwinners. I don’t share the opinion that public activity will divert women from family. After all, this is the 21st century. The Armenian woman’s life has changed; the washing machines, the dishwasher, do the work that, before, took women the whole day.”

The deputy stops short of suggesting that men might share the laundry and dish washing chores. And even a progressive attitude reveals traditional founding, when the deputy adds: “I am sure the women’s presence in Parliament would make the atmosphere there more friendly and tolerant.”

Former Prime Minister and chairman of the National Democratic Union Vazgen Manukyan, says even though he welcomes the initiative of the 25 percent system, it should be achieved with forethought.

“Of course politics lose, without women’s potential. But the initiative may take the form of ‘artificial’ gender promotion which is as dangerous as fraudulent elections,” Manukyan says. “Though our party joined the initiative I am afraid it will result in the election of many illegitimate female deputies just like among men. Since the election process has itself become false, women who really may contribute to the country might be left behind.”

Raffi K. Hovannisian, Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs and founder of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies says the triumph of women’s rights will be celebrated on the same day real democracy is achieved in Armenia.

“Women’s rights and democracy are corollaries. Each is meaningless without the accompaniment and support of the other,” Hovannisian says.

Hovannisian says the Armenian society might share in the patriarchy of its neighbors, but it is unique in its capacity for change. As more and more Armenian women enter the political arena and prove their worth, they will transform their image in the public realm as well.

“I wish for a day when women are accorded the same chances – and the same scrutiny – as male leaders,” Hovannisian says. “What women need are not special privileges, but equal rights. I have no doubt that the Armenian woman’s aptitude and determination today can surmount the restrictive routine that has followed Armenia for decades. Give this to them, and you will witness the enormous pride and power of Armenia’s silent majority.”

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