The issue of women’s involvement in leadership positions constantly receives criticism, various interpretations, and opinions in society.

Back in 2019, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a post on his Facebook page about women’s involvement in the Government:

“Our government has 1 female minister and 12 female deputy ministers. Two of the three deputy chiefs of the Prime Minister’s staff are women.

One of the deputy chairmen of the State Revenue Committee is a woman, and one of the deputy chairmen of the Urban Development Committee is a woman. In addition, women lead the Civil Aviation Committee, the Social Security Service, and the State Tourism Committee.

This list can be continued, but I think our government exceeds all previous governments of Armenia in terms of women’s involvement,” the Prime Minister wrote.

Is this claim correct?

Pashinyan’s government, according to fresh data, seems to have exceeded previous Armenian governments, now having 4 female ministers.

Iravaban.net presents the female ministers of the 3rd Republic of Armenia:

Karine Danielyan – Minister of Nature Protection and Environment – 1991-1994 

Hranush Hakobyan – Minister of Social Security – 1996-1998 

Tamara Poghosyan – Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs – 2003-2004 

Hasmik Poghosyan – RA Minister of Culture – 2007-2016 

Hranush Hakobyan – RA Minister of Diaspora – 2008-2018 

Arpine Hovhannisyan – RA Minister of Justice – 2015-2017 

Lilit Makunts – RA Minister of Culture – 2018-2019 

Mane Tandilyan – RA Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (May 12, 2018 – November 4, 2018) 

Zaruhi Batoyan – RA Minister of Labor and Social Affairs – 2019-2020

• Zhanna Andreasyan was appointed Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports on March 5, 2020, and has been serving as the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports since December 13, 2022.
• Anahit Avanesyan held the position of Deputy Minister of Health from May 24, 2018, and First Deputy Minister of Health from May 11, 2020. She has been serving as the Minister of Health since January 18, 2021.
• Arpine Sargsyan held the position of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs from January 9, 2023, until November 20, 2024. On November 20, 2024, by presidential decree, Sargsyan was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs.
• Srbuhi Galyan was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia on July 17, 2019. In the Prosecutor’s Office, she coordinated the field of confiscation of illegally acquired property, and from September 1, 2020, held the position of Deputy Prosecutor General. On November 5, 2024, she was appointed Minister of Justice by presidential decree on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

In a conversation with Iravaban.net, Meri Mamikonyan, head of the Research, Expert and Educational Center of the Human Rights Defender’s Office, in response to our question about why one part of society positively evaluates the involvement of women in leadership positions and the other part negatively, noted that the Human Rights Defender has repeatedly, including within the framework of annual reports, addressed the issues of women’s participation in political and public life and considered the low level of women’s participation in public life concerning.

According to her, the issue of women’s incomplete participation and involvement in socio-political life continues to be recorded in Armenia. The hindering factors are diverse, such as existing stereotypes and discriminatory perceptions about the role of women, their abilities, and their involvement in public life, as a result of which women are often not considered as decision-makers, policy developers, and implementers.

We also addressed in our inquiry whether, for example, in power structures, fields of human rights protection and security, the boundary between women and men should be distinguished, and whether, apart from knowledge, strictness and strength are not necessary here.

They responded that women’s involvement in leadership positions is crucial from the perspective of ensuring their full participation in social and political life.

“Guaranteeing equal opportunities, ensuring women’s involvement in the decision-making process, and promoting women’s potential in social and political life are challenges in the field of human rights protection not only in Armenia but also throughout the world. In this context, overcoming these issues is of key importance in forming a proper human rights protection system,” said Meri Mamikonyan.

Thus, due to existing stereotypes in society, stereotypical perceptions about the roles and abilities of women, the presence of various manifestations of discrimination, a critical attitude towards women regarding taking on political or leadership roles, as well as the absence of comprehensive mechanisms to promote women’s participation, a proper level of women’s participation in social and political life is not ensured.

Therefore, it is necessary to guarantee equality between women and men, overcome existing stereotypes, form a proper perception of the role of women, and promote women’s potential in social and political life.

It should be emphasized that the legislative regulations prohibiting discrimination in Armenia are deficient, and the issue of the absence of effective legislative mechanisms to combat discrimination remains relevant.

The fight against discrimination implies the provision of effective mechanisms, including the adoption of a unified law that will define the concept of discrimination, its types, and procedural guarantees ensuring the effective protection of rights in cases of discrimination.

When asked whether there is a need today to introduce legislative regulations to pay attention to this issue, they noted that a proper level of human rights protection is impossible without observing the principle of non-discrimination. Therefore, the raised issues require a systematic solution – the establishment of effective legislative mechanisms for combating and preventing discrimination in line with international standards.

“It should be noted that during 2024, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia has circulated a package of draft laws ‘On Ensuring Equality and Protection from Discrimination’ and related laws, which can have a significant role for society in terms of raising the guarantee of equality and the prohibition of discrimination to another level.

The issue of the importance of adopting an equality law has been raised by the Defender for years, and he notes the urgent need for the adoption of the law,” was stated in response to the inquiry.

In a conversation with Iravaban.net, Liana Sahakyan, President of the “Sose Women’s Issues” NGO, also welcomed the participation of women in leadership positions, noting that discriminatory approaches should not be shown in the context of this issue, a distinction should not be made between women and men, as the important thing is appropriate professional abilities and experience.

“The stereotypical mindset comes from the fact that for years, almost always in our power structures, for example, the Minister of Internal Affairs has been a man, but we have had a female Minister of Justice.

People think that if it’s a power structure, it should be men, but that’s just a myth; women can very well hold these positions and be good ministers. I can say that discriminatory attitudes come from the belittling of women’s roles in society because women have always been imagined in the kitchen, women have always worked in schools, kindergartens, and their involvement in decision-making has not been much.

We, of course, from our experience, can state that women have played a major role in the decision-making process and have been good officials, for example, the first female ambassador to Japan was an Armenian woman.”

In response to the question about what steps can be taken to reduce discriminatory attitudes, our interlocutor answered: “Long-term work needs to be done with different layers and groups of society to raise awareness, to talk about these issues. A few days ago, we witnessed the speech of Gyumri mayoral candidate Vardan Ghukasyan about women, that women with their appearance provoke other actions, which is a very wrong mindset, and from an official too; I strongly condemn this.”

Let us remind you that after the elections, on March 31, the Gyumri mayoral candidate made the following statement during a press conference: “Then will these girls let a person not sin? Beautifully dressed, with bare legs… They are a cause of temptation for men.”

It should be emphasized that various opinions and criticisms regarding the appointment of women in the executive branch and their tenure can create additional problems for their role, involvement, and protection of rights in the field, and women may avoid carrying out this activity to avoid being targeted.

Mariam Shahnazaryan