Dealing with the Victim

The police officersneed toobserve the demeanor and behavior of those present: who is aggressive, who is afraid, who is traumatized. They need tonotice any broken items andlook forsigns of struggle.Usually,none of these essential aspects are recorded in the police report. The police should also seek out witnesses, such as neighbors or relatives, and be attentive to whether they are impartial. done by the police presently.11 Again, this is generally not

Recommendations:

1. Develop relevant mechanisms (including legal ones) to establish a victim-centered approach to victims of violence, as well as toward children who have witnessed the violence

2. Mandatory in-depth trainings on gender-based violence and domestic violence for all police officers.

Dealing with the Victim

We have observed a lack of empathy by the police towards the victims. In fact, the entire process is not victim-centered. Given that Armenia is a patriarchal society, more importance and rights are accorded to men, even if they are the abusers.

The lack of appropriate training of the police often ends in misjudging the victim (which we will discuss further in the section below on the Emergency Intervention Order). There are ample resources

11 For a complete guide to police response see Council of Europe Police Guideline https:// womensupportcenter.org/assets/PDF%20publications/EUR%20ENG%20FINAL.pdf

available for such training. For example, the Council of Europe’s 2018 publication,“PoliceResponse to Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in Armenia,” offers good interviewing techniques. Among other directions, the guidelines suggest that a bond be created with the person being interviewed or that the body language of those interviewing is important to establish trust or, most importantly, that police should not act as judges. The role of the police “is to deliver safety for the victims, allow the perpetrator to be held to account and impose Emergency Protective Orders where necessary. The police officer’s values, beliefs, and opinions should not intrude into the interviews”12. From discussions with WSC beneficiaries, we are aware that these methods are rarely applied. More often they are ignored.

The police also must be prepared to deal with the children. We do not have one example of children being interviewed and few police officers in Armenia are skilled at interviewing children. Children also need to be told that they are not in any trouble and that they have done nothing wrong. They often believe that they are the cause of the abuse and need to be reassured that they are not.

Recommendation:

1. Organize in-depth trainings concerning the issues of genderbased violence, prevention of violence, response mechanisms relevant to the needs of victims;

2. Organize special training for police dealing with children in cases of domestic violence;

3. Revise report forms to be more comprehensive so they can secure a basis for court evidence.

12 Ibid p.23