On April 16, the Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan
delivered a keynote speech at the panel discussion on "Targeting women
leaders on online platforms" organized by the International Republican
Institute in Armenia.
The event was attended by female officials holding
leadership positions in various state bodies, as well as representatives of the
private and academic sector.
Welcoming the guests, Anahit Manasyan stated that it is
impossible to have a proper human rights protection system without public
solidarity, and from the viewpoint of public solidarity, guaranteeing equality
and tolerance is of exceptional importance. In this context, the Defender
emphasized that it is necessary to carry out serious work in the direction of
reforming the educational system, as the stereotyped approaches are very often
transmitted through the educational system which do not correspond to modern
trends of the human rights.
"Unfortunately, intolerance exists in all spheres of
public life. This leads to various negative phenomena, including the targeting
of women. Gender-based targeting of women is common at all levels of society.
Women engaged in public activities are more exposed to online attacks and
become targets of hate speech, including online hate speech, due to the fact
that they are in the center of public attention. In this regard, the most
vulnerable are women who carry out public activities, who carry out their
activities in the field of equality, the protection of the rights of vulnerable
groups, or who raise issues related to the protection of rights, which are not popular
in the specific public environment. Moreover, women are more often targeted
than men in public life. Once again, I emphasize that it is necessary to
guarantee the equality of women and men, to overcome the existing stereotypes,
to form a proper perception of the role of women, as well as to promote the
potential of women in public and political life," stated the Defender.
Concluding the speech, Anahit Manasyan stressed that each
of us should contribute to the formation of a harmonious social environment,
strengthen women's opportunities and promote their rights, not only by
excluding any behavior implying targeting, but also by opposing such
manifestation.
The panel discussion was organized by the International
Republican Institute with funding from the National Endowment for Democracy and
in partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise.
Հայերեն
