“Agate” center for women with special needs NGO, ArmeniaPresident Karine Grigoryan

Violence Against Women & Girls with Disabilities PanelUN General Assembly - NYC - October 23, 2012

“Agate” center for women with special needs NGO

Founded in 2007 in Gyumri, Armenia with a mission to improve the quality of the life of women with disabilities and empower and encourage them, both individually and collectively, to claim their rights.

NUMBER OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES IN ARMENIA

There are about 81900 women with disabilities in Armenia . They face discrimination based on:

• Gender• Disability• Country

Forms of violence against WWDs mostly reported

• domestic violence • sexual assault

Women with disabilities who faced violence

Seda-27 years old.Margarita-32 years oldWomen with intellectual disabilityThey have suffered from sexual assault for almost 3 years

Anahit-22 years old. Balasan-25 years oldAbused with family violence-forced isolation and hidden at home

Activities and success stories of “Agate” NGO in the field of VAW

• Individual psychological and legal consultations• Consultations for their family members•Integration•Sex education

GAPS/CHALLENGES

• Lack of accessible and safe shelters• Lack of access to justice

National and International networking

• Mobility International USA• Association of Women's Rights in Development (AWID) in

Canada• International Network of Women with Disabilities formed in

Quebec, Canada 2008• Board Member of Disability Advocacy Coalition (DAC) in

Armenia• Member of regional disability and gender committees• Member of international forum planning committee of

UNESCO chair of comparative human rights

Ratified International conventions

• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

Thank you