YEREVAN. - The findings of Save the Children project in Armenia show that children are most often subjected to physical violence.

“Different types of violence are registered, however, the cases of physical violence against children in schools, kindergartens and at home are the most frequent. It is noteworthy that some parents, mentors, and teachers do not even realize that slapping and beating are nothing but violence against the child,” stressed the head of Save the Children’s Armenian office Irina Soghoyan at the meeting with journalists on Wednesday.  

According to Soghoyan, the situation is even worse in Armenian rural areas. Children are subjected to abuse as they are forced to work in the field during agricultural season.

Overall, children in Armenia are exposed to violence from early childhood, added the representative of Save the Children.

“For instance, when a little child is crying, people say, do not hug the baby, do not spoil the child. In reality, however, not embracing a crying child is a typical example of violence. Another type of violence is ignoring the opinions of youngsters,” said Soghoyan.

She added that in some regions of Armenia girls are largely discriminated. Soghoyan found it difficult to present data on child trafficking, mentioning that the organization do not take up the issue.

The head of the EU delegation to Armenia Raul de Luzenberger expressed his content about the program and the achieved results, noting that the bulk of the child protection programmes are directed towards the regions of Armenia.