Baku, Azerbaijan, June 26
Trend:
Azerbaijani MP Ganira Pashayeva spoke about the crimes committed by Armenia against Azerbaijani women and called on PACE to take strict steps in response to these crimes, Trend reports.
Representative of the Azerbaijani delegation to the PACE Ganira Pashayeva delivered speech during the discussions on the draft resolutions "The Istanbul Convention on violence against women: achievements and challenges" and "Towards an ambitious Council of Europe agenda for gender equality".
She said that violence towards women is a violation of human rights and it is necessary to further strengthen the joint fight against that.
"Speaking on behalf of the women who become victims of violence during the armed conflicts, I would like to convey their appeals," Pashayeva said.
She stressed that during the armed conflicts, women become victims of mass acts of severe violence.
“The Azerbaijani people experienced this terrible pain,” Pashayeva said. “As a result of Armenia’s armed aggression against our country and the occupation of 20 percent of our lands, thousands of Azerbaijani women were injured. Hundreds of Azerbaijani prisoners of war and hostages, including women are kept in unbearable conditions in Armenia.”
“Despite the progress in the field of gender equality, the empowerment of women and the fight against violence against women in the PACE member-states, a lot of work must be carried out,” she said. “The activity in these issues should be further increased. In particular, more attention should be paid to the role of women in economic life and management.”
"We, as representatives of the Azerbaijani people, openly and resolutely condemn any violence against women,” Pashayeva added. “I would like to stress that Azerbaijan is one of the countries that actively fights against violence against women and domestic violence. Violence against women, including domestic violence is one of the main issues in our country and many laws have been passed in this sphere.”
“Numerous events are held together with international and national partners and special attention is paid to the enlightenment,” she said. “We actively cooperate with non-governmental organizations to carry out this work.”
Pashayeva also said that it is extremely important to show unshakable political will and maximum attention must be paid to these topics to enhance the role of women in all spheres of society and fight violence against women more effectively.