Held by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a European campaign to protect the families, rights of women and children commenced on November 24. The campaign is called as Parliaments are united in fight against domestic violence and will last for two years, the Deputy of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Elmira Akhundova, informed Trend.
Over these years, parliamentary hearings will be held, meeting will be conducted with the communities, work will be carried out on relevant laws and state programs and trainings will be held for political and other state figures taking responsibility for the protection of human rights.
Akhundova considers that the attention of men towards women became worse in Azerbaijan. She, as a member of the State Pardon Commission of Azerbaijan, knows that the number of the violence against women has increased in the country, especially in the rural regions, but the women do not notify the law-enforcement bodies about these cases. Earlier, at the time of the Soviet power, the men feared that the women may notify the prosecutors about the violence, and they may be punished. Unfortunately, presently the men do not fear anybody, she said.
Akhundova considers that the Criminal Code needs to become tougher on punishing the kidnappers of girls for forcible marriage. She wants to attract the attention of the communities to the issue that at rural schools, pupils of senior school speak about early marriage. According to Akhundova, it needs to strengthen the propaganda for protection of the rights of women to prevent the gender inequality.