Armenian MP and member of the delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Sona Ghazaryan said during a session in Strasbourg that politics in Armenia had long been heavily demonized.
She added that the environment did not encourage women’s participation.
“Violence, intimidation, and hate speech against politicians are not merely personal attacks. They are attacks on representative institutions, political pluralism, and the free exchange of ideas on which democratic life is based. When elected representatives are silenced through threats, not only the politician loses their voice, but also the citizens.
In Armenia, politics has long been heavily demonized and was rarely seen as a space for young women. The environment did not encourage their involvement and did not convey the message that public life was open to the voices of a new generation of women.
Only after the Velvet Revolution did more young women begin entering politics, bringing with them the fresh energy and spirit that democratic institutions need. However, this progress met resistance. I have personally faced significant hate speech because of my age and gender. All of this was aimed not only at targeting an individual but also at sending a broader message—that politics is not a place for young women.
For eight years now, I have served as a member of parliament and have realized that one of the most effective ways to counter such hostility is to speak openly about it. Silence protects the problem, while openness begins to dismantle it. By publicly discussing these experiences, we have paved the way for new female MPs who, at least in my view, have been less targeted for being young or women.
We must also recognize the strategy behind such behavior, which is to portray politics as a hostile, exhausting, and undesirable environment for younger generations,” she said.
The Armenian parliamentary delegation, led by Vice Speaker and head of the PACE delegation Ruben Rubinyan, is participating in the second part of the PACE session in Strasbourg, according to the National Assembly.
