In March 2026, a 14-month-old child died in Yerevan after several days in intensive care. According to the investigation, the child was systematically beaten by his stepmother and was taken to the hospital clinically dead.
In a society where love for children is often framed as an important part of national identity, a series of recent cases has sparked a wave of public debate about the gap between perception and reality.
Human rights activist Zara Hovhannisyan says the problem is not new, but has only recently become more visible. Even a single report can spread rapidly online and trigger widespread discussion.
But greater visibility does not necessarily lead to timely intervention. In many cases, violence remains hidden until it becomes severe.
Naira Harutyunyan, President of the NGO “You Are Not Alone,” says cases of abuse rarely occur suddenly. Instead, they develop over time, often beginning with less visible forms of violence that go unnoticed or unreported.
“In many cases, there are warning signs,” she said, noting that they are often not recognized or acted upon.
Recent cases illustrate how such patterns can unfold with fatal consequences.
In another high-profile case in 2025, a 3-year-old boy was killed by his father in one of Armenia’s regions, underscoring how prolonged, undetected abuse can end in tragedy.
According to investigators, the man strangled the child and hid his body while the search continued.
These cases differ in detail, but they share one common thread: the violence occurred within the family and escalated over time.
According to Victoria Ohanyan, program officer at UNICEF Armenia Access to Justice, Armenia still lacks comprehensive and up-to-date national statistics on child abuse. The system has long been decentralized, and the data is fragmented, making it difficult to understand the true scale of the problem.
Ohanyan said official statistics typically include only the most severe cases, those that have already reached the level of a criminal offense. Meanwhile, psychological abuse and neglect often remain invisible, and cases of sexual violence are often not reported at all due to stigma and fear.
One of the key problems identified by experts is the lack of an effective early detection mechanism.
For many years, the child protection system in Armenia has been reactive rather than preventive. This means that interventions occur after violence has taken place, rather than when the first signs of risk emerge.
As Ohanyan noted, in the absence of proactive social work, the system is unable to promptly identify risks, ultimately leading to severe and sometimes fatal cases.
Ohanyan says that approximately 70% of parents in Armenia use some form of violent discipline, and approximately 40% use physical punishment. Moreover, the prevalence of violence does not depend on income level or whether the family lives in the city or rural areas.
At the same time, the forms of violence vary: physical violence is more common in less affluent families, while psychological violence is more common in more affluent ones.
However, as Ohanyan notes, parents themselves do not always perceive such practices as acceptable, with only about 4% of parents considering violent parenting methods are acceptable.
“This indicates not a conscious endorsement of violence but as a lack of knowledge and skills in alternative, nonviolent parenting,” she says.
This is also linked to a cultural factor.
“In Armenia, children are loved, but in their own way,” Zara Hovhannisyan says, adding that corporal punishment has long been perceived as an acceptable method of discipline “for the good of the child.”
Drawing on insights from Hovhannisyan and UNICEF, such attitudes blur the line between parenting and violence, creating conditions in which abuse is not always perceived as a problem requiring intervention.
In recent years, Armenia has begun reforming its child protection system. In 2025, the Law on the Rights of the Child and the Child Protection System was adopted, aimed at changing the approach to responding to violence.
Under the new legislation, the system must now emphasize early risk identification, interagency cooperation and the professionalization of social work.
The law provides for the creation of a corps of specialized social workers to protect children, clearer mechanisms for identifying, reporting and referring cases of violence, and increased coordination between government agencies.
Many of the law’s provisions will be implemented in stages over the coming years, as the system is still in a transitional phase. However, even with reforms, changing practices and social norms takes time.
According to Armenia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, when a report of violence is received, an investigation is conducted, materials are collected and submitted to the Investigative Committee.
In some cases, child protection authorities and social services are involved, and if the threat is serious, the child may be removed from the family.
The system also includes prevention programs in schools, with parents and children.
However, the key problem remains the same: intervention often comes too late.
“When risks aren’t identified early, it leads to severe cases, when children are subjected to violence over a long period of time, ending in tragedy,” a representative of Armenia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
Zara Hovhannisyan confirms that the situation has begun to change in recent years, with more cases becoming public and more people willing to report violence.
“This is partly due to changes in legislation that provide protection and confidentiality for those who report it,” she says.
Ohanyan’s words should raise alarms: “Children’s lives should not become the price society pays for understanding the problem.”