Anna Nikoghosyan
Anna Nikoghosyan is women rights defender and the Chair of the Board and Country Adviser at “FRIDA I The Young Feminist Fund” as well as UN Women Regional Civil Society Advisory Group Member in Europe and Central Asia. Also, She is a member of the Armenian Coalition to Stop Violence against Women, Young Women’s Network in South Caucasus, International Women in Black Movement, AWID, ASTRA Network and ASTRA Youth.
Defamation campaigns carried out by the state media and public officials are often used to stigmatise HRDs and discredit their work in Armenia. These campaigns tend to portray HRDs as foreign agents and spies and can result in increased threats, judicial harassment and onerous tax inspections of their organisations. A major cause for concern is the treatment of LGBTI rights defenders, who are often faced with physical attacks and verbal abuse, both from state officials and the general public. Women’s rights defenders are regularly threatened and are frequently criticised for their work by the media, public opinion in general, and their family members. Additionally, some HRDs working in remote areas face judicial harassment and threats from local law enforcement agencies.
