On September 8, Armenia’s political discourse sank to a new low when Artur Hovhannisyan, secretary of the ruling Civil Contract faction, launched a personal and sexist attack against opposition MP Taguhi Tovmasyan during a press briefing inside the National Assembly.
The incident followed Hovhannisyan’s interruption of Tovmasyan’s earlier press conference on Armenian prisoners of war held in Baku. Tovmasyan later wrote to Speaker Alen Simonyan, accusing Hovhannisyan of obstructing her parliamentary work and violating journalists’ rights. She also demanded that he undergo daily drug tests before entering parliament.
Later that day, Hovhannisyan responded with remarks widely seen as defamatory and sexist, explicitly implying that Tovmasyan had acquired her property by providing sexual services:
“You’re journalists – and none of you journalists have three or four apartments on Northern Avenue, right? Let her get tested for STDs every day so we understand where those four apartments came from. How does a low-paid journalist (author’s note: Taguhi Tovmasyan worked as a journalist before entering politics) afford apartments on Northern Avenue and elsewhere – perhaps through other services?”
Tovmasyan denied owning four apartments and announced that she would sue Hovhannisyan for defamation.
Prominent human rights defender Zaruhi Hovhannisyan strongly condemned Artur Hovhannisyan’s rhetoric:
“What is happening in the discourse of Armenia’s political field is simply unacceptable. Targeted, defamatory, sexist speech against women engaged in public life has been normalized and fully reflects patriarchal thinking. Women’s personal lives, sexuality, underwear, and behavior are especially targeted. These tendencies have always existed, but the most alarming thing now is that this rhetoric is being spread by male politicians sitting on the highest platforms. This is not only a gross violation of ethics but also an expression of misogyny.”
