Women's Support Center

Established in 2010, the Women's Support Center (WSC) is the premiere domestic violence (DV) center in Armenia dedicated to preventing and addressing domestic abuse. We work to protect, rehabilitate, and empower survivors and change the legal, educational, and social conditions that contribute to a culture of silence around DV. We make change in three key areas: service delivery, prevention, and strengthening of institutional responses. The WSC offers a 24-hour hotline, psychological counseling, legal aid, 2 safe houses, life and parenting skills education, and professional training, including a successful economic empowerment program. We advocate for women's rights and mobilize com... read more Established in 2010, the Women's Support Center (WSC) is the premiere domestic violence (DV) center in Armenia dedicated to preventing and addressing domestic abuse. We work to protect, rehabilitate, and empower survivors and change the legal, educational, and social conditions that contribute to a culture of silence around DV. We make change in three key areas: service delivery, prevention, and strengthening of institutional responses. The WSC offers a 24-hour hotline, psychological counseling, legal aid, 2 safe houses, life and parenting skills education, and professional training, including a successful economic empowerment program. We advocate for women's rights and mobilize communities to change individual knowledge and attitudes about violence against women. Finally, we work at an institutional level to create community-based protection and accountability systems, enhance the capacity of key decision-makers, and support the implementation of multi-sectoral policies, action plans, and legislation. Annually, the WSC's 24-member staff provides comprehensive services to over 1,000 women and children, nearly 300 of whom require safe shelter. Today, many of our beneficiaries are living free of abuse, which has had a powerful ripple-effect on their families and communities at large. The WSC has a long history of successful partnerships with the police, ministries, and other government agencies as well as women's organizations and other community-based organizations. We have trained thousands of police, social workers, psychologists, students, health care providers, and other state and civil society service service providers across Armenia to apply best practices and strengthen the institutional DV response. Considered experts in our field, we are periodically called on by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA), Council of Europe, UNHCR, and other agencies with whom we partner to lead DV training sessions. Additionally, we have produced and disseminated social work standard operating procedures, shelter best practices, and a police guideline. Our engagement and interventions with the MLSA and other key stakeholders have yielded significant outcomes: At the MLSA's request, we helped draft a 3-year National Action Plan and offered amendments to several sub-legal police orders. Moreover, the WSC played a pivotal role in dramatically improving DV legislation by presenting a comprehensive package of proposals to its authors, most of which were incorporated into the final legislation in 2024. Finally, the WSC was chosen by the MLSA in 2020 to lead a large-scale program to establish DV support centers in every province of the country. These centers are partially subsidized by the state and have come together as members of the Coalition of Domestic Violence Support Centers, founded and led by the WSC. Our database structure and intake forms have been approved by the MLSA as standards, and the WSC is responsible for ensuring that all DV support centers operate using a standardized approach and work together as a cohesive unit-ultimately enhancing the DV response nationwide.