En-gendering Civil Society and Democracy-Building: The Anti-Domestic Violence Campaign in Armenia

This article examines how women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were targeted as an important component of the democracy building and civil society promotion programs of the post-socialist period. In particular, it focuses on NGO organizing around the issue of domestic violence in Armenia. It argues that the framing of the problem along with the proposed solutions led to civil society resistance to and critique of the anti-domestic violence campaign. It considers both the causes and the implications of this resistance on organizing around domestic violence as well as the responses and adaptations of the NGOs involved in the campaign.