History

The Women's Resource Center was founded in 2003 by women from Armenia and the diaspora, and is the first resource center created in the post-soviet Armenia for young women.

At the beginning it was located inside the Yerevan State University campus and served as a drop-in center for young female students. From 2006 WRCA moved to the downtown of Yerevan and now is open for women of all ages, education, sexual orientation and social backgrounds.

WRCA is working in the area of women's human rights, reproductive and sexual rights, sexual violence and women's role in the conflict resolution and peace building in the region of South Caucasus.

The organization is one of the initiator of "Women's Coalition for Peace" and "Young Women's Network of South Caucasus" and is cooperating with women's organization in Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan and South Ossetia.

Since 2008 WReC has started a hotline and peer-to-peer group for the girls and women- victims of sexual violence in Yerevan.

Over the years, the Women's Resource Center has organized the following programs:

• Workshops requested by the Armenian Red Cross and designed for its own volunteers.
• "Women's Rights Training" offered in various cities within the Republic of Armenia, including Sisian, Hrazdan and Ichevan.
• "Yerevan State University Civil Service in Orphanages" program, which was based on the training of the trainers model. University students who had participated in previous years in the Center's programs/trainings on gender issues and human rights and who had displayed interest, motivation and potential were selected as trainers to, in turn, prepare certain instructional materials and present them to vulnerable children living in orphanages. The trainers were divided into three groups and assigned the following topics: human rights, gender, violence and reproductive health. The trainings were done in three of Yerevan's youth homes: Sos, Zatik and Huyso Aygi.
• Considering that in 2005, an estimated 40.3 million people were living with HIV/AIDS and between 1988 and 2005, 375 individuals in the Republic of Armenia were infected with HIV/AIDS (the majority of whom were Armenian citizens), the Center decided to participate in programs during the twenty-day period that was dedicated to remembering, preventing and fighting AIDS, and which began with World AIDS Day on December 1^st. Together with the sociology faculty at Yerevan State University, the Center organized a roundtable discussion on "AIDS: Should We Be Afraid or Should We Protect Ourselves?" The purpose of the discussion was to provide correct information about HIV/AIDS, its infection pathways, methods for prevention, and relevant resources available in the Republic of Armenia. Participants included a specialist physician from Armenia's National Center for AIDS Prevention, members of the "Real People, Real World" non-governmental organization, other university students and interested individuals.

During this period, the Center also distributed informational and educational material to all those who wished to receive comprehensive and correct information on HIV/AIDS.

• A roundtable discussion was organized to address the prevalence of breast cancer in Armenia, where 30% of all women diagnosed with cancer suffer from cancer of the breast. A physician, a psychologist, several women currently diagnosed with breast cancer and survivors of breast cancer were among the participants.
• "Through Our Eyes" was a three day film festival at Nairi Theatre whose purpose was to present films by young female Armenian film makers and to raise awareness among the general public about gender issues. The following films were shown: We Are the Color of Our Land, They Are Finally Coming Home, Women's Happiness or Men's Pride, Altitude, Diary of a Pregnant Woman, One-Goal Game, Abortion, Time in the Empty Room, -40°, M-1, and Resignation.
• An evening of classical music was organized at the Narekatsi Cultural Center which included young female performers and artists.
• Following a conference organized by the Kvinna Till Kvinna organization on "Women in Peace Building and Conflict Resolution", the Women's Coalition for Peace in the Southern Caucuses was created in September 2006. The Coalition included women's centers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Its primary purpose was to mobilize women, peace activists, and local and international organizations in order to expand the role and participation of women in politics and peace building.

On November 25, 2006, which marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a united act was established by women's organizations in all Coalition member countries.

In Armenia, the Women's Resource Center organized a peace march to remind the general public and the government of the importance of women's participation in conflict resolution and decision-making processes.  The march ended at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a letter addressed to the Minister was presented.  The letter reiterated the importance of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and asked for the Ministry's support for expanding the role and participation of women in decision-making processes.

• On April 11, 2006, the "Women's image in Advertisements" exhibition was organized to show how women are displayed in today's world of advertisement. In the majority of advertisements, women are portrayed stereotypically, either as home keepers or as sexual objects. It is difficult to comprehend how young women today can imagine themselves as specialists within their fields, as athletes, writers, politicians or as independent-thinking, accomplished and strong women if they are constantly surrounded by these types of extreme images.

Prior to the exhibition, a roundtable discussion was held with Armenian reporters, lawyers and individuals working in the advertisement industry.  The main objective of the meeting was to discuss those influences that create these misguided and stereotypical images of the Armenian woman and to begin a dialogue about how to change the representation of women in advertisements into a more dynamic, real and positive portrayal.

• A five-day training/seminar on "Lobbying and Defending Interests and Human Rights" was offered by two guests visiting from Montreal, artist Michelle Niquette and lobbyist Abraham Niziblian. The specialists presented various methods which have brought forth positive results in different parts of the world, and they stressed the importance of perseverance and the creative spirit in this type of work.
• During the months of May through July, the Women's Center collaborated with Utopia and CEC Artlink to create an informal artistic/literary seminar to give women artists the opportunity to exercise their skills and talents in a comfortable environment. The topics presented and discussed during the seminar included childhood memories, identification, family dynamics, physical and sexual issues, and women and work. The purpose of the seminar was to create a non-critical, relaxed atmosphere to allow women to create freely, to write and discuss openly, to feel comfortable to experiment with their talents, and to produce works by and about Armenian women that break through those particular barriers that inhibit public dialogue and constrain social perspectives.
• With the support of the Open Society Institute's Armenia chapter, the Women's Resource Center put together a "Gender Montage" program during the months of March through October 2007. The program was based on a film series of the same name and was organized by young Armenians from Yerevan, Vanadzor and Gyumri. As the program's objective was to improve gender identification among youth living in Armenia's various marzes, the program was implemented in Gavar, Sevan, Hrazdan, Charentsavan, Spitak, Vanadzor, Gyumri and other cities.
• On November 25, 2007, the Women's Center once again organized an event to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and used the motto of, "We must stop the violence beginning with our families and extending to areas of conflict." The event consisted of two parts, a peaceful march to Republic Square followed by an act of silent protest. The protest lasted for half an hour and was characterized by participants tying black ribbons across their mouths to symbolize their reluctance to continue remaining silent about the spread of violence in Armenian society.