More than 60 representatives of civil society institutions, academia, police officers, electoral stakeholders and staff of the Human Rights Defender participated in the Workshop on reporting and addressing hate speech and sexism during election period in Armenia.

The workshop was co-organised by the Council of Europe and Human Rights Defender’s Staff in Armenia to explore how sexism and hate speech could be manifested in pre, and post-election periods, how they can hinder participation in electoral processes and what national monitoring mechanisms and international best practices are available to address these issues

In the opening panel of the event Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan Maxime Longangué, Human Rights Defender of Armenia Anahit Manasyan,  Deputy Head of Cooperation Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia Vaclav Sterba, and Member of the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia Arusyak Terchanyan elaborated about hate speech and sexism as deep-rooted, complex, and multidimensional phenomena that can negatively affect individuals, groups and societies in a variety of ways and with different degrees of severity.

The discussion was guided by key Council of Europe frameworks on tackling hate speech, including in traditional and especially online media, addressing not only online abuse and threats directed at election candidates but also those targeting specific members of society more broadly. As highlighted by the speakers, the effective exercise of fundamental freedoms and prevention of human rights violations should be secured for all members of the society, and discrimination and hatred should be adequately addressed in order to ensure a safe and enabling environment for public debate and communication.

During the thematic sessions of the workshop, the representatives of the Commission on Television and Radio and Staff of the Human Rights Defender presented the domestic mechanisms to counter hate speech and discrimination in private and public space, while  Council of Europe experts presented Council of Europe standards on addressing hate speech and shared best international practices in monitoring and reporting on hate speech and sexist behaviour during election campaigns. The experts also shared their experience in applying mechanisms for preventing and combating these phenomena and possible improvements in the use of narrative in the public space.

The workshop was concluded through the session led by civil society actors, who referred to the key role of civil society organisations in addressing hate speech during election campaigns and fostering positive narratives for the engagement of minority groups and inclusive shared language.

Ultimately, the workshop allowed to advance democratic dialogue in the country and reinforced mutual trust between public institutions and non-state partners.

The event was organised in co-operation with the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, within the framework of the Council of Europe projects “Promoting Freedom of Expression, Media, and Access to Information in Armenia” and “Promoting equality and non-discrimination in Armenia”, the latter being a part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme Partnership for Good Governance, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe.