Since July 1, 2025, the Rights Centre NGO, in cooperation with Palimpsest Projektbüro Non-Profit (registered in Germany), has launched a two‑year project titled “Art, Advocacy, and the Istanbul Convention.” The project aims to raise awareness about the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) through art and culture and to promote its ratification in Armenia. The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

Since 2011, the 46 states of the Council of Europe have signed and ratified the Istanbul Convention. Armenia signed the Convention on January 18, 2018, but has not ratified it yet. The Convention establishes clear principles for preventing violence, protecting the rights of victims, identifying perpetrators, and developing coordinated policies.

Through art, advocacy, and dialogue, this project aims to bring these principles to the public, strengthening the protection of women and girls and inspiring a vision for a society where everyone can live in dignity, safety, and equal opportunity.

The project’s two-year duration will provide a platform for individual artists and/or groups of artists in Armenia and beyond to present original works of art that address the themes of the Convention, reflecting the prevention and combatting of violence against women and domestic violence.