Theme: Reality Shift

Four women, four individually crafted paths and stories, experience pieces of how one can be a witness and turn into an advocate in an incredibly short amount of time. It is all rather defined by commitment than any other factor.

Themed “Reality Shift” the upcoming TEDxYerevanSalon will bring together the collective willingness to take a step forward in a closed maze and to act based on the natural and core need of equality. Reality in general can be addictive, one gets accustomed to what it is and questioning the status-quo becomes more and more challenging over time.

Reality shifters open up about the real struggles and fears of what it costs to take the one single step that will guide the whole path. It is the risk, it is the courage, it is the belief or the absolute lack of it that guides people in the dark reality moments to the momentum that becomes fatal.

AGBU
Melik Adamyan2/2
Yerevan, Erevan, 0010
Armenia

Ani Kojoyan

Lecturer at the Yerevan State University

Ani Kojoyan received her BA and MA in English from Yerevan State University. She is a Raffy Manoukian scholar and earned her second Master of Studies in English from the University of Oxford. Ani has carried out local and international research, initiative and training projects. Ani has partnered as an expert with many international organisations, such as AUA, UNICEF, CoE, British Council, IGSC, SCTE, EENCE and NECE. She is the co-author of the research on “Gendered Power in Armenian Soap Operas: Women, Masculinity and Violence” and CoE Guideline on “Gender Equality and Violence against Women for Armenian Journalists and Media Workers”. She was a “Women’s Empowerment Feminist Program in Eurasian Context” scholar at the University of Oxford in 2017. Ani has developed ToT and self-guided courses on Gender and Media Studies, and on Gender-Sensitive and Gender-Responsive Education and Pedagogy.

Anna Hovhannisyan

Advocacy Officer

Anna Hovhannisyan works as an Advocacy officer at the Women's Resource Center Armenia, which is a feminist organization fighting for and with women to achieve their rights. Her background is in social work with specialization on social policy and advocacy. She has been working in the field of violence against women and children for almost 10 years and have gained solid experience on advocacy work both with state authorities and international entities. She is active as an author and researcher of different publications on women's sexual and reproductive rights, gender based violence and femicide in Armenia. Anna also provides trainings for social workers, police officers, investigators, doctors and other groups of professionals on gender sensitive response to domestic violence and sexual assault cases.

Kristinne Grigoryan

First Deputy Minister of Justice in RA

Kristinne Grigoryan is the First Deputy Minister of Justice in the Republic of Armenia. During 14 years she has held different positions in the National Assembly of Armenia and has been the advisor of the first Deputy Prime Minister. In her current position she coordinates the implementation of national Human rights strategy, international legal cooperation, as well as leads the Police Reforms in Armenia. Kristinne has six years of experience in cooperation with bodies dealing with human rights, democracy and prevalence of rights in the Council of Europe as well as the UN. She leads the delegation of Armenia in CoE GRECO, represents the Armenian Government in the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, and the corresponding committee in the UN. Ms. Grigoryan works with issues of the defense of human rights, she promotes the agenda of gender equality and women empowerment, and chairs the Council of Juvenile Justice of Armenia.

Lusine Sargsyan

Human Rights Lawyer

Lusine Sargsyan is a lawyer with a bachelor’s degree from Yerevan State University Faculty of Jurisprudence (2010) and a master’s degree from University of Glasgow in Scotland (2012). Lusine has worked both in state and non-state organizations, such as law firms, Government staff of RA, Human Rights Defender's Office, as well as international organizations, such as UNFPA Armenia Country Office. Lusine has also partnered as an expert with international NGO's and International organizations, such as UNDP, Council of Europe, Save the Children and conducted research and analysis work. She has delivered lectures, trainings and motivating speeches in the area of protection of children's rights, women's rights, prevention of gender based violence and domestic violence, as well developed the CoE HELP e-learning course. In addition, she has conducted lectures and trainings for judges, prosecutors, investigators, police officers, media and NGO representatives, and active women's groups.