The truth is shocking. According to the United Nations, one of every three women on the planet will be physically or sexually abused in her lifetime. That’s a staggering one billion women.

This fact prompted a number of Armenian women activists to stage a flash mob event in Yerevan’s Northern Ave in conjunction with the One Billion Campaign organized by the global activist movement V-DAY.

Anna Nikoghosyan, one of the participants in the Yerevan event, told Hetq: “All of us have joined to raise our voices against violence perpetrated against women and girls.” She said the event was part of the campaign being staged today globally. “Dancing, as we are doing here is a form of struggle,” the young activist said.

According to V-DAY, “art has the power to transform thinking and inspire people to act” and the local Armenian activists believe that such events can raise public awareness regarding the issue of abuse against women.

A male passerby named Gagik expressed a somewhat different opinion on the matter.

“This is just for women?” he asked. “Today, men are living under the pressure of women than the other way around. Today, women are assaulting men. Times have changed.”

Kristineh, one of the event organizers, declared, “Our bodies are for happy lives. Join us and say no to violence.”