University of Buenos Aires examines Armenian Genocide through women's experiences
In Argentina, Armenian Genocide seminar examines women, children and silence
The Armenian Studies Chair at the University of Buenos Aires held a seminar from June to July examining the Armenian Genocide through the lens of women and children's experiences. Organized by historian Nélida Elena Boulgourdjian, the course explored how genocidal violence affected populations differently, with men often targeted for massacre while women and children faced sexual assault, forced marriage, religious conversion, and family separation. Boulgourdjian noted that these forms of violence were integral to destroying Armenian identity and biological continuity. The seminar addressed how survivors remained silent for decades due to trauma and stigma, and how children appropriated into Turkish families lost knowledge of their Armenian heritage. The research incorporates gender perspective into genocide studies, revealing how the violence targeted kinship, memory, language, and cultural transmission alongside physical elimination.
