In “Princess to Slave” Anahit Hayrapetyan documents Armenian women affected by domestic violence. She follows the stories of five women who suffered domestic abuse, telling their stories and documenting the conditions they endure. The women in “Princess to Slave” range from a local women in Hayrapetyan’s own village to a woman who brought her case to court and garnered national attention to plight of women facing abusive husbands and in-laws.

By juxtaposing the harsh treatment these women faced at the hands of their husbands with images from their childhood, when they were treated as princesses by their fathers, Hayrapetyan highlights the irony of a culture where women are idolized while children but dominated and disrespected as adults.

An introduction by Lara Aharonyan, director of the Women’s Resource Center of Armenia, details the factors that have led to diminished freedom and opportunity for women in modern Armenia and the challenges the society faces in addressing women’s rights.