Inna Mkhitaryan will examine the underlying economic, social, and psychological factors that give rise to human trafficking in Armenia. Mkhitaryan seeks to challenge the stigma against trafficking victims who are often blamed for their own plight.
Originally trained in TV journalism at Yerevan’s State Pedagogical University, Mkhitaryan began working as a documentary photographer in 2005 after attending a World Press Photo photojournalism seminar organized by the Caucasus Media Institute. Since then, she has worked freelance for National Geographic Traveler Armenia, BBC News, Newsweek, and ArmeniaNow.com, among others. Her photographs have been exhibited in Armenia and Russia and in 2010 Mkhitaryan attended the International Summer Photo Workshop with photographer Pieter ten Hoopen in St. Petersburg, Russia. She received 3rd prize for the "On the Caucasus Roads" photojournalism award at the 2011 PhotoVisa International Festival in Krasnodar, Russia as well as 1st prize for the 2010 “Na/Ne Media Award” from the British Embassy Yerevan, the OSCE Office in Yerevan, and the United Nations Population Fund. Mkhitaryan co-founded the Ruben Mangasaryan Memorial Foundation in 2010 to support documentary photography in the region.