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Vietnam

Population Size: 

2019: 96,462,106 [1]

Number of People Experiencing Domestic Abuse Each Year:

Research carried out by the United Nations in Vietnam shows that over the 10 years from 2009 to 2019, 33% of married women have been the victims of domestic violence. [2]


Two major nationwide surveys on violence against women and girls were conducted by the General Statistics Office (GSO) of Vietnam and the World Health Organisation in 2010 and again in 2019 [3]. The surveys revealed that:

  • In 2019, 63% of women experienced experienced at least one or more types of domestic violence in their lifetimes by a husband, 31.6% in the last 12 months. This includes physical, sexual, psychological (emotional abuse and controlling behaviour) and economic violence.

  • In 2010, 34% reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by a partner. In 2019, this number remained relatively unchanged at 32%.

  • In 2010, 9.9% of women experienced sexual violence by a partner in their lifetimes. This number rose to 13.3% in 2019. However, this rise could be attributed to changing social attitudes that mean women, particularly young women, are better equipped and more open to talking about sex and sexual violence.

  • In 2019, one in five women had experienced economic violence.

  • In 2019, 90.4% of women who experienced physical and/or sexual abuse had not sought any form of help - just 4.8% went to the police. One in two women who experienced violence from husbands had never told anyone before the survey.

No research on male victims or other gender identities.

Cost of Domestic Abuse to the Economy Each Year:

Domestic violence survivors earn roughly 35% less than women who have not abused.

The total direct/ indirect costs of domestic violence on a woman’s monthly income amounts to close to 21% of their income.

2019: The direct cost of domestic violence in Vietnam amounted to around 1.8% of GDP [4], while total productivity losses and potential opportunity costs caused by domestic violence in 2010 amounted to around 3% of GDP.[5] The total loss in earnings due to violence against women amounted to roughly 1.41% of GDP. [6]

Estimated % Change due to COVID-19:

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the difficulties faced by domestic abuse survivors has been exposed. The United Nations Population Fund found that there would be an additional 15 million domestic abuse cases for every twelve weeks of lockdown.


The Peace House Hotline (shelter run by Vietnam Women's Union) and the "Anh Duong" (Sunshine) Hotline both reported receiving twice as many calls for help in months following lockdown.


In response, the governments of Vietnam and Australia, the UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women joined together in a project to address violence against women and children in Vietnam in 2020 as a priority response to Covid-19.


Current law and policy:

Vietnam has made various commitments to taking nationwide measures to end domestic violence and strengthen interventions made by the State. [7]

Vietnam has committed itself to developing and operating one nationally coordinated response mechanism to domestic violence. This mechanism will enable the development of partnerships between different sectors all the way up from the grassroots level. This coordinated mechanism will be implemented by Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism pursuant to its role as the state leading agency under the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control. Other ministries, such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, along with various social organisations, civil society and development partners will participate in the mechanism.

Vietnam has also committed itself to developing a monitoring and evaluation framework to monitor its National Programme of Action on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control. This framework is crucial. It will unify the implementation of this Programme along with various monitoring and evaluative indicators and a reporting template system related to the state management function in domestic violence prevention and control at all levels and in all ministries responsible for the implementation of the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control. The framework will help monitor the progress and quality of the implementation of the National Programme as well as provide evidence on which to base interventions as well as future policy and programmes.

Vietnam is, in addition to the above, committed to developing and piloting a basic prevention, care, treatment, protection and support package with regard to intervening in cases of domestic violence. The minimum intervention package will be piloted in two provinces in Vietnam under the leadership of the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism. Following the pilot, the cost-benefit analysis of the minimum intervention package will be scrutinised and subsequent nationwide policy options will be considered.


Frontline Services:

 

Sources


[1] The World Bank, (1).

[2] Viêt Nam News, “Campaigners Say Domestic Violence is on the Rise”, (vietnamnews.vn, 28 August 2019)

[3], [4] UNFPA, Key Messages & Fast Facts: National Study on Violence Against Women in Vietnam 2019.

[5], [6] UN Women, Unite and Australian Aid, “The Costs of Violence – Understanding the Costs of Violence Against Women and Girls and its Response: Selected Findings and Lessons Learned from Asia and the Pacific”, (2013), Report.

[7] UN Women, (10).




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