A year-old law clamping down on domestic violence is being implemented at a snail’s pace, according to report from the five provinces of Yen Bai, Hoa Binh, . . .

Students draw pictures related to domestic violence issues during a public awareness programme run by the National Committee for Population.

Culture and Information Bureau official Xa Van Son said that few people in the northern province of Hoa Binh understood the law.

He attributed the ignorance to a shortage of funds to explain its contents to people through leaflets, advertisements, performances and at clubs. “I myself only found out about the law a short time ago,” he said.

Other problems cited include understanding legal language, differences in people’s cultural standards, cultural values in remote communities and disregard by local authorities on implementing the law.

Chairwoman of Lai Chau Province Women’s Union Mai Thi Hong Van said local leaders were not pleased about condemning domestic violence in the media since they saw it as exposing bad nature for others to see.

The report was drawn from in-depth interviews with 102 people and 17 group discussions by the Viet Nam Domestic Violence Prevention Network.

It found that domestic violence that even involved medical treatment for beating with sticks, slapping, punching and cursing, was considered by most as an internal family affair. And most people were still reluctant to speak about sexual violence.

The report also said that medical insurance was only provided to those who suffered from traffic or work accidents, but not for domestic violence.

It added that there were little funds to provide temporary homes or help for victims - and a national lack of statistical data on domestic violence in general.

Deputy chairman of Tan Lac District People’s Committee Bui Xuan Sach said Confucian culture which taught women to depend on and obey men enabled men to treat them with a patriarchal attitude.

Sach said most husbands were indifferent to the anti-domestic violence law because it was against this centuries-old system.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News