One in three ever-married women
said that they had suffered physical or sexual violence at the hands of their
husbands at some time in their lives.

A scene of a film. (Photo: TT&VH)

The results from the National Study on
Domestic Violence Against Women in Viet Nam were released in Ha Noi yesterday,
Nov 25.

This research, the biggest and most
thorough to tackle the issue so far in Viet Nam, was conducted by the General
Statistics Office (GSO) and the United Nations (UN), and surveyed 4,838 women
aged 18-60 from 63 provinces.

Nine per cent of married women said they
were currently experiencing either of those two forms of violence.

When the three main types of partner
violence - physical, sexual and emotional - were considered, more than half (58
per cent) of Vietnamese women reported experiencing at least one type of
domestic violence in their lifetime.

The study found that women are three times
more likely to be abused by their husbands than by any other person.

“It is a stark fact that women in Viet Nam
are more at risk of experiencing violence in their homes than anywhere else,”
said Jean-Marc Olive, representative of the World Health Organisation in Viet
Nam at the report launch.

Tran Thi Hang, GSO deputy general director
said Viet Nam, for the first time, had detailed information about the
prevalence, frequency and types of violence against women and the health
repercussions of domestic violence.

Pregnant women are also at risk. According
to the report, about 5 per cent of women who had been pregnant reported being
beaten during pregnancy. In most of these cases, the women had been abused by
the father of the unborn child.

“Physical and/or sexual and emotional
partner violence in Viet Nam ranks in the middle compared to other countries
that have carried out this type of research,” said Henrica Jansen, the study’s
lead researcher.

“This result is only the beginning. Actions
need to be taken in the fight against domestic violence.”

“We still do not have a national targeted
programme for domestic violence for Viet Nam like we do for HIV/AIDS,” said
Benjamin Swanton from Paz Y Desarrollo, a Spanish non-government organisation on
domestic violence in Viet Nam.

Once there is a national targeted programme
then the resources are addressed, all ministries get involved and the issue will
then be tackled thoroughly, he added.

Although domestic violence takes a heavy
toll on women, children are also victims. Almost one in four women with children
under 15 years of age reported that their children had been abused physically by
their husbands.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News