58% of married women in Vietnam are victims of domestic violence
Nearly 60% of married women in Vietnam have suffered physical or sexual abuse at least once in their life, according to figures released by a new campaign to stop violence against women.
Every one of three women in the world suffer physical or sexual violence, usually from a male partner or a male member in the family.
In Vietnam, 58% of married women are victims of either or both kind of violence, which causes them heavy physical and mental damage, officials said at a conference in Hanoi on November 21.
The meeting marked the launch of White Ribbon, an Australian campaign to end men’s violence against women, in Vietnam to celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25.
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| A woman from central Vietnam receives treatment for broken bones after beaten by her husband. Photo: Bui Ngoc Long |
White Ribbon aims to raise the community’s awareness upon violence targeting women and girls and to encourage men’s support in stopping and speaking out about violence.
Nguyen Thuy Hien, deputy director of the Hanoi-based Women and Development Center, said at the conference that most victims of gender-based violence have continued suffering the damage.
“The ending of violence against women and girls cannot succeed without the participation of men and boys.”
Nguyen Bao Thanh Nghi, a sociology professor at Ho Chi Minh City Open University, told Thanh Nien in an interview earlier this year that women’s movements in Vietnam have been going on for years but “they often die prematurely and fail to create systematic and widespread changes” as they cannot get men to join.
The global initiative HeForShe, which was launched early this year to seek men’s support for gender equality, has received more than 507,800 supporters in the world so far. But only more than 1,400 of them are from Vietnam.