Month-long campaign against domestic violence kicks off

Addressing the event, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh said domestic violence has severe impacts on victims, especially women and children, and family happiness, leading to economic and productivity losses.

The Party and State have given attention to protecting human rights and ensuring safety of each individual in the family and society, she noted.

Thinh asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and relevant state bodies to continue promoting the campaign to improve moral standards for Vietnamese people, starting with character education inside every family. The ministry and state bodies should also come up with some new practical and more effective activities to prevent domestic violence, she suggested.

She also urged media to take a more active role in raising public awareness on family violence prevention.

The month-long campaign this year, themed “Warm and loving family meals”, will take place with a number of events, for example, a photo contest themed “Love and sharing”, the Vietnam Family Day 2017, and a workshop conferring on responsibility in preventing domestic violence.

The number of domestic violence cases were estimated at more than 127,200 from 2012-2016. About 83.69 percent of assaulters were men and nearly 80 percent of divorce cases were sourced from domestic violence.

Children living with violence at home are more likely to have poor academic performance and to bully others and commit offences.

Vietnam now has approximately 7,000 support centres for victims of domestic violence and more than 19,000 clubs on domestic violence prevention.