By Joe Fotalatee
Two thousand people in District 7 walked on a call to end domestic violence on Sunday. The successful rally reminds society to support all victims and to consider donations to women’s shelters and support systems this holiday season. It is also a good reminder how close this hits home by reviewing domestic violence prevalence by the numbers.
In the 2019 UN survey of nearly 6,000 Vietnamese women, aged 15 to 64, nearly two out of three, or 66 percent, reported having experienced physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or controlling behavior from male partners at some point in their lives. Within a year, approximately 32% of women experience abuse.
Other key findings from 2019 UN study:
- Women with disabilities were more likely than non-disabled women to experience all types of domestic violence.
- Forty-four percent of women said they were sexually assaulted as children before turning 15 years old.
- Husbands abused women more frequently than any other perpetrator in Viet Nam. A “non-partner” has physically abused one in ten (10%) women since the age of 15. A male perpetrator, frequently a male family member, was mentioned by the majority (60%) of women who had experienced non-partner violence.
- Since age 15, one in ten (10%) women have been victims of non-partner sexual assault. Most were committed by males who were not family members.
- Women’s violence is still largely unreported. The majority of wives who reported experiencing violence did not tell anyone about it. 90% of women who experienced physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their husbands did not seek any assistance from specialized agencies.
- Children who live in hostile environments are also victims. 61.4% of the women whose husbands had physically abused them admitted that their kids had seen it or heard it somehow. Women who had endured physical, sexual, or emotional abuse at the hands of their husbands were more likely to report behavioral issues in their kids (5–12 years old).
- Economic growth, as well as physical and mental health, are seriously hampered by violence against women. The national economy of Viet Nam is being penalized to the tune of 1.8 percent of GDP.
- Numerous negative effects or consequences on one’s health can result from violence against women. One in four (25%) of the women whose husbands had physically or sexually abused them had physical wounds. The risk of violence from husbands increases for expectant mothers.
- Violence is a learned behavior. The likelihood of a woman having a husband who experienced physical abuse as a child or whose mother experienced physical abuse is higher.
With technical and financial assistance from UNFPA and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), this study was coordinated by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, or MOLISA, in partnership with the General Statistics Office.