Viet Nam’s call to action to protect children and women

Globally, one billion children suffer some form of violence every year. The Viet Nam Sustainable Development Goal indicators on Children and Women Survey 2020-2021 indicated that more than 72 per cent of children aged 10-14 years experienced violent discipline. Emotional abuse was reported by 39 per cent of such children, along with physical abuse (47 per cent), sexual abuse (20 per cent) and neglect (29 per cent). Another study showed that 21.4 per cent of adolescent girls and 7.9 per cent of adolescent boys reported having had suicidal thoughts, while another study revealed that 5.8 per cent of adolescents reported having attempted suicide.

According to the UNFPA-supported 2019 National Study on Violence against Women in Viet Nam, 62.9 percent of women in Viet Nam experienced one or more forms of physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence, and controlling behaviours by their husband in their life time. Violence is hidden in Viet Nam’s society, as 90.4 per cent of survivors of violence did not seek any help from authorities and half of them never told anyone about the violence. Furthermore, violence against women is costing the country 1.81% of GDP.

The drivers of violence, abuse and exploitation continue to be exacerbated by the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Physical, sexual and emotional violence, at home, in schools and online is a reality for millions of children, including in Viet Nam. There are competing priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery and the fiscal space is shrinking. But, ending violence against children and women must be a priority.

“The Government of Viet Nam has made relentless efforts towards ending violence against children and women in the past years with particular attention to the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people. However, this battle is still ongoing and can only be won with tremendous and joint endeavours from all members of society, organizations and responsible agencies,” said Vice Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), Mme Nguyen Thi Ha. “Viet Nam has received great support from United Nations agencies and the Australian Government working on this matter. Together, we are stronger in promoting solutions and actions towards ending violence against children and women.”