Vienam calls for action to protect children and women

The United Nations in Viet Nam along with the Government of Vietnam and the Australian Government on Tuesday launched the Blue Heart 2022 awareness campaign towards ending violence against children and women.

The United Nations in Vietnam along with the Government of Vietnam and the Australian Government on Tuesday launched the Blue Heart 2022 awareness campaign towards ending violence against children and women.

The campaign calls for public attention and support to generate violence-free environments – in the home, at school, in the community and online.

Speaking at the event, UNICEF Representative to Vietnam, Rana Flowers, said that this initiative urged citizens, law-makers and governments to speak out more forcefully to fight violence.

"We hope to channel public outrage at acts of violence into constructive efforts to change the lives of children and women,” she said.

The Vietnam 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).

According to the UNFPA-supported 2019 National Study on Violence against Women in Vietnam, 62.9 percent of women in Vietnam 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 Vietnam’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.

“The Government of Vietnam 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), Nguyen Thi Ha. “Vietnam 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.”

“The One Stop Service Centre, commonly known as “Anh Duong House” (Sunshine House) provides integrated essential services to women and girls who are experiencing and/or at risk of gender-based and domestic violence. A wide range of services, meeting international standards, including health care, psychological support, counselling, social welfare services, emergency shelters, police protection, legal and justice services, and referrals are available at Anh Duong House. This model is one of the tangible outcomes of UNFPA in our efforts to achieve ‘zero gender-based violence and harmful practices’. We want to ensure that all women and girls in Vietnam, including those most vulnerable, have the right to live a life free of violence and with dignity,” said Ms. Naomi Kitahara, UNFPA Representive in Vietnam.