According to the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the report “Safe cities for women and girls” showed that 18.5 percent of women have been sexually abused while 11.7 percent of men admitted sexual harassment against women and girls in public places in the past 12 months.
Tran Ngoc Son, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and deputy head of the municipal Committee for the Advancement of Women and Gender Equality, said the White Ribbon Breakfast ot only looks toward raising public awareness of promoting women empowerment but also highlights the importance of ending gender discrimination and preventing sexual harassment against women and girls, towards building gender-sensitive socio-economic policies to ensure that women and girls could fully tap their potentials and enjoy fair opportunities.
Over the past years, the municipal Management and Operation Centre for Public Transport has improved infrastructure, services quality to ensure safety for women and girls on 12 bus routes, installed cameras on more than 2,300 buses to limit sexual harassment against women and girl commuters.
Ha Le An, Deputy Director of the centre, said it also upgraded bus stops and toilets to meet demand for women, children, the elderly and the disabled, towards building friendly, safe and civilised buses.
In collaboration with the department and the United Nations Women and Action Aid, the centre staff pasted the message “For safe city for women and girls” on 26 bus routes and bus stops.
The People’s Committees of districts 1 and 10 debuted five clubs “Men lead the way in promoting gender equality” with over 150 members.
Statistics from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Family Department showed that 64 women and 10 children suffered from domestic violence each day from 2011-2015. Among 157,859 domestic violence cases found during the period, women victims aged 16-59 accounted for 74.24 percent.
The Action Aid Vietnam reported that 87 percent of female respondents in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City said they experienced sexual harassment in public places in 2014.
