Organisations fight violence against women

HÀ NỘI — Experts at a dialogue held yesterday in Hà Nội discussed ending violence against women and girls.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyễn Thị Hà said that over the years, Việt Nam used various measures to ensure social security and gender equality.

MoLISA has set up shelters for victims of gender-based violence and safe and friendly schools and cities to improve the community’s awareness of the issue.

However, she said, tackling violence against women and girls was difficult because few women spoke out and asked for help, and when they did speak out, the resolution of some high-profile cases had left dissatisfaction in society.

Đỗ Thị Thu Hà, an expert from the UNFPA said discrimination against victims of sexual harassment made them not want to speak out and search for justice. Many people even did not believe in stories shared by the victims, and since then, the victims choose silence.

Hope for an end

At the dialogue, experts proposed several measures to ease the problem.

Supportive services should be set up including healthcare, mental support and legal consultancy to help victims of gender-based violence.

More education should be given to men to raise their awareness and the country should create a national database on violence against women and girls.

At present, the UNFPA is working with the MoLISA and the General Statistics Office to update data and widen the national survey on gender-based violence.

The experts also proposed stricter laws to ensure justice for victims of sexual abuse.

A survey conducted by the MoLISA and ActionAid in Hà Nội and HCM City in 2016 showed 51 per cent of women said they had been sexually abused at least once.

The dialogue, organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), attracted more than 100 representatives from different organisations. It was held in response to the action month for gender equality and preventing gender-based violence. — LV