What acts are considered domestic violence in Vietnam?

What is domestic violence?

Based on the provisions of the Law on Prevention and Combat against Domestic Violence 2022, domestic violence education and control is a process for providing knowledge of and training in skills in behaving, controlling negative emotions and behaviors, or conflict solutions for perpetrators to terminate domestic violence acts.

What acts are considered domestic violence in Vietnam? (Internet image)

What acts are considered domestic violence in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 3 of the Law on Prevention and Combat against Domestic Violence 2022, domestic violence acts include:

- Torturing, ill-treating, beating, and threatening or acts of intentionally violating the health and lives of others;

- Insulting, nagging, or other acts of intentionally insulting the honor and dignity of others;

- Forcing people or animals to witness violence to put constant psychological pressure;

- Ignoring, deserting, not nurturing, or taking care of family members who are children, pregnant women, women who are raising children under 36 months old, the elderly, disabled people, or people who are unable to take care of themselves; not educating family members who are children;

- Discriminating against family members’ body, gender, sexuality, and capability;

- Preventing family members from meeting their family members, having legal, healthy social relationships, or committing acts of isolating and putting constant psychological pressure;

- Preventing the performance of rights and obligations in the family relations between grandparents and grandchildren; between father, mother, and child; between husband and wife; between brothers and sisters;

- Disclosing or spreading information on personal life, secrets, and family secrets of other family members to insult their honor and dignity;

- Forcing sexual intercourse against the will of the wife or husband;

- Forcing performance of erotic acts; forcing other family members to listen to, view, and read pornographic audio, images, and contents, inciting violence;

- Imposing forced child marriage, marriage, and divorce or preventing marriage or divorce illegally;

- Forcing pregnancy, abortion, and fetal sex selection;  

- Appropriating or vandalizing the general property of the family or personal property of other family members; 

- Forcing family members to overwork, over-study, or make financial contributions more than they can afford; controlling property and income of family members to create a state of physical, mental dependence, or other aspects;

- Isolating or holding family members in custody;

- Forcing family members to leave their legal residence illegally.

The acts prescribed above performed between divorced people; people who live together like husband and wife; people who are parents, stepchildren, brothers, or sisters of the divorced people or people who live together like husband and wife; people who have had a relationship of adoptive parents and adopted children with each other are also identified as domestic violence according to the Government of Vietnam.

Principle of prevention and combat against domestic violence in Vietnam

Principle of prevention and combat against domestic violence in Article 4 of the Law on Prevention and Combat against Domestic Violence 2022 include:

- Make prevention the main focus, taking the domestic violence victim as the center.

- Respect and protect legal rights and benefits of relevant people; ensure the best benefits of children; prioritize the protection of legal rights and benefits of domestic violence victims who are pregnant women, women who are raising children under 36 months old, the elderly, disabled people, and people who are unable to take care of themselves; perform gender equality.

- Focus on activities of disseminating, educating, counseling, and mediating in preventing and combating domestic violence.

- Promptly detect and prevent and strictly handle violations against laws on prevention and combat against domestic violence as prescribed by law. If the domestic violence victims are children, during the handling process, there must be the participation of the representatives of state management agencies of children or people who are assigned to protect children.

- Increase the responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and heads; focus on inter-sectoral cooperation in preventing and combating domestic violence.  

- Promote the role and responsibilities of individuals, families, and communities.  

- Perform the responsibility to set an example in preventing and combating domestic violence regarding officials, public employees, and people of the people’s armed forces.

Mai Thanh Loi

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