Viet Nam Human Rights
Why gender imbalance continues to grow?
7/8/17
According to statistics
of the General Office of Population and Planning, the country’s sex ratio at
birth remained high after a national plan to control gender imbalance at birth
for 2016-2025 was launched last year. Vietnam’s sex ratio at birth was reported
at 112.2 in 2016, a slight decrease from 112.8 in 2015 but still higher than
111.2 in 2014.
Specialized population
statistics also showed that 45 provinces and cities nationwide reported an
alarmingly rising sex ratio at birth which topped 115 boys/100 girls, the Thanh
Nien (Young People) daily reported. This ratio was highest in ten
provinces and cities, namely Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Nam
Dinh, Hoa Binh, Hai Phong, Vinh Phuc, Quang Ninh and Quang Ngai, some of which
registered a record high of 120. Hanoi also reported a soaring 114.5 as
compared with the national average, with some districts hitting 120, the municipal
Population and Family Planning Sub-Department reported.
According to statistics
of the Population and Labor Statistics Department under the General Statistics
Office, the Red River Delta remained the region recording the highest sex ratio
at birth, which had steadily risen for five years in a row, from 115.3 in 2009
to 118 in 2014.
Notably, the
male-to-female birth ratio surged accordingly with women’s educational levels,
from between 106 and 111 in the group of mothers graduating primary school, to
113 in women of high school education and 115 in those of higher education, the
Population and Labor Statistics Department reported.
According to the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the natural sex ratio at birth ranges between
102 and 106 boys/100 girls and any higher ratio shows signs of sex selection. A
higher ratio in second and third births has also been observed in Vietnam.
Addressing a seminar
held in late May in Vinh Phuc province to review the one-year implementation of
the national plan to control gender imbalance for 2016-2025, Deputy Minister of
Health Nguyen Viet Tien acknowledged the imbalance of sex ratios at birth was
growing speedily, widely and seriously, particularly in Red River Delta
provinces.
Without prompt and
effective intervention to this imbalance, between 2.3-4 million Vietnamese men
would not be able to find a wife by 2050, experts estimated.
Experts attributed the
imbalance mostly to sex selection at birth as a result of gender prejudice.
Preference for boys and undervaluation of girls have deeply rooted in cultural
values under the influence of Confucianism which grants higher social respect
to men as they are considered the continuance of family lines and must take
care of graves of family ancestors. Sons are also supposed to live with and
look after their parents who mostly will feel uncomfortable living with
daughters as they are regarded as children of other families once they get
married.
The toughest challenge for the advocacy of non-selection of sex at birth was
the must to have a son, which has deeply rooted in the mind of people here,
said Ha Minh Diep, a commune officer in charge of family planning in Duong Lam
village.
A family should have both sons and daughters like a tree must have root and
branches, said Nguyen Van Vinh, an old man in Ba Vi suburban district of Hanoi,
adding he had asked his oldest son and daughter-in-law who had two daughters to
give birth to a third child even though he knew the couple would have more
burden to shoulder.
Vinh’s thinking, which
was common, especially in rural areas, explained the sex ratio imbalance in third
births.
Despite an official ban
on selection of sex at birth, ultrasonic and abortion services have been
provided for this purpose without being sanctioned since it was difficult to
detect violations, population officials said.
It was not that easy to
punish health establishments violating this ban without explicit evidence which
could hardly be collected as there were many ways to let a mother know her
future baby’s sex without having to tell her straightly, said Ta Quang Huy,
director of Hanoi Population and Family Planning Department, adding the
sanction also appeared not strict enough to prevent sex-selective abortions.
Although identification
of the gender of fetus was illegal, this practice was common in reality, said
Nguyen Van Tan, deputy director of the General Department of Population and
Family, citing some 81 percent of mothers knowing their babies’ sex before
birth.
The gender imbalance
would seriously impact the country’s socio-economic development as well as the
life of women, men, families and communities, experts said. A shortage of women
would make it difficult for men to find a wife and likely to have to stay
single, which would lead to social consequences, including rising gender
inequality, women’s early marriage, re-marriage and divorce, increases in
prostitution, trafficking of women and children and violence against women,
social unrests as a result of men’s social and sexual dissatisfaction and
shortage of labor in particular occupations such as preschool or primary school
teacher and nurse.
Experts agreed to tackle
the problem in the long run, it was crucial to eliminate gender inequality and
undervaluation of women - the very cause of gender imbalance, to ensure the
rights of women who should have equal opportunities with men in all aspects of
life.
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All comments [ 10 ]
The pursuit of sons could lead to a rise in human trafficking and sex crimes.
Vietnam is about to face a huge gender imbalance, mainly driven by a long-standing cultural preference for boys.
Vietnam’s vast population of unmarried men is sure to pose an array of challenges.
The social consequences of a population heavily tilted toward men include family conflicts, social unrest, gender inequality, and an overall rise in crime like the trafficking of women and sexual abuse.
An excess of men is expected to lead to a surge in “bride imports” as unmarried local men pay marriage brokers to find them women, mostly in neighboring countries.
Vietnam thus faces two problems at once: a rapidly ageing population and a growing gender imbalance.
Due to a lower birthrate and longer life expectancy, the country is aging rapidly and its workforce is shrinking rapidly.
The imbalance resulted from Vietnamese families' traditional preference for sons over daughters.
An imbalance in sex ratios at birth occurred later in Vietnam than in other countries, but at a much faster speed.
The main reason for the imbalance was gender selection among parents as there were not enough measures in place to enforce laws against this practice, which is particularly rampant at private clinics.
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