More work needed to protect children from violence and sexual abuse
5/1/20
While efforts are being made to prevent violence
against children, much more work still needs to be done.
That was the message delivered at a workshop held in
Hanoi on January 3 by the Vietnam Women’s Union and the supervisory team of the
National Assembly (NA) on prevention and combating child abuse and
domestic violence.
Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, President of the Vietnam Women’s Union, said although
Vietnam had a relatively complete legal system and child protection policies in
place, they were still not effective enough to put an end to the problem.
Statistics from the Criminal Police Department under the Ministry of Public
Security showed 2,643 cases of sexual violence
against children were reported in 2017-2018. But it was only the tip
of the iceberg as a lot of cases have not yet been detected or the victims and
their families failed to report the cases to the authorities.
The supervisory reports of the NA at 17 provinces and cities nationwide
revealed most of sexual abuse and violence were made by relatives or acquaintances
of victims.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Association Protection of
Child’ Right, said adults in the family often got angry and considered it as a
reason for committing acts of violence against their children.
The number of calls to the national child protection hotline for children also
increased continuously over the past years. It received 353 calls in the first
six months of last year.
Participants at the conference attributed the rise to lack of parental care and
lack of gender education and life skills at schools. The degradation in virtue
and lifestyle of some members of the family was also a problem.
The dissemination on violence and abuse against children was not effective,
they said.
The participants suggested the NA strengthen supervision on the implementation
of 2016 Law on Children to provide better protection for them.
Attention should be paid to children with divorced parents and review the
punishments to those who detected child abuse cases but did not denounce.
Hoa emphasised the role of family members in the protection of children against
violence and abuse.
“To teach children, parents must learn by themselves by participating in
parenting classes,” she said.
Children should be educated about sex from their childhood, she said.
Parents should also equip their children with self-defence skills when
encountering potential abusers, Hoa said, adding that they should spend time
talking with their children to create a bond between parents and their
children.
Le Thi Nga, Chairwoman of the NA’s Judicial Committee said it was necessary to
assess the level of domestic violence and
abuse against children to devise appropriate measures to protect them from
violence and sexual abuse in the future./.
All comments [ 5 ]
All children have the right to be protected from violence, exploitation and abuse. Yet, millions of children worldwide from all socio-economic backgrounds, across all ages, religions and cultures suffer violence, exploitation and abuse every day. Millions more are at risk.
The fast growth of the internet in Vietnam poses a new risk for children with cases of abuse and exploitation on the internet and social networks also increasing.
Vietnam still lacks a strong legal framework to protect children from all forms of violence, especially sexual abuse. This also extends to the lack of care and support services for victims.
The campaign for awareness is slowly seeping into society, with people beginning to speak out about child abuse, calling for more effective laws and enforcement, spreading awareness over social media and even designing a game to teach children about how to protect themselves.
Vietnam has done many measures to due with this matter. Viva Vietnam!
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