FREEDOM

25/11/2010
Source: Earth Time

Hanoi - Domestic violence is a serious problem in Vietnam that is damaging the physical and mental health of many women, the government and the United Nations said Thursday.

One in three married women report that they have suffered physical or sexual violence from their husbands at some time in their lives, according to the first National Study on Domestic Violence against Women in Vietnam, a joint effort of the government and UN.

"It is a stark fact that women in Vietnam are at more risk of experiencing violence in their homes than anywhere else," said Jean Marc Olive, representative of the World Health Organization in Vietnam.

Almost one in four women with children under 15 years of age reported that their children have been abused physically by their husbands. When three main types of domestic violence - physical, sexual and emotional - are considered, 58 per cent of Vietnamese women report experiencing at least one type in their lifetime, according to the study.

Overall, 32 per cent of women currently or formerly married reported having experienced physical violence in their life and six per cent had experienced physical violence in the past 12 months.

Ten per cent of those women reported that they experienced sexual violence in their lifetime and 4 per cent in the past 12 months.

The study also says 54 per cent of women report lifetime emotional abuse and 25 per cent current emotional abuse, perpetrated by husbands. Pregnant women are also at risk. About five per cent of women who had been pregnant reported being beaten during pregnancy, the report found.