English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
(a) provide for a comprehensive definition of ‘domestic violence’, which includes
physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence and explicitly prohibit domestic
violence;
(b)extend protection to those living together as spouses without the benefit of marriage,
and those involved in an intimate or dating relationship;
(c) in relation to detection, there should be mandatory reporting of cases involving
domestic violence by health providers, teachers, social workers, and People’s
Committees to the state management agency or to the police. In these cases, appropriate
procedures must be provided;
(d)provide for the proper handling of domestic violence by public officials, especially
the People’s Committee or the police, such as: (i) upon being informed of
the act of violence to verify immediately the information or to respond immediately
to request for assistance; (ii) interview the victim, if possible away from the
presence of the alleged offender; (iii) if necessary, escort the victim to a safe place
or require the alleged offender to leave the dwelling; (iv) advise the victim of the
remedies available; (v) assist the victim to access a health provider for medical
examination; (vi) refer the victim to a social worker in the locality, and (vii) arrest
the offender and confiscate any deadly weapons in plain view;
(e) require the State management agency, the local government units and the courts to
have a professional social worker working full time on domestic violence cases;
(f) provide protection to victims of violence through emergency or temporary protection
orders. These protection orders must be available to victims of domestic
violence independent of the filing of a case. These orders must be easily accessible
to victims of domestic violence and, hence, competence to issue these
orders must rest with the head of the People’s Committees as well as with the
People’s Courts. The orders can be issued ex parte, and they must be issued on
the same day as the application. The orders must be valid for at least 10-15 days,
and they may include: (i) prohibit the alleged offender from committing any further
acts of violence; (ii) prohibit the alleged offender from contacting or harassing
the victim; (iii) remove the alleged offender from the dwelling of the alleged
offender, regardless of ownership; (iv) direct the alleged offender from contacting
any of the family members of the victim; (v) direct the temporary payment
of support for the victim; (vi) decide on the temporary custody of children; and
(vii) direct reimbursement of medical expenses;
(g)require the provision of mandatory services for victims of domestic violence, which
includes: (i) emergency shelter; (ii) skills training, livelihood development services
or job referrals; (iii) psycho-social counselling; (iv) reintegration and aftercare
work; (v) medical assistance; and (vi) free legal assistance;
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(h)require that law enforcers, procurators, health providers, legal aid providers, social
workers, and the courts that deal with domestic violence cases have a comprehensive
training on gender sensitivity and on handling cases of domestic violence;
General undertakings to eliminate discrimination and ensure equality (Articles 1-3 of CEDAW)