At the Meeting, Mr. Arthur Erken, Chief Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam addressed: “In the study on men and male characteristic in 2013 by the United Nations in Vietnam, one of the most popular concepts is that the men (often the husband or father) should keep power and make decision in the family and violence is often seen as a tool to establish and maintain the power of the men in the family. While violence in public places is widely condemned, a lot of people see that this violent behavior could be acceptable behind the door of the family. He said: “According to the report in the National Survey on domestic violence in 2013, 34% of the married women used to be beaten, 58% of women shared that they used to be experienced at least one form of physical, sexual and mental violence from their relatives. The acts of violence against women and girls are cowardly, which express the gender inequality; however, too many people see this problem as "just a matter of women". The UNFPA Representative urged that the men and boys in Vietnam should change their mind, remove the normal awareness about how is a true man and recognize the women who are consider as their mothers, girlfriends, daughters and sisters to be equal to themselves.

The popular dance performance of the PPA’s students at the meeting

Speaking at the Meeting, Deputy Prime Minister of the S.R.V Nguyen Xuan Phuc reiterated the violence against women and girls is a serious social problem which causes a lot of serious consequences, it is the potential danger which could break the stability of Vietnamese families, particularly corrupt the traditional moral values, negatively impact on the educational environment to the young generation, affects to the safety and healthy of the community as well as the socio-political situation. The causes of violence against women and girls are due to the inequality, the poor awareness of gender equality. Therefore, it is necessary to indentify the right about the issue of violence against women and girls in order that all people would be fully aware of the law on gender equality, respect the right of happiness pursuit of each individual.

The participants took the memorial photographs

To reach the gender equality to come into practice and reduces the cases of violence against women and girls, the Deputy Prime Minister asked the management agencies, the central and local departments, the socio-political organizations should promote the law enforcement of gender equality, especially the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and other related legal documents; the cases of family violence which cause the serious consequences should be investigated, prosecuted and treated strictly in accordance with the law; strengthen the communication, education to change the perceptions and behaviors of each people, especially the men; enhance the coordination with the international organizations in the protection of gender equality and the elimination of violence against women and girls in Vietnam.

On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged that every citizen of Vietnam "Do not use the violence against women and girls" and the slogan "True Men say no to violence" as the message to send to all people in the campaign in response to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women and girls this year.

Written by Cong Phuong

Translated by Xuan Thanh