BASIC
COUNTRY INFORMATION
Population,
2000 estimate: 78,773, 873
Ethnicities:
85%-90% Vietnamese, 3% Chinese, Muong, Tai, Meo, Khmer,
Man, Cham
Religion:
Buddhist, Taoist, Roman Catholic, indigenous beliefs, Muslim,
Protestant, Cao Dai, Hoa Hoa
GDP, 1999
estimate: US $143.1 billion – purchasing power parity
GDP, real
growth rate, 1999 estimate: 4.8%
GDP per
capita: US $1,850 purchasing power parity
Major industries:
food processing, garments, shoes, machine building, mining,
cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel,
paper
Population
Growth Rate, 2000 estimate: 1.49%
Urban Population
(% of total): 19.6%
Infant Mortality
Rate, 2000 estimate: 31.13 per 1000 live births
Literacy,
1995 estimate: Total - 93.7%
Male - 96.5%
Female - 91.2%
Primary
School Enrollment Ratio, net, 1997: Total - 98.9%
Female - 98%
Secondary
School Enrollment Ratio, net, 1997: Total - 51.9%
Female
- 50.8%
Sources: World Factbook 2000 [1]
and World Development Indicators 2000 [2]
Political
and Economic Context
From 1945, the time of its independence
from France, until the mid-1970s, Vietnam was wracked by civil
war. Because Vietnam’s political fate was considered to have
serious global implications, the interests and actions of
other nation-states exacerbated and prolonged the conflict.
Upon reunification in 1975, Vietnam became
a communist state controlled by the Vietnamese Communist Party
(VCP). The constitution recognizes and mandates the authority
of the party within the state apparatus.
The National Assembly, a unicameral legislative
body made up of 450 members, elects major government leaders
including the president and the prime minister. The members
of the National Assembly must be VCP members or VCP-approved
in order to run for office. Because of the strong presence
of the VCP within all spheres of governance and public life,
most of the domestic political turmoil stems from tensions
between the VCP and its opponents. [3]
Within the past 25 years, Vietnam has managed
to recover from the harsh economic impact of war. Initially
a state-centered planned economy, the country is gradually
adopting an open market orientation. In 1987, a national initiative
to reconstruct the economy, “doi moi,” was put in place.
Development economists acclaimed the policy as GDP growth
through the first half of the 1990s was sustained at approximately
9 percent.
After the 1997 Asian economic crisis, Vietnam
suffered tremendous setbacks, such as a decrease in direct
foreign investment from $8.3 billion to $2 billion. Much of
the economic loss has been attributed to structural problems,
including poor institutional transparency and widespread corruption
within bureaucracy. [4]
Freedom
of Expression and Human Rights
Access
to Independent Information
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports
that the Ministry of Culture and Information has “control
over all media content and management; it licenses all journalists
and media outlets and has complete authority to revoke those
licenses for any reason.” [5] Practices such as blockage of telephone
lines and mail seizure suppress opinions critical of the state
or party. [6]
Religious
Persecution
Many Christian and Buddhist leaders in Vietnam
are also political activists-drawing further state suspicion
of their organizations and activities. Efforts aimed at achieving
freedom of worship are constantly thwarted with actions by
the state such as the denial of exit visas. [7] The state has prescribed and conducted
church closings and arrests to inhibit religious congregations. [8]
Women’s
NGOs
No independent women’s organizations exist
within Vietnam. Furthermore, Human Rights Watch reports
that no domestic or international human rights organizations
are allowed to operate. [9]
A government-affiliated organization of
women cadres, Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU), works to improve
the status of women. The government depends on VWU’s participation
for the successful implementation of government policies targeted
or otherwise associated with women. The government’s reliance
upon the VWU is evidenced by the state’s clear articulation
of the role and involvement of the VWU drafted into the National
Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women in Vietnam by
the Year 2000. [10]
STATUS
OF WOMEN IN VIETNAM UNDER SPECIFIC CEDAW ARTICLES:
CONVENTION
ARTICLE 1
DEFINITION
OF DISCRIMINATION
Article 54, Chapter V states: “The citizen,
regardless of nationality, sex, social background, religious
belief, cultural standard, occupation, time of residence,
shall, upon reaching the age of 18, have the right to vote,
and, upon reaching the age of 21, have the right to stand
for election to the National Assembly and the People's Councils
in accordance with the law.” [11] Further
statement of equality rights is given in Article 63:
Male and female citizens have equal rights
in and fields – political, economic, cultural, social, and
the family...The State and society shall create all necessary
conditions for women to raise their qualifications in all
fields and fully play their roles in society, they shall see
to the development of maternity homes, pediatric departments,
crèches and other social-welfare units so as to lighten housework
and allow women to engage more actively in work and study,
undergo medical treatment, enjoy periods of rest and fulfill
their maternal duties. [12]
Sex discrimination is defined within portions
of the Constitution. Furthermore, the state organ is clearly
assigned with the responsibility of eliminating discrimination.
But women’s full enjoyment of human rights is hampered by
oppressive cultural beliefs and institutional practices that
are not addressed by prior and current socialist policies
nor those policies resulting from the new open market orientation.
Women are severely overburdened by the double load of work
within and outside the home, the lack and poor quality of
medical access services, the risk of trafficking, and other
harsh conditions resulting from sex discrimination.
CONVENTION
ARTICLE 5
SEX
ROLES AND STEREOTYPING
Women in Vietnam are severely burdened by
the pervasiveness and character of culturally ascribed sex
roles and stereotypes. The strong association of women with
home and family, and their valuation as family members, have
reinforced women’s identities to be critically intertwined
with their status as wife, mother, and daughter (-in-law). [13] Especially with regard
to motherhood, deeply entrenched values and stereotypes have
subjected women to many harsh practices and policies.
The preference for male offspring has placed
a huge stress upon women. Though both spouses suffer shame
and discontent over failure to have son(s), the failure to
produce a male child is directly attributed to the wife. [14] She
therefore becomes particularly vulnerable as the perceived
source of a problem. Bad treatment by the husband and extended
family is considered acceptable in the case of a wife who
is unable to produce a son. [15] Furthermore, the social implications
of not having a son warrant breach of the family planning
guidelines of one or two children among the populace. [16]
Even women who do not marry or who are otherwise
single due to divorce, abandonment, or widowhood also feel
the pressure for male offspring. [17] The
number of women giving birth out of wedlock has been increasing.
This phenomenon is due, in part, to the strong linkage in
a woman’s identity to the status of motherhood. Raising a
child out of wedlock is difficult for women in Vietnam as
it is not socially condoned, and is economically difficult.
Yet women will pursue single motherhood because of the immense
importance of children (and especially sons) in securing status.
There have even been reports of women paying men for insemination
— doubling the amount should the child be a boy. [18]
Stereotypes regarding woman’s role infiltrate
into state policy and initiatives. For example, the state
has pursued family planning practices that rely on and reinforce
the notion of woman as the sole responsible party in reproduction.
These initiatives concerned with family planning are problematic
because they obligate women to prevention and intervention
measures, instead of describing family planning as a process
also involving men’s decisions and behavior. Sex role identification
contributes in part to the widespread use of intra-uterine
devices (IUDs) and abortions as common forms of birth control,
whereas condom use and pill forms are less known and used. [19]
CONVENTION
ARTICLE 6
EXPLOITATION
OF WOMEN
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
(CATW) reports that between 60,000 and 200,000 women and girls
are involved in prostitution and that 6.3 percent of these
prostitutes are less than 16 years old. The CATW also reports
that among some of the ways women come to be trafficked within
the country are marriage to foreigners, kidnappings, and deceptive
offers of legitimate employment. [20]
Throughout the region, trafficking is aided in
many cases by parents. [21]
With 80 percent of the population living
in rural areas and increasing industrialization in major cities,
it can be expected that women’s migration rates will increase
and that trafficking will reflect those forces by increasing.
In a report released by Vietnam’s Center for Industry and
Safety Registration, urbanization and migration have been
identified as factors leading to trafficking. [22]
In practically all of Vietnam’s tourism and resort
centers prostitutes are readily available. Many prostitutes
have arrived there by being trafficked. [23]
CONVENTION
ARTICLE 7
POLITICAL
AND PUBLIC LIFE
Women gained the right to vote in 1946.
More than fifty years of suffrage has not led to equality
within the legislative body. Within the highest positions
of political power women are absent. Only one-fifth of the
legislature and only 6 percent of the cabinet are women. [24]
Because little of Vietnam’s development
strategy has addressed the household division of labor, women’s
participation in political and public life is still severely
constrained. “Doi moi” has meant for many women that the allocation
of any spare time and energy has gone towards income generation,
not involvement in public life. [25] Women’s participation is effectively
hampered by their lack of time, not any specific government
mandate prohibiting their involvement in the VCP, government,
or public affairs.
CONVENTION
ARTICLE 10
EDUCATION
Total net enrollment rates observed at the
primary education level are high but fall drastically at the
secondary level, with the rates of girls slightly behind at
both levels (see above under the “Basic Country Information”).
Women’s literacy rates are lower than men’s by more than five
percentage points. Vietnam’s effort to provide basic education
to its entire constituency is commendable but is undermined
by certain economic forces and gender oppression.
Other factors inhibiting the education of
girls include the trafficking of prepubescent girls into the
sex trade. Throughout the region, parents often sell daughters
to traffickers. [26] In addition, the “household economy”
policies of “doi moi,” which encourage the household production
of exportable goods as a means of income generation, has increased
the opportunity cost of sending a girl to school. [27]
Without appropriate measures to offset the
loss of a daughter from the household production unit or the
short-term financial gain to be had by selling her, the education
of girls and young women will be dictated in large part by
economics and household dynamics.
CONVENTION
ARTICLE 11
EMPLOYMENT
Constitutional provisions concerning equal
pay for equal work have been in place since 1947. [28] In the 1992 Constitution, women’s
right to equal pay was reaffirmed in Article 63, chapter V. [29]
Women, are concentrated in certain fields
that put them at risk for economic exploitation. Initiatives
implemented to attract foreign capital have fostered a disregard
for the welfare of the worker in general. Women are overrepresented
in those industries stimulated by outside investment. “Doi
moi” has created a precarious situation of economic exploitation
for many women. Having been forced out of government directed
employment into sectors stimulated by a market demand for
profit, women work with less security and safety than prior
to “doi moi.” [30] But if they opt to not work outside
the home, they forfeit earnings necessary to support their
families.
CONVENTION
ARTICLE 12
ACCESS
TO HEALTH CARE
Family
Planning Policies and Practices
The two-child policy encouraged by the state
offered without any corrective measures for the preference
for male offspring places women in a difficult situation.
If they do not bear sons and do not pursue an additional pregnancy,
they are subject to intrahousehold and community shaming.
But if they do have more children, they and their family unit
are viewed as failing the state and goals of development.
The
Resolution of 1993 on Policy Concerning the Population
and Family Planning Work highlights reduction of the birth
rate as a national priority to continue socioeconomic growth.
In addition, the policy details that family planning must
be sufficiently funded, educational/propaganda programs should
be “appropriate and diverse,” contraceptive options must be
diversified, and in particular, men must be targeted to increase
their rates of acceptance and use of contraceptives. [31]
However,
even with these clear guidelines and objectives, Vietnam has
not achieved a process of family planning which does not unnecessarily
harm or overburden the health of women. Methods are still
limited and aimed at women, as the vast majority of men do
not involve themselves in pregnancy prevention (or in the
prevention of sexually transmitted diseases) through the use
of condoms. Reasons given for non-usage include low availability,
reduced physical sensation, feelings of embarrassment, and
the inconvenience of application when the bedroom is a shared
space with others.
Withdrawal
is considered by men and women “harmful to male health, causing
weakness and discomfort,” while in addition “the act of withdrawal
reduces sexual pleasure” among men. [32] Misinformation about
menstrual cycles and a dependence on the cooperation of men
further contribute to its ineffective nature and undesirability
as method of pregnancy prevention. Withdrawal is neither
dependable nor preferred.
Male
sterilization is even less used as a method of birth control
for fears about the operation procedure, a belief that it
reduces intelligence and sexual prowess, and its finality.
Gammeltoft reports,
Male sterilization is often equated with
castration, and people fear that a sterilized man will become
stupid and dull like a castrated chicken. For these reasons,
sterilization is ruled out by most men, and few women want
their husbands to be sterilized. Both women and men say they
are too economically dependent on the husband’s ability to
work and perform normally to take the risks which a sterilization
implies. [33]
This
statement reflects the cultural perception that men contribute
greatly to the household, while women’s contributions are
invisible or considered negligible in comparison.
Societal
discounting of women explains in part why intrauterine devices
(IUDs) are still the most used form of contraceptive, even
though there has been considerable evidence of the negative
effects of IUDs on women’s health. Medical surveys have indicated
physical side effects of weakness, abdominal pain, backache,
headache, and irregular, prolonged or heavy bleeding to be
highly prevalent among IUD users in Vietnam. [34] Almost half of current and former
IUD users surveyed in a report published in 1999 claimed that
IUD use had affected them so severely as to inhibit their
ability to work. [35] Yet, these documented
effects do not sum to outweigh the culturally perceived negative
effect of condom use, withdrawal, and male sterilization on
the psyche and health of men.
The
government has done little to combat the misconceptions about
reproductive health. Beyond the attempts of the Vietnam Women’s
Union (VWU) to go into homes to educate women on the benefits
of lower fertility, [36]
most of the public media education has been just
propaganda with little effect on the gender configurations
of reproduction within Vietnam. The lack of progress in addressing
gender inequality does not only manifest in concerns of fertility,
but in the availability of health care itself.
Access to Health care
The
availability of health care varies widely across Vietnam.
The provision of adequate health care to women, however, is
even further complicated by the low status of women within
the family unit. Women’s workloads in Vietnam are strenuous.
The invisibility of women’s contribution is one critical component
to understanding the lack of health care access. Since women
are not seen as integral to productivity, their health is
not deemed an important investment — so services directed
at women are poor, nonexistent, or underused.
The
inadequacies of the health system are illustrated by the contraceptive
issue. Women in Vietnam face many health complications arising
from IUD use. Part of the problem stems from the lack of follow-ups
with medical practitioners. [37] Especially for women in rural areas,
receiving proper medical attention is a function of the amount
of time and energy it takes to get to the facilities and providers. [38] In addition when women
have low status within the household, addressing their health
concerns and needs receives little priority.
Quality
of health care also is a problem. For example, a 1993 study
found that infection control measures were inadequate. [39] With
women commonly suffering from reproductive tract infections, [40] rates of anemia being reported as
high as 60 percent, [41] and the prevalence of cancer within
the country, [42]
women cannot afford to continue risking substandard
health care.
CONVENTION
ARTICLE 14
RURAL
WOMEN
With 80 percent of the population still
living in the countryside, attention must be paid to the welfare
of rural women. Of special concern is the lack of clean drinking
water. Their responsibility for supplying water for the family
coupled with increasing deforestation and environmental contamination
force women to walk longer and longer distances to find water. [43]
Women in remote areas suffer particularly
because of inadequate health services. Tetanus and measles
epidemic outbreaks were reported in early 2001 with most victims
being young women and babies in the mountainous parts of the
Gia Lai Province. [44]
GENERAL
RECOMMENDATION #19
VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN
Domestic
Violence
Women are subject to varying forms of domestic
violence. Many women in the course of a lifetime face verbal
insults, physical assaults, and sexual abuse. Other types
of domestic violence include being forced to tolerate concubines,
marital separation as punishment for infertility, and the
act of “rejection” or being returned/ “chased back” to one’s
parents. [45] Women encounter domestic violence
not only from their male partners, but also from their in-laws. [46] Domestic
violence against women is justified on such grounds as infertility
and adultery. [47] The severity of the
problem is indicated in a 1996 study that found over one-third
of the prostitutes in Ho Chi Minh City had run away from home
to escape from abusive home situations. [48]
ACTIONS
BY OTHER UN HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
PERTAINING
TO WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS:
Concluding
observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child:
Viet Nam. 18/02/93. CRC/C/15/Add.3.
Main
subjects of concern:
·
The
perpetuation of prejudices in some regions of the country
resulting in discrimination against women and girls; the situation
of children in rural areas, e.g. regarding health and educational
possibilities; the growing number of children living and/or
working on the street, child prostitution and pornography.
Suggestions
and recommendations:
·
Take
all necessary steps, both nationally and also using international
assistance and cooperation, to minimize the negative impact
that the economic reforms may have on the most vulnerable
group, i.e. children of the Vietnamese society: Particular
attention should be paid to the protection of children belonging
to different minority groups, children living in rural areas
and children in urban areas who live and/or work on the street.
Concluding
observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination: Viet Nam. 15/09/93. A/48/18,paras.348-358.
Main
subjects of concern:
·
the
Penal Code did not refer to all the acts of ethnic or racial
discrimination prohibited by the Convention; the insufficiency
of the information provided on the practical implementation
of articles 5 and 6 of the Convention, in particular regarding
ethnic and religious minorities, refugees, children of mixed
origin and Vietnamese abroad.
Concluding
observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights : Viet Nam. 09/06/93. E/C.12/1993/8.
Main
subjects of concern:
·
With
regard to education, it notes that, despite the progress made,
there is still no programme to guarantee free primary education;
high rates of absenteeism from school and a growing number
of street children involved in unlawful activities, such as
prostitution, drug abuse and illicit trafficking in drugs.
Suggestions
and recommendations:
·
Make
efforts to solve the problem of school absenteeism and the
concentration of child labour at the expense of school attendance,
as well as the problem of overwork by married women; adopt
effective measures to reduce levels of malnutrition, to improve
the services of the social security system; to ensure the
more rapid implementation of the new Labour Code; and, in
general, to compensate for the effects on minorities and less
privileged social groups of economic adjustments to promote
the change to a free market society.
