PREVENTING AND RESPONDING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Hanoi 2011
( Edition 2 )
TRAINEE’S MANUAL
General Department of Anti-crime Police, MPS Administrative-Criminal Law Department, MOJ
FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND JUSTICE SECTORS IN VIET NAM
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Domestic Violence Training Manual: Legal Framework in Vietnam, Summaries of Law
A training manual for law enforcement and justice officers in Vietnam on dealing with domestic violence. It covers various aspects of domestic violence, including understanding gender equality, defining domestic violence, the legal framework, and responding to domestic violence cases. The manual also discusses the administrative sanction system and provides information on the forms of violence reported by victims.
What you will learn
- What is the purpose of the training manual on dealing with domestic violence in Vietnam?
- What are the consequences of domestic violence for victims and their families?
- How does the legal framework in Vietnam address domestic violence?
- What are the different forms of domestic violence reported by victims in Vietnam?
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PREVENTING AND RESPONDING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Hanoi 2011
( Edition 2 )
TRAINEE’S MANUAL
General Department of Anti-crime Police, MPS Administrative-Criminal Law Department, MOJ
FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND JUSTICE SECTORS IN VIET NAM
Acknowledgements
This training manual was developed in the framework of UNODC project
“Strengthening capacity of law enforcement and justice sectors to prevent and
respond to domestic violence in Viet Nam” (VNM/T28). The manual is based on
the the “Handbook on effective police responses to violence against women”
published by UNODC in Vienna 2010.
The UNODC project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-
operation (SDC), the Government of the United States of America and the
Spanish Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund through the UN-
Government Joint Programme on Gender Equality.
UNODC would like to extend special thanks to Ms. Eileen Skinnider for drafting
the training manual. Ms. Skinnider was supported by experts from the Ministry
of Public Security (Mr. Le Huu Anh), the Ministry Of Justice (Ms. Do Thuy Van)
and the Court College (Mr. Cao Viet Hoang) throughout the drafting process,
and their valuable inputs were much appreciated.
The UNODC Viet Nam project team providing support in the development
of the manual consisted of Ms. Jenni Viitala, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Ms. Daria
Hagemann, Ms. Phan Minh Chau, Ms. Nhu Thi Minh Nguyet, Mr. Nguyen Hoa
Chi and Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Van.
CONTENT
Forewords
Violence against women is a global phenomenon and its magnitude and effects are often underrated. It directly
affects a third of the world’s female population, as more than one out of three women worldwide have been
beaten, coerced to sex, or in other ways abused throughout their lives.
This training manual has been developed under the framework of UNODC project “Strengthening capacity of
law enforcement and justice sectors to prevent and respond to domestic violence in Viet Nam” (VNM/T28). The
project aims at contributing to effective prevention of domestic violence against women through more respon-
sive law enforcement and justice services. Under the project, police, prosecutors and judges will be trained on
the principles of gender equality, the common characteristic of domestic violence, and best practices on deal-
ing with the victims, witnesses and perpetrators.
The project applies a TOT (training-of-the-trainers) modality. For the purpose, specific training manuals have
been developed both for trainers and for trainees. I wish these training tools will support the local officers in
their important work in assisting victims of domestic violence in accessing justice.
Zhuldyz Akisheva
Country Manager
UNODC Viet Nam
Domestic violence has taken place in Viet Nam for a long time, since the feudal society, occurring in all social
classes, both rural and urban. The consequences of domestic violence are enormous, not only affecting the
victim and the family members, but also resulting in financial consequences due to the costly investigation and
prosecution of cases, court procedures, medical expenses and victim support costs.
In the past years, the Communist Party and the Government have paid great attention to domestic violence
prevention. In 1980, the Government of Viet Nam became a signatory of the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control
was passed by the National Assembly in November 2007 and it came into effect in July 2008. So far, the process
has led to encouraging results. The situation of domestic violence remains, however, complicated both in terms
of prevalence and seriousness.
Training law enforcement and justice sectors officers in order to strengthen the capacity to prevent and respond
to domestic violence in Viet Nam is essential. We hope that this training manual will contribute to the enhanced
capacity to recognize the existence of domestic violence, to effectively prevent and investigate cases, and to
take strict measures against the phenomenon.
Deputy General Director,
General Department of Anti-crime Police,
MPS, Director of Project
MODULE 1
INTRODUCTION: TRAINING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND JUSTICE OFFICERS
ON DEALING WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN VIET NAM
- Procurators;
- Judges and court personnel.
The training can also include representatives from the Viet Nam Women’s Union, as they form part of reconcilia-
tion teams and have the responsibility to interact with police officers in this regard. Furthermore, judicial officers
at the commune or district level who provide advice to reconciliation teams benefit from being included in this
training.
1.3 Scope of the Manual
The primary focus of this training manual is on violence against women in domicile and intimate relationships. This
includes violence towards a woman from her husband or intimate partner, former husband or intimate partner,
and also includes violence from other family members such as her son, mother or father-in-law, or other relative.
While other forms of violence within the family are also serious, this manual addresses the unique characteristics
of violence against women in their intimate relationships. The fact is that the victims of domestic violence are
overwhelmingly female. Although the statistics vary, research indicates that women may be the victims of do-
mestic violence in as much as 95% of the cases.
2 Persistent gender inequality and a culture of male domination
continue to result in female victims of violence being more vulnerable and less capable of asserting their rights.
Female victims require special support and protection due to the intimate nature of the relationship in which the
violence has occurred.
This manual will not deal specifically with the situation where children have been directly victimized by domestic
violence as this requires specialized skills in identifying, assessing and responding to child victims. However there
is increasing recognition that children who witness violence against their mothers are also victims and therefore
interventions that protect and support the mother should also take into account the needs of the victim’s chil-
dren.
1.4 Organization of the Manual
The Manual includes the following Modules:
- Introduction: Training for Law Enforcement and Justice Officers on Dealing with Domestic Violence in Viet
Nam
- Understanding Gender Equality and Domestic Violence
- The Legal Framework for Responding to Domestic Violence in Viet Nam
- First Responders to Domestic Violence Cases
- The Administrative Sanctioning System and Domestic Violence Cases
- The Criminal Justice System and Domestic Violence Cases
The modules are intended to be practical, concrete and useful. Each module contains a summary of key issues to
the topic; references to applicable Vietnamese laws, policies and practices; and examples of promising practices
and international standards.
The training programme is based on a participatory and experiential learning model and uses a variety of train-
ing techniques, including warm up activities and ice-breakers, presentations and discussions, small group work,
brainstorming, case studies, role-plays and simulations.
The training programme is designed for a 3-day training experience. The first day is designed to increase the
participants’ knowledge and understanding of the concept of gender and domestic violence. The second day will
cover the legal framework for responding to domestic violence in Viet Nam. The last day is designed to highlight
the respective roles and skills of local police as first responders to domestic violence situations, and is designed to
also be beneficial to criminal investigators, procurators and judges.
2 Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights training material. According to Statistics Canada, women are victims of domestic violence in 83% of
the cases: Statistics Canada “Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile 2008”.
Section 2: Setting the Context
2.1 Domestic Violence in Viet Nam
Domestic violence is a frequent and often deadly fact of life for many women in Viet Nam, as in the rest of the
world. The media publishes a few of the more shocking cases, often the ones that are brought to the attention of
the criminal justice system, but the majority of cases of domestic violence are never reported and often hidden
from view. Many victims don’t report the violence to the police or others because of feelings of shame, embar-
rassment, or fear. Marital rape is particularly invisible as very few, if any, cases are reported. Victims of domestic
violence who do choose to report to the police may receive advice from the local police officer to stay with the
abusive husband to keep the family together or have the matter referred to a reconciliation team who may place
some of the blame for the violence on the woman. Victims who do go through the administrative or criminal jus-
tice system might be re-traumatized by that experience.
Domestic violence is a complex issue in Vietnamese society, as it is in every society. It is supported by strong cul-
tural traditions and beliefs concerning family and traditional gender roles. In Viet Nam, formal equality between
men and women has been established in the Constitution since 1945. However, men continue to generally hold
dominant positions within and outside the household while women assume primary responsibility for housework
and childcare. The belief that the husband can use violence as a legitimate means of educating or disciplining his
wife is often used to justify violence as an effective way to maintain control over women.
In Viet Nam, the importance of family is emphasized in the Constitution. As in all societies, the family is seen as
the fundamental and natural unit of society. To bolster healthy families, progressive marriages and the well-being
of the family, family members are to treat each other with respect and dignity. Often, reconciliation of domestic
violence situations focuses on restoring calm within the home and maintaining family unity over the safety of
the woman. If the root of the violence is not addressed, the violence will more than likely continue and this can
threaten the stability of the family and negatively impact all family members, including the children who witness
the violence.
Statistics – Viet Nam
Recently, the first ever “National Study on Domestic Violence against Women in Viet Nam 2010” was conducted
and published in Viet Nam by the General Statistic Office (GSO) with technical assistance from the World Health
Organization (WHO).
- This data shows that overall, 32% ever married women have experienced physical violence in their life and
6% had experienced physical violence in the past 12 months. Results show that physical violence starts
early in the relationship and lessens with the age.
- Even though it is much more difficult for women to talk about sexual violence, as much as 10% of ever-
married women reported in the interviews that they experienced sexual violence in their lifetime and 4%
in the past 12 months. Furthermore, in Viet Nam, as in many other countries, women who report sexual
violence almost always also report physical violence.
- The results also show high prevalence of emotional abuse: 54% of all women report lifetime emotional
abuse and 25% report current emotional abuse.
- The prevalence rate of economic abuse for lifetime is 9%.
- Comparing partner and non-partner violence, women in Viet Nam are three times more likely to have
experienced violence by partners rather than by someone else.
UNODC supports the conducting of research on the quality of criminal justice services available for victims of do-
mestic violence in Viet Nam. Some of the preliminary findings include :
3
- While most victims (65%) found it easy to report domestic violence to the police and considered the po-
lice to be polite (76%) and sympathetic (72%), nevertheless, many were not satisfied with the result of the
police work (47%) and thought that the measures taken by the police were not strict enough (54%).
- In 83% of the cases, the police visited the house of the victim; however, in 34% of the cases the police sug-
gested the victim to solve the problem herself inside the family, or to contact another agency, such as the
3 “Research in the Quality of Criminal Justice Services Available for Victims of Domestic Violence in Viet Nam” UNODC in collaboration with
the Research Centre for Gender and Development (RCGAD) in Hanoi and the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI) in
Helsinki.
Coordinated community response
To end the cycle of domestic violence, a coordinated community response is required. Each part of the commu-
nity has a role to play: the reconciliation teams, administrative and criminal justice systems, the civil law system,
People’s Committee, health services, including mental health, education system, media, and civil society groups.
While the justice sector must work with other sectors to effectively respond to the problem of domestic violence,
the justice sector can play a substantial role in preventing domestic violence through ensuring the safety of vic-
tims of violence and holding the abusers accountable, by increasing victims access to justice and improving the
treatment of victims by law enforcement and judicial officers.
2.3 The Need for an Effective Response by the Law Enforcement and Justice Sector
A legal framework exists to enable official police and justice sector responses to prevent domestic violence and to
intervene effectively where violence does occur. The responses include criminal sanctions, administrative penal-
ties and civil law responses, forbidden contact orders, and reconciliation teams. However, despite the fact that the
administrative and criminal justice systems have been in place for some time, there has been a lack of response to
domestic violence by these sectors. Often, only in the most serious of cases do they get involved. Traditionally, the
justice system focuses on incidents of violence occurring between strangers. The introduction of family relation-
ships into this traditional response poses many challenges for the police, criminal investigators, procurators and
courts.
Domestic violence is still viewed by many as a private family matter. The response of the administrative and crimi-
nal justice system reflects this view. The common police approach in Viet Nam is to mediate and defuse family
“disputes”, and to avoid making arrests or detentions except in the most serious cases. Procurators see only the
most serious domestic violence cases and are often reluctant to pursue domestic violence cases because of the
difficulties presented by these cases, and the belief that they will have little success with the prosecution. The
courts regularly share the view that these cases do not belong in the criminal courtroom, and are best handled
through meditation or reconciliation. These traditional approaches leave the victim, the children and the public
unprotected from the devastating consequences of domestic violence.
The justice sector’s standard method of assessing whether the abuse amounts to an administrative violation or a
crime generally views individual abusive acts in isolation rather than within the pattern of abuse and in the con-
text of power and control found in abusive domestic relationships. Furthermore the method of assessing the seri-
ousness of the violation is based on the degree of physical injury which often fails to take into account the nature
and dynamics of violence in an intimate relationship.
More women will likely report the violence to the police if they know they will be treated with respect and dignity
and have their complaints listened to in confidence. The more domestic violence is reported, the more seriously
it will be taken by the authorities and the general public. Ignoring domestic violence only ensures that the cycle
of violence will continue. Research demonstrates that without intervention, domestic violence increases in both
frequency and severity. Therefore early intervention by the police provides the best way of protecting the victims,
prevents the escalation of a pattern of abuse, reduces the rate of domestic homicide and serious assaults, and
where possible, maintains family stability.
Globally, research shows that the justice system has a critical role to play in stopping domestic violence and sev-
eral studies have indicated that arrests act as deterrents to domestic violence. The effective intervention by law
enforcement and the justice sector professionals requires specialized techniques designed to protect the victim
from retaliation by the abuser, allay the victim’s fears of the criminal justice system and encourage the victim’s
cooperation with police, procurators and courts.
Effective intervention can contribute to:
- Reducing significantly domestic violence;
- Protecting the victim from additional acts of violence by the abuser;
- Protecting children or other family members from domestic violence or exposure to violence;
- Enhancing safety of the general public;
- Holding the abuser accountable for his violent actions;
- Creating a general deterrence to domestic violence in the community;
- Rehabilitating the abuser.
Proposed Agenda for the Workshop: Three Day training course
Day Time Training Module Objectives
Gender equality and understanding domestic violence
Day One AM Opening ceremony
Module on gender equality
- Explanation of why we are discussing gender
equality in a domestic violence training course
- The difference between sex and gender
- Discussing gender inequality and defining
gender equality
- to be familiar with the
concept of gender equality
- to be able to distinguish
between the terms of “sex”
and “gender”
PM Module on understanding domestic violence
- Defining domestic violence
- Myths and realities
- Power and control wheel
- Root causes and consequences of domestic
violence
- Cycle of violence
- Reasons for lack of reporting, barriers for victims
- to be able to define
domestic violence
- to identify myths and
realties regarding domestic
violence
- to have a better understand
of how domestic violence
differs from stranger
violence
Legal framework
Day Two AM Module on the Legal framework
- Lecture on Vietnamese legal framework
- Case study exercise
- Lecture on legal proceedings
- Case study exercise
- to become familiar with the
Vietnamese laws relating to
domestic violence
- to review the various
options for responding to
domestic violence PM 1. Lecture on legal proceedings
- Case study exercise
Skills to deal with domestic violence cases
Day Three AM Choose the following key topics and develop
a training plan-lecture /exercises based on the
modules. Chose topics based on the backgrounds
of the trainees
- Initial response at the scene;
Gathering evidence (focus on the different types of
evidence in DV cases)
- to enhance the skills of law
enforcement and justice
sector professionals when
they deal with domestic
violence cases
PM Choose the following key topics and develop
a training plan-lecture /exercises based on the
modules. Chose topics based on the backgrounds
of the trainees
- Initial response at the scene;
- Gathering evidence (focus on the different
types of evidence in DV cases)